The carrier will resume flying to Bangkok in October and has extended its partnership with Bangkok Airways to flights from the Thai capital to Phuket, Koh Samui and Chaing Mai, as well as Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh and Siem Reap – the gateway to the temples of Angkor Wat.

Through ticketing will be offered on BA and Bangkok Airways on these routes for travel from 28 October when BA resumes flights to the Thai capital after suspending them during the pandemic. 

BA has shifted the Bangkok route from Heathrow to Gatwick, initially operating three times a week, but has now said the service will increase “to up to five times per week between January and March 2025”.

The partnership will allow a stopover in Bangkok before continuing to the final destination on the same ticket.

Thailand recently launched a range of new tourism visa options, which includes extending the country’s current visa exemption provision from 30 to 60 days, with an option for visitors to extend it for a further 30 days.

Neil Chernoff, BA’s chief planning and strategy officer, said: “In October, we will be operating our first direct flight to Thailand in more than four years, so it’s a highly anticipated return to our global network. 

“Knowing that this route will be particularly popular with our leisure customers, we’re pleased to be working with Bangkok Airways to offer more choice and make these sought-after holiday destinations more accessible.”

Bangkok Airways has an extensive domestic network in Thailand as well as to destinations across Cambodia, Hong Kong, the Maldives, Laos, and Singapore. It operates a fleet of more than 20 aircraft.

The existing partnership with BA offers codeshare travel between Singapore and Koh Samui.