Phuket expands direct international flight routes amid slight visitor decline

Phuket recorded 9.2 million visitors between January and August, representing a 1.76% decrease compared to the same period last year. While domestic tourism from Thailand rose by 0.46% to approximately 2.4 million visitors, foreign arrivals dropped by 2.52% to nearly 6.8 million. Total tourism revenue also saw a slight decline of 0.99%, totaling 356.21 billion baht.

Russia remains the largest source of foreign tourists to the island, followed by China and India. To bolster arrivals ahead of the high season, four new direct international flight routes are scheduled to launch in October. Virgin Atlantic will begin weekly services from London on October 18, Edelweiss Air will connect Zurich to Phuket on October 25, Kuwait Airways will start twice-weekly flights from Kuwait on October 27, and Belavia Belarusian Airlines will launch services from Minsk on October 29.