THAILAND TRAVEL NEWS: Aircraft watchers in Thailand will soon start seeing more of the Airbus A380 superjumbo, with Emirates set to launch a daily Dubai – Bangkok – Hong Kong service using the world’s largest passenger aircraft commencing October 1.

Emirates, the national flag carrier of Dubai, UAE, currently operates 12 A380s with 78 on order and Hong Kong will become the airline’s 11th A380 destination.

The new route via Bangkok is in addition to a daily direct service between Dubai and the former British colony, and is expected to see a significant increase in the number of visitors from the gulf stopping over in Thailand on their way to or from the Chinese special administrative region.

Richard Jewsbury, Emirates’ senior vice president, commercial operations, Far East and Australasia, said, “our passengers from Hong Kong now have the opportunity to enjoy the wonderful service and comforts available on our flagship aircraft , while our passengers from Thailand will have the option of flying the A380 to either Dubai or Hong Kong”.

Emirates’ A380s feature mood-lighting and ice, the inflight entertainment system, featuring over 1200 channels of on-demand entertainment, including movies and music in Thai and Cantonese in all classes, while flat-bed massage-equipped private suites await passengers in First Class.

Emirates ranks amongst the top 10 carriers worldwide in terms of revenue, passenger kilometers, and is ranked the eighth largest in Asia in terms of the number of passengers carried

The airline is one of only six airlines world-wide to operate an all wide-bodied fleet and became the second operator of the Airbus A380-800 when its first aircraft was delivered on July 28, 2008.

By John Le Fevre

Thailand Travel News for August 30, 2010