Air India Express will now operate direct flights from Bengaluru to Bangkok from October 18, the airline announced on Thursday.

The flights between the cities are set to operate on a daily frequency, with flights from Bengaluru starting at 11:00 AM and taking 5 hours and 45 minutes to reach, while the return flights back to the city will take less time, departing from Bangkok at 5:45 PM and taking only 2 hours and 45 minutes.

The direct connectivity comes on the back of the rising demand expected during the festive season. As an introductory offer, Xpress Value direct fares start from ₹16,800 for a round trip. The one-way fare for Bengaluru–Bangkok is ₹9,000, while the Bangkok–Bengaluru fare is ₹8,850.

A total of 11 Indian cities, including Amritsar, Jaipur, and Kolkata, offer direct flight connectivity to Thailand, including Bangkok, through airlines such as IndiGo, Air India, VietJet Air, and Thai Lion Air. IndiGo and AirAsia also operate direct flights from Bengaluru to Bangkok. In recent years, there has been a striking uptick in the number of Indian tourists traveling to Thailand, with the tourist count reaching 2.12 million last year.

“This launch further strengthens Air India Express’ presence in Thailand. The airline already connects Bangkok with Lucknow, Pune, and Surat, and operates direct flights between Hyderabad and Phuket,” the airline said in a statement.

For the airline, the Karnataka capital is the largest domestic station seeing as many as 440 direct flights in a week, connecting 30 Indian cities including Ahmedabad, Bagdogra, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Dehradun, Goa and 3 international airports from countries such as Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia and Nepal. With the recent addition of Bangkok, direct flight connectivity to international destinations goes up to 4.