Thai Airways boosts London flights, shortens Aussie transit times

Thai Airways will reinstate its previously-axed second-daily flight between Bangkok and London from later this year, cutting transit times on the Kangaroo Route by up to 19 hours in each direction.

That takes place from October 25 when TG916 returns to the skies – departing Bangkok each day at 1:20pm and touching down in London at 7:35pm that evening.

Returning from Heathrow, TG917 is wheels-up at 9:35pm local time to reach Bangkok at 4pm the following afternoon.

Served by one of Thai’s newer Boeing 777-300ER aircraft with business class and economy, passengers at the pointy end will enjoy the same fully-flat beds and direct aisle access as found on Thai’s existing London flight: currently served by its flagship A380.

AusBT review: Thai’s B777-300ER business class: Bangkok-Brisbane

Thai Airways will also boost its Bangkok-Frankfurt flights from daily to 13-times-weekly, a spokesperson for the airline confirmed to Australian Business Traveller, using the same combination of an A380 plus a newer Boeing 777 to offer a consistent product regardless of the chosen flight.

Impact on Kangaroo Route transit times

With Thai’s two London flights scheduled roughly 12 hours apart, transit times for Aussie passengers will significantly reduce in most cases: making for a quicker journey to or from Europe.

That’s especially so for Sydneysiders where the time spent on the ground will be as little as 1hr 50m on the hop home – down from between 13hr 30m and 21hr 20m – although the best case scenario when departing Australia will retain an 8hr 50m transit.

Down in Melbourne, flights with transit times as short as 3hr 40m can be had when London-bound and three hours exactly on the return, doing away with the previous schedule that saw some passengers waiting for around 19 hours in each direction, or almost an entire day.

Brisbane travellers see a more modest reduction on the outbound leg with transit times shaved by 20 minutes to 4hr 30m – thanks to small changes in flight timings on both legs – while the Bangkok layover on the way back is cut from 18hr 14m to a still-precise but more manageable 7hr 59m.

Across the country in Perth, transit times also decrease from 9hr 55m to 8hr 10m on journeys to London and are more than halved on the way home: dropping from 18hr 14m to 7hr 55m.

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Chris C.

Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.