Article from BTNews 19 NOVEMBER 2018
Thai marks 45-year UK record
Celebrations have been taking place this month at Thai Airways, which inaugurated non-stop flights linking Europe with southeast Asia in the 1970s with a McDonnell-Douglas DC-8/62 and is now marking 45 years’ service to the UK market.
The first flight left Heathrow in 1973 as part of a twice-weekly schedule, a key development in allowing business and leisure passengers to explore the then largely unknown Far East.
The airline now operates twice-daily flights between Heathrow and Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, with passengers on the anniversary of the inaugural presented with handcrafted gifts to mark the occasion.
Thai UK general manager Nonthakorn Trakulpa said: “As we come into our 45th year in operation, we have a number of exciting plans and initiatives to celebrate this incredible milestone and the continued expansion of our award-winning services.”
Thai now operates the London – Bangkok 14 round trip services each week with the Airbus A380-800 and Boeing B777-300ER featuring service recognised with three Skytrax 2018 World Airline Awards.
All told, the airline now has flights to 32 countries, 76 cities and 77 airports, with a fleet of 79 aircraft. In Europe, Thai serves 13 cities across 11 countries with destinations including Copenhagen, Oslo, Brussels, Paris, Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich.
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