Thai Airways plots return to Auckland in 2H 2026

By Andrew Curran.

Thai Airways will resume scheduled flights between Bangkok (BKK) and Auckland (AKL) later this year, having axed the service early in the Covid-19 era.

“Bangkok is back on the bucket list,” reads an Auckland Airport social media post. “Thai Airways has announced its plan to relaunch daily, non-stop flights between Auckland and Bangkok in the second half of 2026.”

While Thai Airways is yet to confirm the launch date and aircraft type, senior airline management have confirmed the news.

“This year, Thai Airways will resume daily Auckland–Bangkok services as a key long-haul network expansion," said Chief Commercial Officer Kittiphong Sansomboon.

Demand on the unserved Bangkok - Auckland route

The Auckland – Bangkok city-pair is currently unserved, although Tourism New Zealand noted that around 48,000 New Zealanders travelled to Thailand last year and some 20,000 Thai nationals made their way to New Zealand.

Auckland Airport says the return of Thai Airways to New Zealand, which they flew to for some three decades before the pandemic saw the service axed, will pump around NZD250 million (USD150.5 million) annually into the New Zealand economy.

The pandemic forced Thai Airways to file for business rehabilitation in the Central Bangkok Bankrupcty Court, a local process akin to US Chapter 11 proceedings. It allowed the financially distressed airline to jettison a lot of debt and a lot of its aircraft.

Consequently, following the lifting of Covid-19 travel bans, Thai Airways found itself short of planes. That shortage goes some way to explain why Thai's return to New Zealand has taken so long.

Thai Airways also flies twice daily between Bangkok and Sydney (SYD), Bangkok and Melbourne (MEL), and daily between Bangkok and Perth (PER). It is yet to return to Brisbane (BNE), which also lost its Thai service early in 2020.

Photo: Thai Airways.

Contact the writer: andrew@aerosouthpacific.com