Bangkok Airways will launch regular flights to Phu Quoc, the Vietnamese island emerging as a new holiday destination in Southeast Asia.
The SET-listed Thai regional airline will become the first carrier to directly link Phu Quoc with Bangkok starting on Oct 29 with four flights a week, airline insiders told the Bangkok Post.
Bangkok Airways will operate an ATR72-600 turboprop with 70 seats for the non-stop flight from Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport to the Vietnamese island.
Bangkok Airways will join a handful of foreign carriers serving Vietnam's largest island, lying south of the Cambodian coast in the Gulf of Thailand, to tap early market opportunities.
Foreign carriers currently serving Phu Quoc are China Southern and Jetstar Pacific, although the latter is majority owned by flag carrier Vietnam Airlines.
Vietnam's VietJet and Vietnam Airlines operate frequent daily services from mainland Vietnam to Phu Quoc.
Phu Quoc seeks to lure visitors to its beaches with a 30-day visa waiver policy for foreign tourists.
Official data from Vietnam shows that more than 1.45 million tourists visited the island last year, 14% of them foreigners.
Bangkok Airways aims to feed international passenger traffic to Phu Quoc from long-haul flights operated by its code-share partners, such as Air France, KLM and British Airways, with connecting flights at its Suvarnabhumi base.
The airline also wants to push Thai traffic to Phu Quoc, but calculates that the exotic beach resort will appeal more to international tourists.
But according to TripAdvisor, the world's leading travel site, there was a 39% year-on-year increase in search interest from Thai travellers looking into Phu Quoc in the first half of this year.
There was also a 31% growth in search interest for Phu Quoc from international travellers over the same period.
Major European travel companies TUI and Alpitour World earlier announced plans to start flying tourists from Italy and the United Kingdom to Phu Quoc by year-end.
Some US$7 billion (237 billion baht) investment has been earmarked for tourist infrastructure, including a casino and a cable car project.
Hotels are being built to prepare for up to 3 million visitors a year by 2020, according to local officials.
Meanwhile, Bangkok Airways was voted one of the top 10 best airlines for cabin service worldwide, while its Samui Airport was also recognised as one of the top 10 best airports in the latest travel poll conducted by SmartTravelAsia.com.
The airline has recently taken delivery of its 37th aircraft, the Airbus 319 jet, as part of its fleet expansion plan.