Thai AirAsia X launched its Sendai–Bangkok/Don Mueang route on December 1.
The airline operates four round-trip flights per week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. The flights are operated with Airbus A330-300 aircraft configured with 335 seats. The flight time is 7 hours and 30 minutes from Sendai and 6 hours and 15 minutes from Bangkok/Don Mueang.
This will be the only nonstop service connecting the Tohoku region of Japan and Bangkok. With inbound travel demand from Thailand to Japan increasing in recent years, the airline expects this route to further expand inbound tourism demand to the wider Tohoku region. Including existing routes from Sapporo/Chitose, Tokyo/Narita, Nagoya/Chubu, and Osaka/Kansai to Bangkok/Don Mueang, the number of Thai AirAsia X routes to Japan now totals five.
To mark the launch of the inaugural flight, a commemorative ceremony was held at Sendai Airport, featuring a performance of “Suzume Odori” (Sparrow Dance), a traditional performing art of Sendai. Speeches were given by Piti Nuntangphong Intarasak, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Thai AirAsia X, Motoi Maeda, President and CEO of Sendai International Airport, Seksan Sripraiwon, Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand Tokyo Office, Norimitsu Kobayashi, Vice Governor of Miyagi Prefecture, and Kazuko Kori, Mayor of Sendai City. Approximately 200 passengers boarded the inaugural flight departing from Sendai, including members of a local youth soccer team traveling to Bangkok for an away match.
