“With Thailand being Western Australia’s eighth largest trading partner and a significant market for international students, the resumption of non-stop flights provides a massive opportunity for both our economies,” said Perth Airport’s chief commercial and aviation officer, Kate Holsgrove.

“Growing international seat capacity by securing non-stop services to international destinations has and continues to be a priority for Perth Airport.

“The announcement of Thai Airways returning to Perth in the new year is a positive sign that growth opportunities for our tourism, export and international student sectors will continue in 2024.”

The Thai Airways service will beat Jetstar’s new Perth-Bangkok route, slated to begin in September this year using A321neo LRs, by around six months. Jetstar is planning a major expansion from Perth into Asia, with two other new routes to Singapore and Phuket starting in August.

CEO Stephanie Tully in September called the Asian services, as well as a new WA base for four aircraft and at least 60 pilots, a “huge investment” in Jetstar’s Perth operations.

“Having pilots and aircraft based in the west gives us the ability to add hundreds of thousands more low-cost seats to exciting new destinations across both our international and domestic network,” she said.

“These three new routes will open up low-fares travel right across Southeast Asia for our west-coast customers, including easy connections via Singapore onto Jetstar Asia’s extensive network to 13 destinations throughout Asia.

“We expect to see West Australian travel demand continue to grow as we add more flights, and we’re excited to share more details of our Perth network expansion soon.”

No other airlines currently connect Perth with Bangkok, though carriers including Thai Airways, Thai AirAsia X, and Qantas fly from Bangkok to Sydney, while Thai Airways and Jetstar fly to Melbourne.