Thailand is set to open to tourism again at the end of 2021 so popular questions like “How long is the flight to Thailand” are starting to pop up again.
We will now review the ranking for top 10 origin/destination airports by passenger traffic and other popular long-haul flights. We will also provide flight durations for all of them.
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Top 10 origin and destination airports by passenger traffic
There are many factors affecting flight duration apart from distance. For example, weather condition, air traffic control and plane weight. Therefore, the figures are subject to a certain degree of changes.
The below list is mostly short duration flights since it is ranked by passenger volume. To and from the Suvarnabhumi airport (BKK), there are many more short haul flights than long haul ones. In the next section, we will explore other long haul flights from countries like the the US, the UK and Australia.
How long is the flight to Thailand from within Asia? Based on the list below, this typically ranges between ~2 – 5 hours.
We estimate the flight duration above using this tool.
Ranking list
For this ranking, we referred to the Airport of Thailand’s air traffic report in 2019 (pre-pandemic), and will be using BKK or Suvarnabhumi Airport as the key reference. As you should have known, BKK/Suvarnabhumi is Thailand’s main international airport.
| Rank | Country/City | Annual Passenger Volume | Distance (km) | Flight Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Hong Kong | 3.8 million passengers | 1,690 | 2 hours and 33 minutes |
| #2 | Singapore | 3.2 million passengers | 1,410 | 2 hours and 13 minutes |
| #3 | Incheon (South Korea) | 2.7 million passengers | 3,670 | 5 hours and 1 minute |
| #4 | Taipei (Taiwan) | 1.9 million passengers | 2,490 | 3 hours and 33 minutes |
| #5 | Dubai (UAE) | 1.7 million passengers | 4,900 | 6 hours and 33 minutes |
| #6 | Shanghai (China) | 1.6 million passengers | 2,890 | 4 hours and 4 minutes |
| #7 | Guangzhou (China) | 1.5 million passengers | 1,700 | 2 hours and 35 minutes |
| #8 | Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) | 1.2 million passengers | 710 | 1 hour and 21 minutes |
| #9 | Haneda, Tokyo (Japan) | 1.2 million passengers | 4,590 | 6 hours and 10 minutes |
| #10 | Manila (Philippines) | 1.2 million passengers | 2,190 | 3 hours and 11 minutes |
How long is the flight from the United States to Thailand?
This is a trickier question since there are few to no direct flights between the US and Thailand at the moment. Travelers most likely need to take layover flights. As you can see in the list above, there are many international hubs to pick from like Hong Kong, Incheon and Dubai. And these hubs have great airlines like Cathay Pacific, Emirate, Korean Air or Thai Airways (all within top 25 in Skytrax ranking) offering many flights to Thailand.
As an example, if you are flying from a west coast city like Los Angeles, flying to cities in North Asia first would make sense. That is, LAX<>HKG is around 14-15 hours, then another 2.5 hours flight to Thailand.
If you are flying from an east coast city like New York then flying to Dubai makes sense. It is about 14 hours to Dubai, then another 6.5 hours to Thailand.
How long is the flight to Thailand from Europe and Australia?
Fortunately for travelers from Europe and Australia, there are direct flight options to Bangkok.
Before the pandemic, there were direct flights between Bangkok and most of the major European cities. For instance, London (~800k passengers annually in 2019), Frankfurt (~700k) and Paris (500k). Typical flight duration is approximately 12 hours.
Whereas for Australia, before the pandemic, there were direct flights between Bangkok and Sydney (~500k passengers), Melbourne (400k), Brisbane/Perth (100k-200k). Flight duration between Australia (Sydney) and Bangkok is approximately 9.5 hours.
Should you start planning to go to Thailand?
The answer will be: totally up to you! Safety should be the first consideration, but if you have some business there or have some family to visit, the government has recently opened up the country to 63 countries. You can see the full list here. The US, some European countries and Australia are already in the list.
Hope this information about how long is the flight to Thailand is useful, especially if you are planning your travel! (we also have a dedicated article for transportation within Thailand!)
Check out our other posts about Thailand here: