Thai Airways returns to Amsterdam after 28 years; now serves 12 European destinations

Some 18 scheduled passenger airlines fly between Bangkok BKK and Europe. Some, such as Aircalin and EVA Air, operate on a fifth freedom basis. Leisure operators and LCCs include Condor, Iberojet, and Norse Atlantic.

In 2026, Cirium data shows that they will collectively have 3.8 million one-way seats. With 1.6 million, Thai Airways is, of course, overwhelmingly the leading carrier, largely due to its BKK hub. Thai Airways has 42% of the nonstop market. Excluding the pandemic years, that is the lowest level to date.

While at the highest level in seven years, Thai Airways’ European capacity remains 8% below what was available before the pandemic in 2019. Between then and now, the airline has ceased flying to various European airports, as detailed later.

Flights resume to Amsterdam

Having last been served in the 1990s, two routes have resumed recently:

• 1 December 2023: Istanbul IST (daily)
• 1 July 2026: Amsterdam (daily)

Flights to IST exist in partnership with Turkish Airlines; it is another way for that airline to grow its presence. The pair have up to 5-daily BKK-IST flights in 2026.

While Thai Airways does not partner with KLM, the P2P BKK-Amsterdam market is enormous. 320,000 two-way passengers flew last year, with 40%+ flying indirectly. The non-stop market was then served by KLM and EVA Air.

Thai Airways has 12 routes to Europe this year

The airline’s full European network is shown in the following figure. Star Alliance hubs are important, while Scandinavian cities – Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm – are well-represented due to the strength of demand to Thailand, especially to beach destinations.

With 252,000 one-way seats, Frankfurt remains the most-served market. Like London LHR, Germany’s busiest airport has 2-daily 777-300ER flights. Along with Paris CDG, they both once saw Thai Airways’ A380s.

In 2026, Frankfurt’s flights are on the 348-seat 777, while LHR is in the hands of both the 303-seat and 348-seat configurations. The 303-seat layout has first class, with LHR being Thai Airways’ sole long-haul destination – in Europe and beyond – with that cabin.

Thai Airways’ aircraft are no longer in 5 European airports

In the past 20 years, Thai Airways has ceased flying to Athens (served until 2011), Madrid (until 2015), Moscow DME (until 2020), Rome FCO (until 2020) and Vienna (until 2020). With 1.2 million one-way seats, BKK-FCO was comfortably the most served of these markets.