Lagatar24 Desk
Mumbai, Sep 7: Air India and Bangkok Airways have agreed on an interline partnership to provide seamless connectivity for passengers of Tata Group Airlines to 10 other Southeast Asian cities beyond the Thai capital.
Additionally, the two carriers have agreed to a Special Prorate Agreement that enables them to file ‘through fares’ on routes that cross each other’s networks. Because of this structure, a traveller can purchase a single ticket that covers all of the places on an itinerary for a single fare.
Due to the collaboration, travellers of Air India will be able to make simple connections via the airline’s Bangkok, Hong Kong and Singapore to and from 10 cities in Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia on Bangkok Airways’ route network, according to a release issued on Thursday.
An agreement to issue and accept tickets for flights that are run by the partner airline is known as an ‘interline arrangement.’ The operating airlines’ own flight numbers are used when selling an interline ticket.
The implementation of Inter Airline through Check-In (IATCI) is another aspect of the partnership with Bangkok Airways. This will allow passengers travelling on a single ticket to receive their boarding pass at the initial point of departure and have their bags checked in all the way to their ultimate destinations, according to Air India’s press release.
Currently, Air India offers daily flights from Delhi and Mumbai to Bangkok, weekly flights from Delhi to Hong Kong and daily flights from Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai to Singapore.
In addition, regardless of class of travel, Air India passengers flying connecting flights on Bangkok Airways will now have complimentary access to the Thai airline’s boutique lounges and courtesy corners at available airports.
“One of our strategic priorities at Air India is to offer our guests the choice of flying to more places through our own as well as an augmented global network,” Nipun Aggarwal, Chief Commercial and Transformation Officer at Air India, said.
Passengers on Air India can use Bangkok Airways to connect to Chiang Mai, Lampang, Sukhothai, Trat, Koh Samui, Phuket and Krabi in Thailand. The destinations outside of Thailand include Luang Prabang in Laos, Phnom Penh and Siem Reap in Cambodia, according to the press release.
Additionally, travellers of the airline have the option of travelling to Koh Samui via Singapore and Hong Kong.
“We are entering in an interline partnership with Air India to strengthen our respective route networks and offer business and leisure travellers with unprecedented and convenient access to new gateways,” Chulin Kocharoen, Vice President for Network and Product Development at Bangkok Airways PLC, said.
