Bangkok is a foodie paradise. If there is better street food in the world, I don’t know where it is. Now while, that may be the case, it is indeed a fantastic destination, but also one which has become an expensive pain of a route. There are direct flights from London to Bangkok on Thai and EVA AIr from Heathrow and British Airways also from Gatwick, and while both are excellent carriers, there are only two or three flights a day, and with demand far outstripping supply prices are unsurprisingly punchy.
Into this tempting economic opportunity has stepped Norse Atlantic will launch flights between London Gatwick and Bangkok from the 26th October of this year. Initially there will be a twice-weekly service, rising to four flights per week from the end of November. The initial schedules will be as follows: ZO791 departing Gatwick at 1600, arriving into Bangkok at 1025 the following day and ZO792 departing Bangkok at 1230, arriving into Gatwick at 1830 the same day.
Norse will use a Boeing 787 for the flights, which is a very comfortable next generation aircraft. The service takes11 hours 25 minutes on the outbound leg and 13 hours for the return journey. CEO Bjorn Tore Larsen commented “We’re excited to launch direct flights between London Gatwick and Bangkok, a top choice among our travellers, “
Norse operates flights in a two-class configuration premium economy and economy. I have recently used its premium economy on business trips to Miami, as they were half the price of BA World Traveller Plus and one fifth the price of Club World. While you don’t get loyalty points (something I try and avoid slavery to nowadays), it was a good product and about the equal of BA’s WTP. On the back of that I can see this cabin working for cost-conscious business travellers and upmarket tourists heading to Thailand. The premium cabin is pictured below.
Note that Norse practises dynamic prices (as do many other airlines), so the advice is always to book early for the best prices.
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