Thailand is in no great rush to restart inbound tourism just yet.
Civil aviation authority of Thailand director Chula Sukmanop said there is no real intent by airlines to restart next month when the current airspace international flight ban expires.
Chula reckons international flights will restart in September.
"All airlines cannot assess the demand for air travel. They have to wait and see the situation by the end of this month."
It will likely begin with business travel first.
"The government has to make a final decision before the country’s airspace can be reopened. However it does not mean an all-out opening for air travellers. Only business travellers will be allowed to take the flights under the so-called travel bubble proposals," he said.
The president of Airports of Thailand, Nitinai Sirismatthakarn says air travel will not get back to normal for another year at least.
"Recovery of international routes will depend on how quickly a vaccine or antiviral drugs can be made available," Nitinai said.
About two-thirds of Thailand airports have reopened and they are currently operating at about 50% of normal capacity.
However actual passenger loadings are much less than that.
