We often think that the Asian cities with the best connections from Europe are probably Hong Kong, Shanghai or Tokyo. Although these cities offer many direct air routes to Europe, it is in fact Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo that the best connections are to be found. South East Asia had the largest number of connections to the old continent. Until the Covid-19 pandemic decimated the networks.
Bangkok was even the champion of routes to Europe with more than twenty airlines. The network operated by Thai Airways International extended before the crisis of Madrid in Stockholm andAthens in Paris. All the major European airlines were offering...
We often think that the Asian cities with the best connections from Europe are probably Hong Kong, Shanghai or Tokyo. Although these cities offer many direct air routes to Europe, it is in fact Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo that the best connections are to be found. South East Asia had the largest number of connections to the old continent. Until the Covid-19 pandemic decimated the networks.
Bangkok was even the champion of routes to Europe with more than twenty airlines. The network operated by Thai Airways International extended before the crisis of Madrid in Stockholm andAthens to Paris. All the major European airlines also offered flights to Bangkok. The latest to do so was Poland's LOT present in Singapore since 2019. Some, like Lufthansa, Finnair, Aeroflot or Turkish Airlines landed several times a day in the Thai capital.
Paris-Ho Chi Minh City-Sydney possible in the future...
Still in the region, Singapore Airlines was another airline with a dense network of routes to Europe. With its low-cost subsidiary Scootthe group proposed to routes to 16 European cities by summer 2019. On the other hand, the presence of the following companies was more marginal Garuda Indonesia, Malaysia Airlines, Philippine Airlines, Royal Brunei and Vietnam Airlines. They offered between two and five destinations to Europe. The restructuring of Malaysia Airlines in the early 2010s saw the airline retain only its one stopover in Paris. London. This compares with a network of a dozen cities - including Paris - in the early 2000s.
So the potential is there, and the return to a degree of normality should once again boost air links between Europe and South-East Asia. Hence this latest boost for a Open skies agreement between the European Union and South East Asia. It will be a a historic first because this "Open-Sky" concerns two economic entities not two countries or one bloc + one country.
Announced on 4 June, the EU/ASEAN agreement covers airlines from 37 countries in Europe and South-East Asia. They will be authorised to operate as many routes as they wish between the two zones and also to benefit from fifth freedom rights to a third country.
This freedom is valid for 14 weekly routes. We could, for example, envisage a future daily service between Paris and Sydney via Singapore or even Ho Chi Minh City; or a Thai Airways International flight linking Bangkok to Sydney. Brussels and New York.
The agreement must now be ratified by the two economic blocs. This is expected to happen in November. This will enable a dozen airlines to return en masse for the 2022 season…
