Thai AirAsia and Thai Lion Air will likely be the first to resume domestic flights, starting May 1, according to aviation authorities.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand met with 20 airlines on Thursday.
CAAT director Chula Sukmanop said Thai AirAsia would resume domestic services on May 1 while Thai Lion Air would rather wait to see whether the state of emergency would be extended from April 30.
The routes each airline will resume depend on the lockdown status of each province since some have closed their airports.
“We have required airlines to sell tickets for 70% of the capacity of each plane by taking into account social distancing,” Mr Chula said.
Flights longer than 90 minutes must set aside seats in the last two rows in case someone falls sick on board, he said.
Passengers must wear masks at all times. No food and drinks will be served or allowed on flights either because masks will have to be removed while eating, he added.
Mr Chula said although airlines were not allowed to raise fares at the moment, they might be higher, but not more than the ceiling of 9.40 baht per kilometre, compared to 3-5 baht used by airlines now. “Too expensive fares will backfire as people will stop using the services.”
On international flights, no airlines have made requests to resume flights, he said.
