Thailand regains ASEAN aviation second place

Thailand has reclaimed its position as Southeast Asia's second-largest aviation market by scheduled airline seat capacity in September, overtaking Vietnam after two months in third place.

Figures from UK aviation analytics company OAG put Thailand's scheduled capacity at 6.6 million seats this month, 0.2% lower than in September last year. Vietnam recorded 6.4 million seats, despite much stronger annual growth of 9.2%.

The margin is slim, at roughly 200,000 scheduled seats. Indonesia remains ASEAN's largest aviation market, with 10.8 million seats, up 7.3% year on year.

Across Southeast Asia, airlines are offering 48 million scheduled seats in September, a 2% increase from a year earlier.

Vietnam led during July and August

Vietnam moved ahead of Thailand in July and stayed there in August. It had 7.27 million scheduled seats in August, up 10% from a year earlier, while Thailand had 7.19 million, down 1.7%.

Vietnam's rise was supported by domestic travel demand. Domestic capacity increased 13.8% to more than 4.7 million seats.

Thailand's capacity, meanwhile, fell at Don Mueang Airport, where Thai AirAsia reduced scheduled seats by 23.4% year on year. The carrier had already cut capacity earlier in the year as higher fuel costs linked to conflict in the Middle East added pressure to operations.

Thai Airways plans winter route increases

Thailand's return to second place this month does not include Thai Airways' planned expansion for the 2026/27 winter timetable, running from October 25 to March 27.

The national carrier will operate 66 routes during the winter schedule. Bangkok-Munich services will increase to 10 flights a week, Bangkok-Paris to 14, Bangkok-Hong Kong to 35 and Bangkok-Vientiane to 21 weekly flights.

AirAsia was ASEAN's largest airline by scheduled seat capacity in September, with 2.38 million seats, although that was 15.7% below last year. Vietnam Airlines ranked second with 2.25 million seats, up 10.7%, followed by Lion Air with 2.23 million seats, down 9.3%.

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12 September 2026