Bangkok–Male will be the budget carrier’s first international route to restart since the pandemic began.

With quarantine-free travel between Thailand and the Maldives already a reality for the fully vaccinated, Thai AirAsia has announced that it will restart twice-weekly services to the Indian Ocean archipelago from December 22. Until November 28, promotional fares will be available for travel up to March 26, 2022, with a one-way ticket going for as low as 1,990 baht (roughly US$61).

On Wednesdays, outbound Flight FD175 will leave Don Mueang at 9:45 a.m. and arrive in Male at 12:20 p.m. local time. Return Flight FD176 is then set to take off at 1:25 p.m., returning to Bangkok at 7:55 p.m. after four and a half hours in the air. Meanwhile, Flight FD175 will switch to an evening service on Sundays, with departures scheduled for 5:35 p.m. so travelers will touch down in the Maldives at 8:10 p.m. After a turnaround time of just over an hour, Flight FD176 will leave Male at 9:15 p.m. to reach the Thai capital at 3:45 a.m. the next morning.

Santisuk Klongchaiya, Thai AirAsia’s CEO, said in a statement, “After thoroughly assessing the situation, AirAsia is proud to restart its international services with the Maldives as its first destination.” He added that another factor apart from quarantine-free entry was the fact that Thai visitors do not need to apply for a visa in advance.

Since July 2020, the Maldives has been welcoming fully vaccinated travelers from all countries, so long as they show a negative result from a PCR test taken within 96 hours before departure, and fill out an online health declaration at least 24 hours prior to travel.

Thai residents returning from the Maldives do not need to go into mandatory self-isolation as the country is among the 63 low-risk nations included under Thailand’s Test and Go program. Travelers simply need to register for a Thailand Pass at least seven days ahead of departure and upload the required documentation to tp.consular.go.th.

More information here.