Guwahati, June 9: Air India is planning to introduce flights to Bangkok (Thailand) and Kunming (China) from the city.

Air India chairman and managing director Ashwani Lohani said here today that the plan was to have three flights a week to these destinations.

The national carrier will hold talks with tour operators to finalise which destination is most viable, he added.

The Air India had introduced a Guwahati-Bangkok flight in 2002 but had stopped it in 2008 because of mounting losses. At present Druk Air of Bhutan is the only airline flying to an international destination- Paro in Bhutan from Guwahati.

The national carrier today announced new flights to boost the Northeast's connectivity with many cities of the country. It will soon introduce a late evening flight between Guwahati and New Delhi, taking the number of flights on this route to two. There will be a Calcutta-Guwahati flight staring tomorrow.

Lohani met chief secretary V.K. Pipersenia today and discussed the plans.

An ATR flight service from Guwahati to Dibrugarh and Pasighat (Arunachal Pradesh) and back will start in September. A Delhi-Dibrugarh flight will operate from November and a Guwahati-Mumbai/ Hyderabad flight from December.

He said the national carrier was doing well in the Northeast with a 17 per cent market share. Its occupancy rate hovers between 71 and 73 per cent and it operates 24 flights daily to the Northeast. "The Delhi-Guwahati-Imphal is the most profitable route," he said.

The CII and Yi (Young Indians), its youth wing, made a strong pitch for a direct flight by Air India between Guwahati and Bangkok. During an interactive session here today, CII Assam state council chairman S.K. Barua said a Bangkok-Guwahati flight would help to promote tourism. Lohani said, "Please write to me. We will certainly take your proposal forward."