Lufthansa Group, a global aviation group, is banking on growth in Southeast Asia as flight frequency has already reached pre-pandemic levels, recovering more quickly than it has in North Asia.
The airline plans to use Airbus A380s to serve Bangkok as its first destination in the region during the high season.
Elise Becker, vice-president of airline sales for Asia-Pacific, said the group is very confident about the region, particularly Thailand, which is expected to post a strong performance during the high season.
The group operates 21 flights between Bangkok and its three hubs in Europe: Munich, Zurich and Vienna.
Some 60% of passengers on the carrier's routes serving Thailand were European, with the remainder comprising Thais and other travellers from Southeast Asia.
It is also operating 2-3 flights per week between Zurich and Phuket during this year's high season.
Regarding other routes in the region, the carrier has resumed daily flights from Singapore, another hub in this region, to Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich.
Meanwhile, as countries in North Asia were slower in reopening their borders than countries in Southeast Asia, their rates of recovery are still falling below the level recorded in 2019 at the moment, said Ms Becker.
For example, the airline is only able to serve half of the capacity recorded prior to the pandemic on routes serving Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
The closure of Russian airspace also posed challenges in terms of restoring flight frequency in North Asia, which incurred higher costs from the revision of the routes, which resulted in the duration of flights increasing.
With high fuel prices, a shortage of staff and global supply chain disruption hitting the aviation industry, this led to delays in the delivery of aircraft.
Lufthansa Group has 700 aircraft in its fleet, while it has ordered 200 more, including A350s, A321neos, A320s, Boeing 787s and 777-9Xs.
The group aims to recover to the pre-pandemic level by 2025, banking on Southeast Asia's growing economy and middle class.
It continues to use Bangkok and Singapore as transit hubs for Europe, said Sabrina Winter, senior director, regional sales Southeast Asia and Pacific.
For example, it can attract visitors from Vietnam and the Philippines via Thai Airways, its Star Alliance partner.
Lufthansa will start flying A380s with a capacity of 509 passengers from Munich to Bangkok on Oct 29, said Anlee Do, general manager Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines & the Mekong region.
It is the fourth destination for this type of aircraft, following New York, Boston and Los Angeles.
At present, the group has eight A380s, of which three are still parked.
Ms Becker said the group is currently studying the possibility of continuing to use this kind of aircraft to serve Bangkok during seasonal periods next year.
Lufthansa will keep using its largest aircraft -- A380s and Boeing 747s -- and does not plan to retire them from the fleet in the near future.