Norse Atlantic launches flights from Manchester to Bangkok

Norse Atlantic Airways, or simply Norse, has launched its first flights from Manchester, United Kingdom, to Bangkok, Thailand, with the destination being one of the top unserved destinations from the north of the UK.

On November 27, 2025, Norse’s first flight from Manchester Airport (MAN) to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) took off, marking the first time that the two airports had a direct connection since at least 2000, according to Cirium’s Diio Mi.

The Boeing 787-9, registered in the UK as G-CKWP, operating the flight, departed MAN at 1:42 local time (UTC +0), and landed at BKK at 20:10 local time (UTC +7), according to Flightradar24 records. The flight’s scheduled departure time was 23:30 on November 26, per the flight tracking service.

According to Jonathan Keenan-O’Connor, the Head of Aviation at MAN, BKK “has long been one of the top unserved destinations from the North of the UK, with more than 200k passengers travelling from the Manchester catchment to the Thai capital each year via other indirect services.”

“Given the unprecedented demand, it was unsurprising to see the inaugural flight departing with a load factor of 95%!”

Norse announced the route in July, affirming that more than 100,000 passengers had been flying from MAN to BKK indirectly, and another 100,000 leaking to other airports, with the airline adding that the route marked “a bold step in addressing the region’s largest underserved long-haul market.”

The once-per-week flights will continue flying on Wednesdays during the winter season, with Norse teasing that there is “potential for expansion based on demand.” Cirium’s Diio Mi showed that flights between MAN and BKK have so far been scheduled until March 2026.

In addition to the MAN-BKK route, on October 26, Norse began flying between London Gatwick Airport (LGW) and BKK, which was its first route between the UK and Asia. The itinerary is scheduled to fly four times per week and run until March 2026 as well.

Other options to fly from the UK to BKK in November include British Airways’ LGW-MAN service, which, incidentally, does not fly on Wednesdays, THAI Airways' double-daily flights from London Heathrow Airport (LHR) to BKK, and EVA Air’s daily LHR to BKK connection, which then continues to Taipei Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) under a single itinerary, flight BR 68.

In November, Norse also has flights from Oslo Gardemoen Airport (OSL) and Stockholm Arlanda Airport (ARN) to BKK, with its other long-haul connections being from LGW to Cape Town International Airport (CPT), New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), and Orlando International Airport (MCO), and from Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO) to JFK.

In December, it will also begin flying from OSL and ARN to another airport in Thailand, Phuket International Airport (HKT).

When Norse announced its Q3 results on November 26, which included a $7.8 million net loss, Bjørn Tore Larsen, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the airline, said that its winter program, which focused on routes from Europe to Asia and Africa, reflected its strategy to “tap into seasonally stronger demand.”

Norse currently has 12 787-9s in its fleet, half of which are going to fly long-haul itineraries on behalf of IndiGo, with five having already been delivered to the Indian airline, while the remaining 787-9 aircraft will continue flying its own scheduled network.

Larsen pointed out that “predictable ACMI revenue and cash flow will strengthen our strategic and financial position as we optimize our own network, flying routes with maximum passenger and fare potential.”