The Thai Airways International (THAI) announced Wednesday that it decided to begin a new three-flight-weekly operation on the route between Bangkok and Chengdu, Southwest China, from January 2002.

Chengdu's location made it a gateway to Tibet and the city has become very popular with travelers from Europe and the United States, THAI explained in a fax to Xinhua, adding that hosting the Wolong panda sanctuary, the surrounding province of Sichuan also attracted a lot of attention from conservationists and tourists, especially from Thailand and Japan.

THAI which is aiming to increase the number of passengers by 7 percent annually expected high revenues from this route, the airline said.

Thailand's second national carrier, Angel Air, suspended the service to Chengdu last year due to financial difficulties.

( People's Daily November 29, 2001)