Chiang Mai Flights. Information on Flights to and from Chiang Mai

Updated 3rd Sep 2026

Scheduled flights to Chiang Mai use Chiang Mai International Airport (CNX), which is operated by Airports of Thailand (AOT) and has been open around the clock since April 2014. It has two terminals, and it is the fourth busiest airport in the country by passenger numbers, at about 9.5 million passengers in 2025 on Airports of Thailand figures.

This page covers the flying: which of Bangkok's two airports you end up at, the other places Chiang Mai pairs with, and the two parts of the year that change what you should book. Terminals, shuttle counters, the taxi rank and the car park are on the Chiang Mai Airport page.

Which Bangkok airport you fly into

Bangkok has two airports, and which one you use is decided by the airline you book. Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) is 596 kilometres from Chiang Mai and Don Mueang International Airport (DMK) is 568 kilometres, both measured as a straight line between airports, with Bangkok lying south-south-east. In the air that is typically about an hour and a quarter to Don Mueang and about an hour and 25 minutes to Suvarnabhumi.

Mixing the two shows up on the ground: landing at one Bangkok airport and leaving from the other means crossing the city by road, so an itinerary that uses both has to have that time built into the day. Which airline uses which airport is set out in the Thailand airlines comparison.

That split moved during 2026. Thai AirAsia said in its own announcement of 27 August 2026 that it returns to Suvarnabhumi on 1 October 2026 with three domestic routes, Chiang Mai among them, while Don Mueang stays its main Bangkok base.

What that airline flies from Suvarnabhumi has changed more than once during 2026, so a booking made around that date is worth checking against the airline for the Bangkok airport it actually uses.

Routes beyond Bangkok

This site holds route pages for the airport pairs below, in both directions, and they reach well beyond Bangkok. Each one carries the schedule collected for that pair along with the booking form. That schedule is historical rather than live, and the route page says so.

Pair	From Chiang Mai	To Chiang Mai
Bangkok	Chiang Mai to Bangkok	Bangkok to Chiang Mai
Phuket	Chiang Mai to Phuket	Phuket to Chiang Mai
Krabi	Chiang Mai to Krabi	Krabi to Chiang Mai
Koh Samui	Chiang Mai to Koh Samui	Koh Samui to Chiang Mai
Surat Thani	Chiang Mai to Surat Thani	Surat Thani to Chiang Mai
Hat Yai	Chiang Mai to Hat Yai	Hat Yai to Chiang Mai
Khon Kaen	Chiang Mai to Khon Kaen	Khon Kaen to Chiang Mai
Udon Thani	Chiang Mai to Udon Thani	Udon Thani to Chiang Mai
Hua Hin	Chiang Mai to Hua Hin	Hua Hin to Chiang Mai
Pattaya	Chiang Mai to Pattaya	Pattaya to Chiang Mai

Those pairs take in the south, the north-east and the eastern seaboard as well as the capital. How domestic flying in Thailand works more generally is in the guide to domestic flights in Thailand, and baggage, check-in and fare conditions belong to each airline's own page here.

Northern routes that have stopped, and airlines that no longer fly at all

Bangkok Airways suspended its Bangkok Suvarnabhumi service to Mae Hong Son, which routed via Lampang, from 1 July 2025, and its Bangkok Suvarnabhumi to Lampang service from 26 October 2025. The airline gave fleet maintenance and commercial considerations as its reason.

Ezy Airlines announced on 25 July 2026 that it would fly Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son and Chiang Mai to Pai from October 2026. On 25 August 2026 the Bangkok Post reported the northern plan suspended, with the Mae Hong Son governor attributing it to a per-landing aircraft parking charge at Chiang Mai airport that is the same whatever the size of the aircraft. The aeroplane for those routes was to be a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX with 12 seats, about ten of them for passengers, and a charge levied at one rate regardless of size falls hardest on an aeroplane that small.

As of that report, the flights are not operating. The attraction of the plan was the time it saved: 35 to 40 minutes in the air against a road journey of about six to seven hours, which is the journey it was meant to replace.

Two airlines with pages on this site have not flown for years. Kan Air was grounded on 21 April 2017 with both of its aircraft out of service, and is presumed defunct. Thai Smile flew its last service on 31 December 2023 and the brand ended the following day, its fleet moving to Thai Airways.

Yi Peng, and the nights flights move

Yi Peng and Loy Krathong fall on the full moon of the twelfth lunar month, usually in November, and the date moves each year. This is the lantern festival, and it moves flights. Releasing a lantern inside the airport's aviation safety zone is prohibited by provincial announcement, and that zone runs 4.6 kilometres either side of the runway and 18.5 kilometres beyond each end.

On 5 and 6 November 2025 the airport ended operations by 19:00 and reported 161 flights cancelled or rescheduled around those two nights, with 44 extra services added afterwards. On 8 and 9 November 2022 the equivalent figures were 55 cancelled and 14 rescheduled. Both sets are counts for a single festival in a single year.

In 2025 the airport set out its position about a week before the festival, so a flight booked months earlier can still be moved close to the date. If your dates fall near the November full moon, check the flight itself before you build the rest of the trip around the festival.

Flying in the burning season

The months a traveller would otherwise choose for Chiang Mai are the months the authorities have designated for pollution control. The National Environment Board declared Chiang Mai, together with Chiang Rai, Lamphun and Mae Hong Son, a pollution control zone in 2025, covering February to May each year. On 2 January 2026 the provincial governor signed an announcement prohibiting open burning outside designated fuel-management zones between 1 January and 31 May 2026.

That is the dry, warm half of the northern year, so the months that look best for weather are the ones the designation covers. Arrivals at Chiang Mai have been turned back or diverted during past burning seasons, on dates that are now more than seven years old. What the season does to the city itself is on the Chiang Mai destination guide.

The overnight train

Between Bangkok and Chiang Mai the sleeper train is a genuine alternative. The line is roughly 750 kilometres of track and scheduled journeys run from about 10 hours 20 minutes to about 14 hours, against roughly an hour and a quarter in the air. Published timings differ between sources, so the railway's own timetable is the one to work from.

The trade is a night on the train against a short flight plus whatever each airport takes out of the day at either end.

Before you book

Chiang Mai airport's own site advises allowing at least two hours before boarding. The route pages carry the schedule and the booking form, and the airline pages carry the allowances and the fare conditions that decide what your ticket actually includes.

Where to eat once you land is on the Chiang Mai food guide. If your dates fall in November, or between February and May, settle the festival question and the air question before you commit to them.