Bangalore, Oct 25 (IANS): Low-cost carrier SpiceJet Friday launched a direct service to Bangkok from here to fly mainly business and leisure travellers to one of the popular holiday destinations in southeast Asia.

Operating the service four days a week - Friday, Sunday, Monday and Wednesday - in both directions, the private airline has priced the one-way fare at Rs.7,999 and offers connections from other cities on its network through Bangalore.

"We are flying the new generation Boeing 737-800 aircraft with 180 seats on this new route, which is our 10th overseas destination," SpiceJet vice-president Kamal Hingorani told reporters on the occasion.

The airline hopes to fly with near capacity as Bangkok is one of the most sought-after tourist destinations for Indians, especially the generation next families of the knowledge sector.

"We have been expanding our global footprint in the recent past by adding more cities in the Gulf and Asian regions on our international network. We will explore more destinations for direct flights and better connectivity for onward journey towards west," said commercial vice-president V. Raja.

The airline daily operates 350 flights to 45 cities across the country and nine overseas destinations.

"We are starting direct flights between Madurai (in Tamil Nadu) and Dubai (in United Arab Emirates) from Nov 22," Hingorani said.

The airline commenced a direct service to Sharjah (in UAE) from Pune Sep 21.