Travellers flying through Chiang Mai during Thailand’s Yi Peng and Loy Krathong celebrations should check their bookings after airlines adjusted schedules for November 21–28.
A November 3 bulletin from Chiang Mai’s public relations office, reporting an airport briefing the previous day, says 108 flights have been cancelled, 80 retimed and 105 extra services added. Those figures reflect airline coordination as of October 30.
Airlines have been asked to avoid flying from 10am to noon on November 24, and from 7pm to 1am the following morning on November 24 and 25. All times are local to Thailand. The windows coincide with planned sky-lantern releases.
The airport expects flights and passengers to be concentrated into shorter operating periods. It is preparing additional screening capacity, coordinating ground transport and encouraging online check-in and self-service facilities.
Passengers are advised to verify flight status with their airline before departure and reach the airport at least two hours before domestic flights or three hours before international services. The announced totals are not a list of affected bookings, and further schedule changes remain possible.
Archive photograph: Chiang Mai airport terminal, taken in February 2009. Photo: Dennis Jarvis / Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0. Not a photograph of the November 2026 event.
