As Lunar New Year celebrations usher in the Year of the Horse, Emirates is marking one of the busiest travel periods across Southeast Asia with a suite of festive onboard experiences and expanded insights into how travellers to and from Thailand are flying during the holiday period. Lunar New Year remains one of the most significant travel moments in the region, bringing together family reunions, leisure travel and international getaways.
Lunar New Year travel trends across Thailand
Emirates February 2026 booking data highlights the scale and diversity of Lunar New Year travel across the market. Thailand’s Lunar New Year travel patterns according to Emirates’ travel booking data for February 2026 remain predominantly leisure-led, with inbound demand strongest from Germany, the UK, Russia, France and Hong Kong. This reflects Thailand’s continued appeal as a festive season escape for international travellers. Inbound travellers are mainly couples (30%), solo travellers (45%), families (11%) and groups (12%), underscoring the holiday’s role as a leisure travel period rather than a family reunion season. Outbound, Thai travellers are favouring short-haul and regional destinations during the Lunar New Year period, with Hong Kong, Da Nang and Dubai ranking as the most popular. Outbound travel is led by solo travellers (48%) and couples (25%), with groups (15%) and families (9%) making up the remainder. A significant share of trips are taken for weekend breaks or visiting friends and relatives.
For Thai travellers, Lunar New Year functions primarily as a leisure travel window, with strong demand for regional short breaks and selective long-haul trips, driving the need for flexible, high-frequency connectivity.
Festive Lunar New Year experiences onboard Emirates
To celebrate the Year of the Horse, Emirates is offering customers travelling over the Lunar New Year period a range of thoughtfully curated festive experiences both on the ground and in the air. From 17 to 19 February 2026, travellers can enjoy special Lunar New Year-inspired hot meals and desserts in select Emirates lounges in Dubai (DXB), Singapore (SIN), Bangkok (BKK), Beijing (PEK), Shanghai (PVG) and Hong Kong (HKG), where seasonal touches and celebratory flavours reflect the traditions of the season.
In Thailand, Emirates customers travelling through Bangkok can enjoy festive Lunar New Year dining in the Emirates Lounge at Suvarnabhumi Airport from 17 to 19 February. Seasonal highlights include assorted dim sum, Szechuan beef, sweet and sour seabass and chicken corn egg drop soup, alongside celebratory desserts such as orange mousse cake and orange choux cream.
Complementing the festive food and service touches, Emirates’ award-winning inflight entertainment system, ice, offers customers a rich Lunar New Year viewing and listening experience. Alongside a dedicated Chinese-language collection, customers travelling from Thailand, can enjoy a wide selection of movies, TV programmes and music available in Thai, such as DUNE, How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies, and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, allowing travellers to enjoy familiar stories and sounds throughout their journey.
Connecting Southeast Asia to the world during peak travel periods
With its global network spanning six continents, Emirates continues to play a key role in connecting Southeast Asia with major international destinations during high-demand periods such as Lunar New Year.