hi Lara
I've always started my flights from Aberdeen, but obviously had to connect through London.Its bad enough with the flight time without taking the car down to Manchester as well! As for what is cheaper, there isn't really an answer to that. I've gone with Kuoni and BA holidays and also DIY. Apart from the first time I went( with BA holidays) I researched all options every time. Its worth all the research- honestly! For DIY - its easy to arrange hotel accomodation and internal flights are straightforward too. Yes- April is a great time to go.
Just ask here and we can help!

Emirates fly from Glasgow but you will have to change at Dubai, but that may be preferable to hauling your way down to London. I've used Amsterdam as a hub with China Airlines flying from my local airport on KLM.

All direct flights to Thailand go from London Heathrow (par a sporadic, and recently cancelled Thomson Charter to Phuket - correct me if still running). Do avoid Heathrow like the plague.

From Scotland you have Air France (via Paris - not much better), KLM via Amsterdam, Lufthansa (Nice!), but everytime i'd go Emirates from Glasgow via Dubai. Good connections, nice prices, fab airline. Manchester's not really better than Scotland, although you may get a really cheap price with Qatar Airways.

Glasgow is fine if you live nearby. If you don't fancy taking the car though just give plenty of connection time and Heathrow is ok. Was there on 7th July this year and there were no problems.

I heard rumours that Thai will be flying direct flights from Manchester..any one got news on this?

That's quite an old one Thai and Manchester, i've been hearing it for a few years.

As Malaysian & Cathay Pacific have discovered in recent years there is not quite enough traffic to justify a non-stop Asia flight from Manchester.

Truth is Thai are government run, and never quite have their fingers on the pulse, which to me means there is every possibility they might try a Manchester flight! If Emirates can fly from Newcastle, anything's possible!

Hi

Thanks for all the replies, really helpful. Think the best option for us is probably to fly from Glasgow stopping in Dubai, just at the planning stage so plenty time to sort things out.

Lara

The Dubai stopover has the advantage of splitting the long plane journey and if you have long enough you'll have time to look at the airport shops
However, look at all options and price them up.

A Manchester flight to Bangkok would be a dream come true for me , but I won't hold my breath .....................

Although travel duration via the Middle East is longer, I find I seem to suffer less jet lag than I do on a direct flight. The chance of stretching your legs and breathing real air at the transit airport seems to help in this.