Local airlines may have maintained their flight operations to Bangkok, Thailand despite the ongoing political unrest, but that doesn't necessarily mean that more Filipino tourists continue to travel there, an industry expert said Tuesday.

In a phone interview with abs-cbnNEWS.com, aviation expert Benjamin Solis said local carriers are not cancelling their Bangkok flights despite the current political environment as they will be held liable for the return of their passengers.

"They may really have more passengers to and from Bangkok, but even if the plane is empty they'd still be obligated to go back," he said.

It may be expensive for local airlines to mount flights to Bangkok despite the drop in demand as caused by the political unrest. But cancelling flights, Solis said, may translate to even bigger losses for airlines in the long run.

"Passengers who are stuck in Bangkok may sue their airline for not going back for them," he said, adding that such will affect the airline's reputation and, eventually, company revenues.

The current political tension in Bangkok, Solis said, is less significant for airlines compared to the shutdown of Bangkok's international airport last year, which has forced them to cancel flights to and from the area. 

"The unrest in Bangkok is quite far from the airport," Solis explained, saying that airlines won't be cancelling their operations as they are highly unlikely to be caught in the political conflict there.

Despite this, Solis expressed optimism that airlines will manage to sustain losses incurred from their non-cancellation of flights to Bangkok. "This should be resolved in a week," he said, adding that airlines can eventually make up for these in the long run.

Last year, the Philippines and Thailand have signed an amended air services agreement, increasing weekly seat entitlements for the Manila-Thailand route to 5,400 from 3,700, and opening new destination points such as Clark, Cebu, and Davao.

The deal also paved the way for the entry of budget airlines Zest Air and Cebu Pacific. Before the agreement, only flagship carrier Philippine airlines has mounted flights to Thailand.