Protesters let empty planes to leave Thailand’s Suvarnabhumi Airport

After a week-long shutdown of Bangkok’s International Airport (Suvarnabhumi Airport) following anti-government protests, 37 empty aircraft have been allowed to leave the airport. Around 300,000 travellers had been stranded in Thailand following the shutdown of the international terminal.

Thousands of anti-government protestors had stormed the Suvarnabhumi Airport terminal on November 25, 2008, leaving 88 planes stranded on the tarmac.

Thailand’s media quoted Serirat Prasutanond, general manager of Suvarnabhumi Airport, as saying: “More airlines are coming to take their planes out once the crew and pilots are ready.

Weerasak Kohsurat, Thailand’s Tourism Minister, said about 300,000 travellers had been trapped in Thailand and that it may take one month to repatriate all of them.

“The U-Tapao military airfield,” Weerasak said, “is very crowded now. We will divert some flights to two airports in Nakhon Ratchasima province. Chiang Mai and Phuket will also help send stranded passengers out.”

Members of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) –consisting mostly of the middle- class people in Bangkok, royalists and civil servants – had forced a shutdown the Suvarnabhumi International Airport and Don Mueang domestic airport to pressure Thailand’s Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat to resign.

The protestors accuse Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat of being a proxy of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The news agency Reuters reported that the main international terminal can still be accessed, including areas housing the immigration checkpoints and x-ray machines, though there were no signs of people or looting. It quote an official of Suvarnabhumi Airport as saying that the airport will take at least a week from the time the protesters leave because of security and technical system checks.

Suvarnabhumi International Airport, according to the official, would be closed until 6 p.m. on December 3, 2008, and Don Mueang domestic airport will be closed until 9 a.m. on December 2, 2008. “The closures may be extended depending on events,” he added.

About 40,000 travellers have left Thailand since the closure of the nation’s two main airports. The Thai government has turned the Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre into a check-in terminal to help ease the pressure on airports, including the U-Tapao military airfield.

Cathay Pacific Airways and Singapore Airlines are among the airlines using the U-Tapao military airfield, located east of Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, to evacuate passengers.

“Singapore Airlines, which has one Boeing 777 aircraft grounded at Suvarnabhumi Airport, will continue to operate twice-daily services between Singapore and U-Tapao at least until December 3, 2008,” Chew Choon Seng, chief executive officer of Singapore Airlines, was quoted as saying. “It is a difficult situation for the government and authorities. In due course, we will offer them some of our comments. At this point in time, we have to leave it to the authorities, in their wisdom, to manage the situation.”

Qantas Airways, the flag carrier of Australia and the country’s largest airline, will operate a second relief flight between Phuket in Thailand and Singapore early on December 3, 2008, a statement from the company said. Alan Joyce, chief executive officer of Qantas Airways, said in the statement: “We have been doing everything possible to support our customers and other Australians in Thailand.”

Over 300 travellers from Hong Kong returned to Hong Kong on a Hong Kong Dragon Airlines flight from Phuket.

Japan’s All Nippon Airways is using a special flight from U-Tapao airport to fly stranded passengers.

Air France-KLM Group, Europe’s biggest airline, also is planning to fly stranded travellers from Phuket to Amsterdam and Paris.