Hundreds of people across the entire spectrum of the Thai travel and tourism industry are working round-the-clock to help the thousands of tourists seeking to be reunited with their friends and families in the wake of the closure of Bangkok’s two airports. Even as negotiations continue at the political level to resolve the week-long standoff, the airports, airlines, aviation authorities, officials at the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Interior, and Tourism and Sports, as well as the Tourism Authority of Thailand and…
Hundreds of people across the entire spectrum of the Thai travel and tourism industry are working round-the-clock to help the thousands of tourists seeking to be reunited with their friends and families in the wake of the closure of Bangkok’s two airports.
Even as negotiations continue at the political level to resolve the week-long standoff, the airports, airlines, aviation authorities, officials at the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Interior, and Tourism and Sports, as well as the Tourism Authority of Thailand and the entire private sector have been mobilised to help the stranded visitors in the best way possible.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has set up the Emergency Coordinating Centre to assist foreigners who need to contact their embassies and consulates. In addition to assisting foreigners to return home, the Thai government also has to deal with the monumental task of helping to bring many Thai nationals home. Tourists have been accommodated at the many hotels in and around Bangkok which have offered assistance and the next phase is now under way, slowly sending the tourists back to their home countries through alternative airports.
Mr. Charivat Santabutra, Deputy Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs said, “The Royal Thai Government deeply regrets that travel plans of foreign visitors have been affected by the recent events. The welfare and safety of all foreign visitors is a top government priority.”
With some emergency flights being operated from other airports, especially the U-tapao Naval Base further south of Pattaya beach resort, city terminals have been established in designated hotels and at the Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre (BITEC) for tourists to undergo early check-in procedures.
The Aviation Department is working to expedite issuance of special permission to charter flights being operated to/from U-Tapao International Airport. It has already agreed to grant permission to all the flights. The Immigration Bureau has announced that the foreigners whose visas will expire during the standoff will be exempted from paying the fines upon presentation of valid passports and air tickets showing their original departure date and time.
Hospitals nationwide will be asked to service stranded foreign tourists without charge, according to the Ministry of Public Health.
Public Health Ministry permanent secretary Prat Boonyawongvirot said the Minister of Public Health ordered him to officially notify all provincial governors to provide health care for foreigners stranded by the closure of the two Bangkok airports. This would be achieved by having both public and private hospitals providing care for the stranded tourists while the Ministry of Public Health handles all expenses, according to Dr Prat.
Jet Airways operates relief flights into and out of Thailand
Jet Airways has mounted relief operations for transporting stranded passengers at Bangkok, due to the political unrest in Thailand and consequent closure of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. Since Wednesday, 26 November, 2008, Jet Airways is operating relief flights into and out of Utaphao, a naval base airport in Thailand, from its gateway points Mumbai & Kolkata. Having deployed Boeing 737-800 aircraft for these operations, Jet Airways has uplifted close to 1000 passengers until date, and is currently reviewing the situation in order to plan subsequent flights, in the days to come.
For the convenience of its customers, Jet Airways’ has also set up a coordination cell, for managing the bookings and handling of its stranded travellers. Customers wanting to travel out of Thailand may call the Jet Airways Bangkok city office to register themselves on telephone number +662 696 8980 (local dial 02 696 8980). Jet Airways will advise all registered customers details of reporting time and place for its complimentary bus service to Utaphao airport, a 2 hour journey from Bangkok. Priority in confirming bookings will be given based on the customer’s original flight date.
Based on the current flight schedules ex-Utaphao the bus timings are 2 pm for the Mumbai bound and 5 pm for the Kolkata bound customers respectively. Jet Airways customers have the option of visiting the airline website www.jetairways.com, for updated information.
In addition, Jet Airways has announced the waiver of cancellation/reissue charges on all confirmed tickets issued for travel into and out of Bangkok on Jet Airways flights up to the travel date of 05 December, 2008 and will allow involuntary rerouting without any penalties/additional charges for customers affected by its cancelled flights.
Jet Airways will further assist stranded customers in Bangkok who are able to travel out of airports such as Kuala Lumpur, Singapore or Hong Kong, by accepting their Bangkok -India flight coupons for use on those flights. However, any transfer costs from Bangkok to those airports will be at their own cost.
Etihad relief jets fly 1,000 Brits from Thailand
Etihad Airways operated its fifth special flight yesterday (Tuesday 2 December) from Thailand to help British travellers stranded since last week’s civil unrest shut Bangkok airport with the carrier set to fly twice a day from tomorrow. The national airline of the UAE has flown 1,000 British passengers out of a total of 1,600 so far from U-Tapao airport in Thailand to its home base of Abu Dhabi and onwards to London and Manchester. A further 400 passengers will travel this evening on the airline’s fifth special flight to Abu Dhabi and connect on to other destinations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Etihad Airways is finalising plans to start two flights a day for stranded travellers from tomorrow with one aircraft operating from U-Tapao and the other flying from Phuket.
Captain Richard Hill, the airline’s executive vice president operations, said: “We’ve flown in extra staff from our Abu Dhabi headquarters to Thailand to help our full time team based there to try and help run the operation more smoothly and efficiently for travellers who understandably are keen to return home as soon as possible to see their loved ones.”
Etihad relief flight EY408 departs Abu Dhabi airport at 1400 local time (1000 GMT, 1700 Thailand time) to arrive at U-Tapao airport in Thailand at 0100 local time (2200 Abu Dhabi time,1800 GMT). The return flight EY401 departs U-Tapao airport at 0500 local time (0200 Abu Dhabi time, 2200 GMT) and arrives in Abu Dhabi at 0900 local time (1200 Thailand time, 0500 GMT).
The airline suspended its double daily service to Suvarnabhumi airport following its closure on Wednesday evening, November 26. Services will be resumed when the airport reopens.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales. She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
