On March 28, Lt. Col. Sutirawat Suwanwattan, Director of Suvarnabhumi Airport, Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited (AOT), revealed that the closure of airspace by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan due to the conflict with the Republic of India has affected flights to Pakistan and European countries. At Suvarnabhumi Airport, two airlines were impacted: Thai Airways and EVA Air. On February 27, 2019, three flights had to return to Suvarnabhumi, and there were requests to cancel flights between February 27-28, 2019, totaling 16 incoming flights and 20 outgoing flights, affecting approximately 4,900 passengers. Initially, EVA Air has managed to ensure that there are no stranded passengers at Suvarnabhumi.

           Lt. Col. Sutirawat continued that AOT has provided areas for passengers to wait, along with water and snacks to care for those affected. Staff have been assigned to assist and provide information to passengers at the Thai Airways check-in counters, and parking spaces for aircraft have been allocated to ensure full operational efficiency. However, this incident has not only caused a crisis at Thai airports but has also affected airports in Southeast Asia.

           Mr. Teera Buasri, Director of Ground Service Control at Thai Airways International Public Company Limited, stated that approximately 4,000 Thai Airways passengers were affected by this incident, including about 800 passengers from flights returning to Suvarnabhumi. Hotels have been arranged for their accommodation, and 11 flights to Europe have been canceled, affecting around 3,200 passengers connecting from various countries to Thai Airways. Currently, about 1,000 passengers have been managed to travel to their destinations, leaving 3,000 still being processed. It is expected that within three days, there will be no stranded passengers.

           Mr. Teera further explained that the management of passengers will involve coordination with partner airlines to check which airlines have flights available to Europe with vacant seats. Passengers may be redirected to other airlines; for example, some airlines have available seats on flights from Bangkok to Singapore, allowing passengers to connect from Singapore to Frankfurt, Germany, or from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, then Chiang Mai to Doha, and finally Doha to Frankfurt. This method is necessary as it is acknowledged that regular flights directly to Europe are currently fully booked.

           Currently, Thai Airways has prepared special flights at three routes: TG 916 from Bangkok to London (UK), TG 9749 from Bangkok to Moscow (Russia), and TG 9269 from Bangkok to Frankfurt (Germany). These routes were previously operated on February 27 but had to return to Suvarnabhumi. However, they are now awaiting a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) from Pakistan, which has preliminarily informed that airspace will reopen at 5:00 AM on March 1, 2019. Once opened, Thai Airways will be able to operate immediately, with TG 916 departing from Suvarnabhumi around 6:00 AM, and TG 9749 and TG 9269 departing around 12:30 PM. It is expected that these three flights will be able to carry approximately 1,000 passengers.

 

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