Ash-cloud passenger backlog is cleared
Published: 29/04/2010 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: Business
The backlog of passengers stranded in Bangkok by European airspace closures after a volcano in Iceland erupted was cleared yesterday.
The last batch of 395 passengers, most of whom were camping out at Suvarnabhumi Airport, left on a Thai Airways International (THAI) B747 jumbo jet for Stockholm yesterday afternoon.
Their departure prompted Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) on Tuesday night to shut down a shelter on the B1 level of Suvarnabhumi Airport's passenger terminal that had provided stranded passengers with amenities such as meals, drinks, blankets and shower facilities.
THAI president Piyasvasti Amranand said yesterday that about 15,000 THAI passengers affected by the European airspace closure since April 15 had been transported to their destinations in Thailand and Europe.
The passengers had travelled on 28 supplementary flights and on regular flights that resumed on April 20 as the continent's airspace gradually reopened.
From April 16-23, 115 flights on European routes were cancelled - 59 outbound from Bangkok and 56 inbound.
Yesterday, some 700 THAI passengers still affected by the closure of European airports, which have now re-opened, opted to travel on regular THAI flights.
Other international carriers with flights to Europe have also cleared their backlog of stranded passengers, some as early as last weekend. About 70% to 80% of passengers stranded in Bangkok were THAI ticket holders.
The flag carrier will soon start counting its costs from the European flight disruptions, but it earlier announced it was losing revenue of at least 100 million baht a day.
AoT said the shelter for stranded passengers at Suvarnabhumi may have cost the airport authority a million baht, since assistance such as meals, beverage and blankets was provided by THAI and organisations such as the Saha Group.
Nirandra Theeranartsin, general manager of Suvarnabhumi Airport, said AoT is prepared to absorb such costs.
"I think the most important thing is for us to leave a good impression with them (stranded passengers) and that they were taken care of here," he said.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/aviation/36672/ash-cloud-passenger-backlog-is-cleared