Thousands of passengers stranded at Suvarnabhumi Airport over Pakistan emergency
More than 5,000 passengers were stranded at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport on Wednesday night after many departure flights were cancelled due to the emergency closure of airspace in Pakistan.
Many passengers were left stranded as they were not given advance notice of the cancellations. Some were only notified when they showed up at the check-in counter.
Thai Airways International on Wednesday announced the cancellation of all flights to and from Pakistan and Europe after Pakistan closed its airspace amid rising tensions with India.
Due to safety concerns, the airline has also cancelled all 11 flights from Bangkok to Europe for passengers checking in on Wednesday night and early Thursday morning.
The cancelled flights are: Bangkok-Frankfurt, Bangkok-London, Bangkok -Munich, Bangkok-Paris, Bangkok-Brussels, Bangkok-Milan, Bangkok-Vienna, Bangkok-Stockholm, Bangkok-Zurich, Bangkok-Copenhagen and Bangkok-Oslo.
Inbound flights from the European cities, including Rome, were also cancelled on Wednesday.
THAI said it was closely monitoring the situation and plans to re-route its flights.
Suvarnabhumi Airport provided accommodation for affected passengers while they waited for their next flights and a team was set up at the airport to advise passengers.
However, as of Thursday morning, there was no update when the cancelled flights can resume.
Passengers are advised to check their flight schedule before going to the airport.
For THAI passengers, they can call THAI at +662 356 1111 24 hours or visit www.thaiairways.com for updates on the flight schedule.