Etihad to resume Thailand flights

Etihad Airways is to resume its flights between the capital and Bangkok following a week of political unrest in Thailand.

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Etihad Airways is to resume its flights between the capital and Bangkok tomorrow, following a week of occupation by anti-government protesters in Thailand. The national airline's twice-a-day flight programme will be supported by additional charter flights to bring travellers stranded in Thailand to Abu Dhabi, said Captain Richard Hill, the executive vice president of operations for Etihad. "We are extremely pleased to resume our twice-a-day flights to Suvarnabhumi airport, as well as to operate an additional charter service which will run until we are happy that all of our customers have returned home to their families and friends," he said. The additional charter flights will help bring home more than 3,000 passengers from Thailand. The additional charter flights will run until Dec 8 to ensure Etihad brings more than 3,000 passengers in the next three days from Thailand. On Nov 25, demonstrators from the People's Alliance for Democracy stormed Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi interionational airport, interrupting air links to the rest of the world. Hundreds of thousands of travellers were stranded by the civil unrest. During the occupation, Etihad flew six "special relief" flights from the U-Tapao naval base in eastern Thailand to carry more than 2,500 people onwards to their connecting flights to Europe, Africa and the Middle East. mkwong@thenational.ae