Bangkok airport slowly opens to flights
Thursday, 4 December 2008

Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport is beginning to return to normal, with the Wednesday morning departure of protestors, and the subsequent restart of flights in and out of the capital.

After a weeklong barricade of the main Thailand hub, Thai Airways flight TG2109 from Phuket to Bangkok, originally re-routed to U-Tapao returned to BKK, landing safely at 2pm, and becoming the first flight to land there in almost a week.

The first outbound flight was also a Thai Airways service, flight TG993 bound for Sydney, which departed at nearly 7pm.? Flown in a Boeing 777, it was believed to have carried some 388 passengers on board.

Thai airways will operate 12 more international services out of BKK today.

Currently, international passengers are being asked to check-in whilst still in Bangkok city at specially set up kiosks at the BITEC Convention Centre five hours prior to their departure time.? Then making their way to the airport by dedicated bus transfers, passengers are being processed through a small section which usually handles crew members.

When Suvarnabhumi will become fully operational is another matter, with officials remaining vague, but insisting that it will happen soon.

Despite assurances neither Qantas nor British Airways has, as of yet, announced a restart of services back into Bangkok Suvarnabhumi.? With QF1/2 Sydney to London via Bangkok still to be diverted to Singapore, as is BA9/10.

Emirates is expected to reinstate its Dubai–Bangkok services to Suvarnabhumi on Saturday, with services still operating to U-Tapao until then.

Protestors have left the airport after the Thai Constitutional Court found the Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat’s ruling People Power Party guilty of election fraud, and subsequently dissolved the entire cabinet.

DMK fully operational

Secondary Don Mueang Airport will become fully operational today after Airports of Thailand reported little damage to the site besides one smash window from a fatal grenade attack.

The first flight out of DMK on Thursday was Thai Airways flight TG1020 headed for Ubon Ratchathani scheduled at 6am.
At the moment, Thai Airways, Nok Air and One-Two-Go are set to operate scheduled services from Don Mueang.

Source