Thai Airways to resume normal flight schedules from Saturday

Thai Airways International (Thai) will return to its normal flight operation mode on Saturday after severe floods in greater Bangkok have maimed the airline as it cancelled some services that stranded passengers and baggage.

Thai announced on Thursday night the resumption of full operations from Saturday as it was mobilising personnel to ensure readiness.

The number of its cancelled flights has sharply reduced from almost 40 during the peak of the flooding in greater Bangkok to 15 on Thursday and nine on Friday.

The airline has sharply scaled down ground and air services citing insufficient staff due to the diluge that kept them at home. The decision led to chaos as passengers were stranded at Suvarnabhumi International Airport or were unable to travel, while some 10,000 pieces of luggages and cargo piled up at the airport due to staff shortages.

Passengers can contact the airline at:

• Thai Ticket Office, 4th Floor, Departure Hall, Suvarnabhumi Airport — open 24 hours
• Thai Ticket Office, Head Office, Vibhavadi Rangsit Road — open from 8am–5pm on Saturday and Sunday
• Thai Contact Centre — available 24 hours at +66 2 356 1111

The airline’s chaos due to the sudden flood came less than two weeks after Thai climbed up the Skytrax global rankings, including the rise in the airport services category to 7th from 11th last year.

The airline was strongly criticised by the government and passengers for failing to cope with the crisis to keep the service afloat or at least minimise the impacts.

Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said on Thursday the carrier had cleared stranded passengers and will try to return baggage to all passengers by Saturday night.