Finnair starts scheduled flights to Thailand on Wednesday

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The Finnish airline Finnair is resuming scheduled flight service to Thailand on Wednesday. The flights will be to Phuket in the south of Thailand until the international airport in Bangkok is in use again.
      The first scheduled flight leaves today at 4:05 PM from Helsinki-Vantaa Airport. On board will be primarily passengers of tour operators, as well as those whose previously booked flight to Thailand has been cancelled because of the closure of the two airports in Bangkok.
     
Thai officials are expected to announce on Wednesday when they expect the airport in Bangkok to open. Previously the estimate was that the airport would not open until Monday, December 15th, but Finnair hopes that flights can be resumed to Bangkok before that.
      Finnair says that it is ready to make the move a day after the airport is open for business again.
      Finnair spokeswoman Maria Mroue said on Tuesday that the resumption hinges on whether or not the airport really starts to operate.
      After the occupation of the airport by anti-government protesters, which began a week ago Tuesday, Finnair has cancelled 24 round-trip flights. Each of the planes was to have had about 250 passengers, so the cancellations affect about 12,000 passengers. About half of them are Finnish citizens.
      “Certainly, customers have cancelled flights to some extent, or changed them to other destinations, or made other arrangements.”
     
There are about 1,300 Finnair customers in Thailand waiting for a flight, Mroue says. Finnair will fly two planeloads of them a day until December 10th.
      “The number of passengers waiting for a flight will begin to decline on Wednesday, as the planes that are taking people home have not brought any new passengers.”
      Mroue says that most of the passengers who have been stranded in Thailand will have been brought back to Finland by Wednesday next week.
      “Flights to Phuket can be continued after that as well, if necessary.”


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finnair passengers stranded in Bangkok vent frustration at airline (2.12.2008)
  Hundreds of Finns remain stuck in Bangkok (28.11.2008)
  Finnair Bangkok flight returns to Helsinki as nearly 400 Finns remain stuck in Thailand (26.11.2008)

Links:
  Finnair information

Helsingin Sanomat