ABU DHABI // Etihad Airways is resuming flights between Abu Dhabi and Bangkok today after a week of civil unrest in Thailand led by anti-government protesters. The national airline will run extra charter services as well as the normal two daily scheduled flights to bring travellers stranded in Thailand to Abu Dhabi, said Capt Richard Hill, the airline's executive vice president of operations.
The charter flights will run until Monday to bring more than 3,000 stranded passengers in the next three days from Thailand. On Nov 25, protesters from the People's Alliance for Democracy stormed Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport, interrupting flights to the rest of the world. Hundreds of thousands of travellers were stranded by the demonstrations. During the disruption, Etihad flew six flights from the U-Tapao naval base in eastern Thailand to carry more than 2,500 people to connecting flights to Europe, Africa and the Middle East. It also flew extra staff to Thailand. Etihad Airways operates a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, which has the capacity to transport 378 passengers, on twice-a-day flights to Bangkok.
Etihad flight EY408 departs from Abu Dhabi airport at 9.55am and arrives in Bangkok at 6.45pm. The return flight, EY401, leaves Thailand at 8.15 pm and arrives in Abu Dhabi at 11.50 pm. Flight EY402 departs form Abu Dhabi at 10.05 pm and arrives the following morning in Bangkok at 6.55, while the return flight EY407 departs from Bangkok at 8.40 am to arrive in Abu Dhabi at 12.15 pm, local time. mkwong@thenational.ae