Vietnam Airlines has also sent special flights to repatriate Vietnamese left in limbo when Bangkok’s two main international airports were shut down by protestors last week.
Vietnam’s Embassy Monday cooperated with Thailand’s Donna Tour, Cambodia’s Caravan Angkor Tour and Vietnam’s Sapaco Tourist to transport 35 Vietnamese people by bus from the embassy building through Thailand’s Poi Pet border gate to Cambodia. The Vietnamese tourists will be able to return home by road from Cambodia or fly out of the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh.
Before the trip, the embassy instructed stranded travelers to return to Vietnam by public bus. Embassy spokesman Nguyen Dang Nghia said “there’s no report of any Vietnamese getting in trouble” so far as a result of the Bangkok airport drama.
Vietnam Airlines (VNA) Monday said the Thai government had allowed a second flight to U-Tapao International Airport, just outside Bangkok. The flight will leave UTapao today at 6 a.m. with around 150 passengers, 85 of them Vietnamese.
On Sunday morning, the first Vietnam Airlines aid flight from U-Tapao Airport landed in Hanoi carrying about 168 people.
Since last Wednesday, U-Tapao has been in use as the main air gateway out of Thailand following the blockade of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport last Tuesday and Bangkok’s Don Muang Airport on Thursday by the People’s Alliance for Democracy protesters.
U-Tapao airport can only receive 24 flights a day, much less than the current demand, said Do Nguyen Khoi, Vietnam Airlines’ chief representative official in Thailand.
Khoi said the airline has sent bigger airplanes to the Lao capital of Vientiane and Cambodia’s Phnom Penh and Siem Riep airports to pick Vietnamese people who left Bangkok by road.
Any passenger from Thailand who can’t get on a Vietnam Airlines flight at the Vientiane, Phnom Penh or Siem Reap flight will be given US$30 a day, Khoi said. The airline will also waive the usual fees for changing or postponing tickets, he said.
Vietnam Airlines General Director Pham Ngoc Minh said the airline will soon release its flight schedule to bring home all the Vietnamese left in Thailand.
The airlines cited information from Suvarnabhumi Airport’s managers that the airport will be closed until at least Wednesday.
As of Monday, Vietnam Airlines had canceled 24 flights to and from Bangkok and compensated 1,848 passengers who had already bought tickets, said Khoi.
Reported by Viet Phuong – Xuan Toan |
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