VLUCHTEN

New flights from airlines
By The Nation
A number of airlines have resumed flights since Monday, December 1, as they can retrieve aircraft from Suvarnabhumi and a number of airports are open as Suvarnabhumi remains under siege.
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The following is announcements from airlines:
Thai AirAsia resumes operations
Thai AirAsia on December 2 will operate 22 rescue flights originated from its three hubs outside Suvarnabhumi Airport to ferry stranded guests to various destinations across Asia starting from 2 December onwards. Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok has remained closed, and guests will alternatively fly through the U-Tapao Airport, Chiang Mai Airport and Phuket Airport. AirAsia started its rescue flights on a daily basis between Kuala Lumpur and UTapao since the naval base was opened to commercial flights on Nov 28.For online reservation, please log onto www.airasia.com. Guests may contact our Sales Counter at the Airport at Tel +66 (0) 53 904 8003 or Sales Office on Thaphae Road in Chiang Mai at Tel. +66 (0) 53 234 645 for more information. Guests in Phuket and roundabout may contact our Airport Sales Counter at +66 (0) 76 328 6012 open daily from 06.00 hours to 20.00 hours. Affected guests are urged to contact Thai AirAsia's Call Centre at 02515 9999 (24 hours) for next available flight arrangement at no additional charge. Guests will be accepted on the flight subject to availability of seats. AirAsia operates on Airbus A320 that can seat 180 guests.Guests are advised to visit our website airasia.com to get the latest flight information before proceeding to BITEC or respective airports for check in.

Bangkok Airways will operate twice daily flights between Hua Hin and Samui during December 3rd - 7th, 2008 in order to help relieve the load of passengers at Utapao Airport and connecting passengers to Singapore and Hong Kong via Samui Airport.
The flights schedules will be as follows:
• PG5113 Hua Hin Samui dep: 14.00 17.00 hrs.• PG5115 Hua Hin - Samui dep: 15.00 16.00 hrs.
• PG5114 Samui - Hua Hin dep: 13.30 14.30 hrs.• PG5116 Samui - Hua Hin dep: 16.30 17.30 hrs.
* The schedule is subject to change on daily basis.
Passengers can also check in at Bangkok Airways' Head Office (99 Vibhavadirangsit Road) where complimentary transfers to Hua Hin Airport are available four hours prior flight departure time.
For more information, call 1771, or 022658777 or log on www.bangkokair.com New Zealand to rapatriate stranded touristsAgence France-Presse reported that a New Zealand air force plane will be sent to Southeast Asia for the possible evacuation of tourists stranded in Thailand. Prime Minister John Key said Tuesday he was not satisfied airlines would be able to evacuate the New Zealand tourists stranded by increasingly violent protests at Bangkok's two main airports. An air force Hercules was expected to leave New Zealand late Tuesday and could be used to shuttle tourists from a Thai air force base east of Bangkok to Singapore or Malaysia. The exact number of stranded New Zealanders was not known but it could be up to 300, he said. The government would decide within two days whether the Hercules would fly on to Thailand to evacuate the tourists. "But if there's a large number who want to leave, and the standoff continues between the warring factions, then our view is we would like to deploy and get New Zealanders out," Key said. The Hercules would only be able to carry 65 people on each flight but two air force Boeing 757 passenger aircraft, each capable of taking 160 passengers, are both out of service for maintenance and upgrading.
British Airways repatriates customers from Bangkok
British Airways is urging its customers to call the local number 02 627 1701 to register their details, as the airline is finding ways to repatriate them from Bangkok.The airline said in a statement issued on Tuesday December that it is working with the oneworld alliance partner, Qantas, to explore a number of options to help the airline's customers to leave Thailand. It is also making preparations for when it is able to fly back in to Bangkok airport."In the event that we are able to offer relief flights or we are given clearance to resume flights, we will contact all customers who have registered with us in order to rebook them onto services. We can understand how frustrating the circumstances are and would ask our customers to bear with us. Unfortunately, the situation is outside our control but we are doing all we can to help customers who have been affected," the airline said.BA customers can contac British Airways in the UK via phone number 00 44 191 490 7901. The office is open everyday from 6am to 8pm UK (GMT) time.
SAS continues to bring customers back from Thailand SAS Scandinavian Airlines will operate three flights from Phuket toScandinavia in order to bring the remaining stranded passengers back to Europe. Flight SK975, Stockholm-Bangkok, will depart Stockholm Monday night as scheduled at 20.20, but will fly to Phuket airport.
Flight SK973, Copenhagen-Bangkok, scheduled for departure on Monday night, will be postponed until tomorrow morning to avoid congestion at Phuket airport.
Flight SK976, Bangkok-Stockholm, will depart Phuket 02 December. Departuretime is estimated at 14.25, local time. An additional flight, SK6972, will depart Phuket 02 December. Departure timeis estimated at 08.30, local time. Flight SK972, Bangkok-Copenhagen, will depart Phuket 03 December. Departure time is estimated at 00.25, local time.
The airline said as U-tapao airport has now been stretched beyond its capacity, SAS has deemed it is not possible to continue operations at U-tapao airport. SAS flights will instead be operated to and from Phuket in southern Thailand.
Its Airbus A340 that has been stuck at Suvarnabhumi Airport since Monday has now been able to take off from the airport and has arrived in Phuket to commence traffic back to Scandinavia. For SAS passengers in Thailand: Affected passengers in Thailand may contact SAS' Bangkok office on +66 2661 6111.
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Thai Airways International will operate 32 special flights for passengers with confirmed reservations on Friday.

Passengers must have confirmation re-routing and rescheduling at THAI offices, before checking in at city terminals at Centara Grand Hotel and Bitec. At Bitec, passengers must check in at least 7 hours before departure. THAI will check in for passengers and provide transfer from Bitect to U-Tapao Airport in Rayong.
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Qantas would operate a second relief flight between Phuket and Singapore early Wednesday December 3.
The Chief Executive Officer of Qantas, Alan Joyce, said the airline would operate its first special relief flight, also between Phuket and Singapore, tonight local time. It will operate a special 297-seat A330300 service tonight between Phuket and Singapore, and a second flight will now operate early Wednesday morning local time.
Passengers on these flights will be bussed from Bangkok to Phuket and then be booked on first available Qantas and British Airways flights to Australia and the UK.
Joyce said Jetstar would also operate its scheduled Melbourne-Bangkok service tomorrow via Phuket, with passengers bussed between Phuket and Bangkok, and continue to operate its scheduled threetimesaweek Sydney-Phuket services.
"These three special flights will provide around 900 seats out of Thailand," Mr Joyce said.
"We will continue to closely monitor the situation and look at adding more capacity if necessary."
Until further notice, Qantas' scheduled Bangkok services will continue to operate via Singapore.
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Thailand's small private airline, PB Air, has temporarily stationing its aircraft, the maintenance crew as well pilots and cabin crew at Hua Hin Airport from December 1, 2008.
The airline has been contacted by several airlines as well international charter companies to bring passengers to the various destinations.
The fleet of PBair consists of two modern Embraer ERJ145LR regional jets with an all economy seat capacity of 50 passengers. The reach of those aircraft is 1,550 nautical miles thus regional destinations such as Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore can be serviced.
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Air France/KLM
Air France and KLM announced it would provide two flights Monday and Tuesday for passengers who are stranded in Thailand. The two airlines will operate one flight on December12 from Phuket Airport.
Departure from Phuket December1 with Boeing 747-400 flight operated by KLM to Amsterdam Departure from Phuket at 19.00 Arrival in Amsterdam at 04.00 on the next day.
Departure from Phuket on 2 December, use Boeing 747-400 flight operated by Air France to ParisCharles de Gaulle Departure from Phuket at 23.30pm on December2. Arrival in Paris at 05.50 am on the next day.
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Jet Airways will operate two flights from Bangkok to India on Monday December 1.
BKK-BOM departure 8pm. Buses will leave Bangkok at 2pm.
BKK-CCU departure 00.01am. Buses will leave Bangkok at 5 pm.
All passengers must contact the town office for confirmation rerouting and a check-in number. The phone number is 02-696-8980 or 02-696-8960. Passengers who do not contact the office and do not have a check in number will not be accepted.
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Bangkok Airways has launched special flights between Hua Hin and Samui twice a day during December 1st until further notice in order to serve passengers going to Singapore or Hong Kong via Samui, it announce Monday.
According to its press release, the flights schedules from and to Hua Hin will be as follows:
Hua Hin - Samui dep: 14.00 hrs. and 17.00 hrs.
Samui - Singapore dep: 16.35 hrs. and 20.30 hrs.
Samui - Hong Kong dep: 22.00 hrs. and 11.35 hrs.
Hong Kong - Samui dep: 17.05 hrs. and 04.00 hrs.
Singapore - Samui dep: 20.10 hrs. and 01.30 hrs.
Samui - Hua Hin dep: 15.30 hrs. and 18.30 hrs.
A complimentary transfer service will leave four hours prior to each flight departure from Bangkok Airways' Head Office (99 Vibhavadi Rangsit Road).
Additionally, the airline also operates between U-tapao-Siem Reap/ U-tapao-Luang -Prabang/ U-tapao-Maldives/ U-tapao-Guilin/ U-tapao-Samui/ and U-tapao-Phuket.
For more information, call 1771, or 0-2265-8777 or log on www.bangkokair.com.
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AOT sets protocol to retrieve empty planes
Airports of Thailand has set the protocol for airlines who are going to retrieve their empty planes at Suvarnabhumi Airport. 1. The airlines' pilot and crew must meet with AOT at the first floor of the airport maintenance facility.lin says:2. AOT would coordiate with the control tower to prepare for takeoffs.3. AOT provides a vehicle to the parking bay.4. Via "Follow me" vehicles, AOT takes the crew to the aircraft. Airlines can contact 02-133-1761, 02-133-1730, 02-133-1729 for more information.
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All tourists and travellers who cannot travel to their destinations, for more information regarding accommodation, can contact the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) ( Tel: +66 2 237- 6064 - 8, +66 2 632-7400 - 2), as well as the following Hotlines: - 1414 : Ministry of Tourism and Sports - 1672 : Tourism Authority of Thailand - 1155 : Tourist Police For any tourist whose visa has expired since 26 November, 2008, till the airport reopens, there will be no penalty or charge for overstay from the Immigration Bureau. However, tourists must show their original tickets to avoid being charged.
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All Nippon Airways will add a special flight from Bangkok's U-Tapao on Tuesday. All Nippon said the flight will leave Thailand at 1.30pm and arrive at Narita at 9.30pm