flights

  • Covid-19 News

    Stranded. Nearly 21,000 Russians struggling to get home.

    The Russian Ambassador to Thailand claims there are about 20,800 Russian citizens stranded in the Land of Smiles. Ambassador Tomikhin says they’re desperate to get home. He says that most of them are stuck in Phuket and neighbouring provinces (Phuket is in virtual lockdown with the airport being closed to all passenger flights on April 10). Another 8,000 in and around…

  • Covid-19 News

    Phuket airport to ban flights April 10-30 over virus fears

    The southern island province of Phuket has sealed its borders by land and sea, and yesterday provincial governor Phakkhaphong Thawiphat announced that air transport to Phuket will also shut down beginning April 10 until at least April 30 in order to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus. “Shutting down the air transport route requires seven days notification in advance…

  • Covid-19 News

    Fortress Phuket. The island closes off Sarasin Bridge and boating traffic, except supplies

    Phuketians, you are marooned on a tropical island. Well, almost… Today the Phuket Governor has rolled out another level of lockdowns for the southern island. The new rules come into force tonight at midnight (00.01am March 30) and will run until the end of April, or until announced otherwise. There are a few exceptions as noted in the official declaration…

  • Covid-19 News

    Handful of Thais catch last flight back to Thailand from Singapore

    Flights are thin on the ground now and very few regional carriers are still in the air. Singapore Airlines Flight 972 was the last scheduled service to Thailand’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. Passengers, only a few dozen, mostly Thais fleeing back home to ride out the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, flew out of Singapore’s Changi Airport yesterday. Airlines worldwide are cutting flights and grounding…

  • Covid-19 News

    Airlines suspending flights – Thai Lion Air, Singapore Airlines

    “The airline has been seriously affected by the coronavirus situation, with passenger loads dropping so sharply that, some days, there are no passengers at all.” This is a letter addressed to the director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT), Chula Sukmanop, sent from the CEO of Thai Lion Air Aswin Yongkiratikorn. Thai Lion Air has formerly notified CAAT…

  • Covid-19 News

    More airline cancellations as options dry up for stranded visitors

    It is becoming increasingly difficult to fly in an out of Thailand, posing more challenges for stranded foreign visitors and tourists. Last week the Thai government estimated there were some 500,000 overseas visitors currently in Thailand. Some of the latest cancellations from local carriers… • Budget airline VietJet suspended its flights to major Southeast Asian destinations, out of Vietnam, including…

  • Covid-19 News

    QANTAS to shelve all international flights by the end of the month

    QANTAS, Australia’s national airline announced it is halting all international flights later this month, after Australia’s other main carrier Virgin shut down overseas services due to the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. But QANTAS will maintain 60% of its domestic flights and Virgin Australia around 50%. QANTAS says international flights will be suspended by the end of this month for at least…

  • Covid-19 News

    US announces temporary ban on flights coming from Europe

    The US President Donald Trump has announced today a month-long suspension for travellers out of Europe. The only exception if people travelling from the UK to the US. In an official televised address to the US TV audience from the White House, President Trump noted he was overseeing “the most aggressive and comprehensive effort to confront a foreign virus in…

  • Covid-19 News

    A few more flight cancellations and K-Pop curtailed

    Airlines around the world are battling to re-assess and refine their flight schedules in response to the dive in passenger bookings following the outbreak and impact of the covid-19 coronavirus at the start of the year. In recent weeks the restrictions on travel, to many parts of the world, have started to bite. Thai AirAsia announced today that it will…

  • Covid-19 News

    All arriving passengers now required to provide additional contact info

    The Department of Disease Control plans to impose compulsory measures for all inbound arrivals, including notifying personal information and contact information such as mobile phone numbers and email addresses as part of steps to control the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak. The additional arrival formalities will start tomorrow and officials say the new personal information provided by inbound passengers will stay in…

  • Covid-19 News

    Thai Airways passengers, flying from ‘at risk’ destinations, now require health certificates

    Thai Airways is now demanding passengers, departing on their planes from China, Italy and South Korea, to Thailand, provide the national airline with health certificates before they can receive their boarding passes. The announcement was the airlines’ latest reaction to the growing coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak. Here’s The Thaiger’s daily Coronavirus update HERE. The new compliance relates to Thai flights out…

  • Covid-19 News

    Tourism Authority of Thailand clarifies “self quarantine” situation

    The Tourism Authority of Thailand has posted a notice to clarify the “self-quarantine requirements” of all visitors coming to Thailand from “risk area” countries, relating to the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak. The clarification comes after two days of confusing announcements coming out of the Thai Public Health Department. On Tuesday night a document was released on the Thai Public Health Minister’s…

  • Covid-19 News

    Asian tourists cancelling flights, staying home

    Scores of flights to Asian destinations are being cancelled after South Korea advised its citizens to delay trips to countries where the COVID-19 coronavirus has been found. Especially hard-hit are Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan. South Korea remains largely free of the virus, though one of its citizens tested positive for the virus after returning from…

  • Covid-19 News

    Coronavirus UPDATE: Chinese keep arriving in Thailand, UK man spreads virus to 11 others

    The world death toll from the coronavirus outbreak continues to climb. Official figures put the Chinese figure at 1,016 deaths, up 108 from the day before, 1,018 worldwide. Outside of China there has only been 2 deaths reported – one in The Philippines and another in Hong Kong. The number of cases of infection has also grown to 43,104. That’s up…

  • Covid-19 News

    Coronavirus UPDATE – 28,276 confirmed cases, many people continue to recover

    The month-long outbreak of the novel coronavirus shows no sign of letting up with the death toll rising, along with the list of new cases and an increasingly long list of full recoveries. Chinese health officials have raised the death toll to 565, with a total of 28,276 cases identified around the world. The number of full recoveries now exceeds…

  • Covid-19 News

    Chiang Mai confirms first coronavirus case

    Chiang Mai health officials have confirmed the first positive case of the coronavirus in the northern city. The patient had come for treatment from Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital and later tested positive for the virus. The Ministry of Public Health announced yesterday that five more people in Thailand had been confirmed as carrying the novel coronavirus, and one of…

  • Covid-19 News

    Additional thermal screening for Chinese arrivals at Thai airports

    “The number of Chinese tourists is likely to drop by half this year – creating an enormous impact on Thailand’s tourism industry.” Thailand’s health authorities are taking more stringent precautions over Chinese arrivals in Thailand following the confirmation of coronavirus case #6 in Hua Hin, a resort town south west of Bangkok. Panlop Singhaseni, Prachuap Khiri Khan’s governor, says they are…

  • Thailand News

    Thai, Air Asia suspend flights to Wuhan because of Novel Coronavirus

    Thai Airways and Thai Air Asia are both taking steps to prevent any possible spread of Novel Coronavirus pneumonia through tourist arrivals from Wuhan, the source of the outbreak. Thai Air Asia, which operates two daily flights to Wuhan from Bangkok and one from Phuket, suspended services yesterday. Meanwhile Malaysia-based Air Asia, has also suspended scheduled flights to and from Kota Kinabalu…

  • World News

    Chinese scientists identify the ‘Wuhan Virus’. Screening continues on Thai-bound flights.

    The mysterious pneumonia-like disease striking dozens of people in Wuhan, China, has now been identified as from the same family of viruses as the deadly SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome). This news from Chinese scientists today. Earlier today The Thaiger reported that three Thais and a Chinese citizen had been detected arriving from Wuhan in the Hubei province with suspected viral…

  • World News

    Storm Nakri weakens, but is dumping heavy rains on the Central Highlands in Vietnam

    PHOTO: National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting “Vietnam Airlines and Jetstar Pacific have cancelled or delayed a number of domestic flights that criss cross the affected region.” Tropical storm Nakri has now crossed Vietnam’s coast around Binh Dinh to Khanh Hoa provinces. The slow-moving system is weakening as it moves north west. The storm is expected to further weaken into a tropical depression…

  • Tourism News

    Thomas Cook customers may have to wait 2 month for refunds

    PHOTO: Rick Findler/PA Wire Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority says that refunds of bookings by failed travel giant Thomas Cook’s customers could take longer than expected. At this stage the regulator says they don’t have all information needed from the collapsed travel firm. The British Civil Aviation Authority says it was launching a new, online payment system next week for bookings…

  • World News

    Vietnam Airlines opening direct Phuket to Ho Chi Minh City flights

    by Bill Barnett c9hotelworks.com Vietnam Airlines will commence direct flights between Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and Phuket on October 27. Flights will operate three days a week, on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. The airline is also launching direct Ho Chi Minh City to Denpasar (Bali) service. Vietjet Air, the popular new low-coast airline out of Vietnam, is currently servicing the increasingly…

  • Thailand Weather Updates

    Morning peak chaos in Tokyo after typhoon Faxai passes through

    by Kyoko Hasegawa, PHOTOS: AFP “Authorities said more than 2,000 people had taken refuge in shelters opened to accommodate those complying with the evacuation advisories.” A powerful typhoon that battered Tokyo overnight with ferocious winds and driving rain caused is causing commuter this morning, with trains halted and more than 100 flights cancelled. Typhoon Faxai, packing winds of up to…

  • World News

    Vietnam Airlines gets go-ahead for direct US flights

    Vietnam Airlines is the first carrier in the country to secure a coveted license to fly direct to the US, according to the Vietnamese national carrier. The approval has for months been sought by Vietnamese carriers eager to exploit a fast-growing market for air travel among Vietnam’s booming middle class. Domestic and regional air travel has mushroomed among Vietnamese travellers, and…

  • Tourism News

    Bangkok Airways posts losses, Samui routes performing badly

    Following the opening of its swanky new passenger lounges at the Phuket Airport last week, Bangkok Airways has just posted a net loss of 190 million baht for the first half of 2019. In posting the figures yesterday the company’s President promised to turn results around in the second half of the year to ensure an annual profit. The Koh…

  • Technology News

    Some Mac Book Pros banned on Thai Airways flights to the EU

    Thai Airways is telling passengers travelling on their fleet that some Apple MacBook Pro notebooks, distributed between 2015 to 2017, won’t be allowed on flights to and from EU countries. According to the Bangkok Post, the vice president of Thai Airways’ aviation safety department, Flt Lt Prathana Pattanasiri, claims the flag carrier is banning MacBook Pro 15-inch notebooks purchased between September…

  • Tourism News

    Thailand’s Koh Chang by numbers, another island on the rise

    by Bill Barnett of c9hotelworks.com Despite being one of the country’s biggest islands in the Gulf of Thailand, Koh Chang has remained somewhat off the mass tourism development footprint. C9 Hotelworks has taken a look into what makes the island tick in their newly released Koh Chang Tourism Market Review. Koh Chang is off the coast of Trat in far…

  • Tourism News

    Which flight route makes the most money in the world?

    The world of aviation now has its first billion dollar route. That’s a flight route that makes more money for an airline than any other. And for the first time that route has breached the one billion dollar ceiling – British Airways’ service between London Heathrow and New York’s JFK. OAG has come up with a list of the routes…

  • World News

    Flights departing Hong Kong airport today, mostly on schedule

    ORIGNAL PHOTO: Manan Vatsyayana Flights are now departing Hong Kong airport mostly on schedule this morning after two days of pro-democracy protester chaos and a disruptive sit-in that paralysed the movement of passengers and aircraft. Protesters blocked travellers from getting to their flights yesterday afternoon, before battling with riot police outside the terminals. The airport is being cleaned up and graffiti…

  • World News

    Flights resume at Hong Kong airport as Beijing condemns ‘terrorism’

    The Hong Kong Airport Authority started resuming flights from 6am this morning after more than 180 departures had to be cancelled from Sunday morning. Hundreds of passengers were left stranded after all departing flights and more than 70 arriving flights were cancelled in the early evening. There were chaotic scenes inside the airport as thousands of demonstrators descended on the…