Bangkok airports welcome first flights after siege

Declaring victory, thousands of anti-government protesters in Thailand today ended their siege of country’s two main airports allowing landing of the first international flight in eight days, bringing relief to over three hundred thousand stranded passengers including Indians.

Thousands of protesters came out of the Suvarnabhumi international airport in cars and trucks ending the siege prompted by the decision of country’s Constitutional Court which dissolved the three parties of the ruling coalition for committing electoral fraud and barred the prime minister Somchai Wongsawat for five years from active politics.

Similar scenes were witnessed at the domestic Don Muang airport which was also held by the protesters.

The departure of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) activists from the two airports ended the country’s immediate crisis. The siege had severed Thailand’s air links to the outside world for a week, and stranded more than 300,000 tourists.

The airport today welcomed its first commercial airliner from Thai Airways from the resort island of Phuket at 1245 IST (0715 GMT). Six Thai Airways flights are scheduled to leave Suvarnabhumi later today for New Delhi, Tokyo, Sydney, Frankfurt, Copenhagen and Seoul.

There was jubilation all around after the end of the siege with taxi drivers and Thai Airport staff welcoming the arrival of passengers from the flight.

A meeting among the three ousted parties today endorsed Deputy Prime Minister Chaowarat Chandeerakul as the caretaker prime minister.

About Devesh Agarwal

A electronics and automotive product management, marketing and branding expert, he was awarded a silver medal at the Lockheed Martin innovation competition 2010. He is ranked 6th on Mashable's list of aviation pros on Twitter and in addition to Bangalore Aviation, he has contributed to leading publications like Aviation Week, Conde Nast Traveller India, The Economic Times, and The Mint (a Wall Street Journal content partner). He remains a frequent flier and shares the good, the bad, and the ugly about the Indian aviation industry without fear or favour.

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