ID :
33027
Sat, 11/29/2008 - 23:04
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/33027
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Rescue flights for stranded people in Bangkok arrive in Tokyo
CHIBA, Japan, Nov. 29 Kyodo - Hundreds of passengers arrived in Japan on rescue flights from U-Tapao International Airport in eastern Thailand on Saturday after anti-government demonstrators shut down the two main airports serving Bangkok, stranding thousands of travelers in the capital.
The first flight, by Thai Airways International, with around 260 passengers,
landed at Narita International Airport near Tokyo just before noon after
leaving the U-Tapao military-civilian airport operated by the Thai navy, in
southeastern Thailand.
Another, operated by Japan Airlines, with around 300 people aboard, arrived at
Narita from U-Tapao in the evening.
An All Nippon Airways flight from U-Tapao left at 7:10 p.m., more than five
hours after the scheduled departure at 1:30 p.m., and is scheduled to arrive at
Haneda airport in Tokyo at 2:30 a.m. Sunday, according to the airline's
website.
The long delay was attributed to congestion at the Thai airport, where other
airlines have also arranged evacuation flights.
Around 10,000 Japanese people are stranded in Thailand because of the airport
siege and many remain stuck there. Deputy Prime Minister Olarn Chaiprawat said
Saturday it would take one month to send back home an estimated 100,000 foreign
tourists stuck in Thailand.
After arriving on the Thai Airways flight, Isamu Noguchi, 64, from Utsunomiya,
Tochigi Prefecture, who was stranded for three days after going there to buy
ginger, said, ''People who were forced to wait were getting frantic in
Thailand.''
Before their flights left U-Tapao, Tomoko Sugimoto, a 40-year-old housewife
from Tokyo's Kunitachi city, who had gone to Thailand on holiday and been stuck
since Tuesday, said, ''I was worried about my kindergarten-aged child in Japan.
I can finally return home.''
Hordes of passengers flocked to U-Tapao airport, which is temporarily
substituting for the much larger Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang airports serving
the Thai capital. Baggage was seen overflowing the terminal building, while
people were jostling with each other around a limited number of baggage
screening machines, with some people yelling at each other.
A company employee from Saitama City, said, ''I didn't feel so much in the city
(of Bangkok) the effects of the political turmoil in Thailand and felt like
spending a bit more time leisurely but now that I see the confusion before my
eyes, I learned the hard way about the problem this country is facing.''
About 100 people were also stuck at Narita airport as a result of a series of
cancellations of flights bound for Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport. A long queue
formed from early morning by Thai passengers with large bags at departure
counters for Thai Airways flights.
==Kyodo
The first flight, by Thai Airways International, with around 260 passengers,
landed at Narita International Airport near Tokyo just before noon after
leaving the U-Tapao military-civilian airport operated by the Thai navy, in
southeastern Thailand.
Another, operated by Japan Airlines, with around 300 people aboard, arrived at
Narita from U-Tapao in the evening.
An All Nippon Airways flight from U-Tapao left at 7:10 p.m., more than five
hours after the scheduled departure at 1:30 p.m., and is scheduled to arrive at
Haneda airport in Tokyo at 2:30 a.m. Sunday, according to the airline's
website.
The long delay was attributed to congestion at the Thai airport, where other
airlines have also arranged evacuation flights.
Around 10,000 Japanese people are stranded in Thailand because of the airport
siege and many remain stuck there. Deputy Prime Minister Olarn Chaiprawat said
Saturday it would take one month to send back home an estimated 100,000 foreign
tourists stuck in Thailand.
After arriving on the Thai Airways flight, Isamu Noguchi, 64, from Utsunomiya,
Tochigi Prefecture, who was stranded for three days after going there to buy
ginger, said, ''People who were forced to wait were getting frantic in
Thailand.''
Before their flights left U-Tapao, Tomoko Sugimoto, a 40-year-old housewife
from Tokyo's Kunitachi city, who had gone to Thailand on holiday and been stuck
since Tuesday, said, ''I was worried about my kindergarten-aged child in Japan.
I can finally return home.''
Hordes of passengers flocked to U-Tapao airport, which is temporarily
substituting for the much larger Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang airports serving
the Thai capital. Baggage was seen overflowing the terminal building, while
people were jostling with each other around a limited number of baggage
screening machines, with some people yelling at each other.
A company employee from Saitama City, said, ''I didn't feel so much in the city
(of Bangkok) the effects of the political turmoil in Thailand and felt like
spending a bit more time leisurely but now that I see the confusion before my
eyes, I learned the hard way about the problem this country is facing.''
About 100 people were also stuck at Narita airport as a result of a series of
cancellations of flights bound for Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport. A long queue
formed from early morning by Thai passengers with large bags at departure
counters for Thai Airways flights.
==Kyodo
