Flights Affected by India-Pakistan; Thousands Stranded in Bangkok
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28 February 2019 19:37 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Bangkok - Thousands of travelers were stranded in Bangkok on Thursday, Feb. 28, when Thai Airways International canceled more than a dozen flights to and from Europe after Pakistan closed its airspace amid rising tensions with India.
Thai Airways flights resumed by Thursday afternoon after the airline secured permission to reroute flights over Chinese airspace, but it could take up to three days to clear a backlog of 3,000 passengers, an airline official said.
Flights to and from London, Munich, Paris, Brussels, Milan, Vienna, Stockholm, Zurich, Copenhagen, Oslo, Frankfurt and Rome had been scheduled to fly over Pakistani airspace on Thursday, Thai Airways said in a statement.
Most of the airline's European flights leave after midnight and the cancellations left scores of passengers stuck at Suvarnabhumi International Airport on the outskirts of Bangkok.
Thailand is among the world's most popular tourist destinations, drawing more than 38 million visitors last year, about 6.8 million of them from Europe.
REUTERS