Uncertainty surrounds Thai airport reopening
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A decision will be made on Wednesday on when flights can resume. (Reuters: Sukree Sukplang)
Thailand's airports operator will decide on Wednesday (local time) how soon flights can resume from Bangkok's main airports after protesters agreed to end a week-long blockade.
"By tomorrow afternoon, I should be able to issue a statement on when we return to normal," Serirat Prasutanond, acting head of Airports of Thailand, said.
Anti-government protesters have agreed to allow flights to resume at Bangkok's occupied international airport in as little as 24 hours.
The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) wants its protesters to remain on the airport grounds.
PAD leader Somkiart Pontpaiboon has told journalists in Bangkok that the PAD wants flights to resume at Suvarnabhumi international airport within 24 hours, depending on when services will be technically ready.
Airport technicians have already been allowed into the airport to make assessments.
But in a statement issued before the protesters announced the end of their siege, Mr Serirat said the airports would stay closed until December 15.
"The rally has caused massive damage to the country. We will try to open the airport as soon as possible," he said.
A cargo plane operated by K-Mile Air has already left the airport.
The Boeing-727 aircraft owned by K-Mile Air, a unit of Kuala Lumpur-based Transmile Group, left for Hong Kong with
assorted express cargo, Kasem Jariyawong, president of the Thai Airfreight Forwarders Association, said.
Two more cargo flights operated by Air HongKong were scheduled to depart for Hong Kong later on Tuesday, he said.
However the PAD has stopped short of saying that its protesters would evacuate the airport grounds.
The PAD wants its yellow shirted demonstrators to be allowed to maintain an airport presence, perhaps outside the main terminal.
The development follows the dissolution of Thailand's governing coalition today after an electoral fraud ruling by the Constitutional Court.
- ABC/Reuters
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