ONE hundred and eighteen Royal Brunei Airlines (RBA) passengers returned safely yesterday after they were flown out of Thailand from the U-Tapao airport, about 150 kilometres southeast of Bangkok.
The RBA flight arrived at the Brunei International Airport at 8.05pm with 66 Bruneian passengers.
"Everything was very well-handled," said Allison Banks, a sales executive at RBA's office in Perth who was with a group of agents on a familiarisation trip in Thailand.
William Han, a local freelance IT programmer, was "glad" to be back home.
"I was supposed to come back on Thursday. When I caught the news on TV, I didn't even bother going to the airport that day," said William, who went for a vacation in the Thai capital. "So I just kept on watching the news for updates and kept in contact with RBA, until they came up with a solution."
"The U-Tapao airport was small but crowded. Things were normal in the city, I did not see any demonstrations," he said.
Some of the passengers looked fatigued and bleary eyed, lugging their hand-carry luggage wearily behind them as they stepped out of the aerobridge on the way to the arrival hall. Others were just happy to be back, smiling as they excitedly texted their loved ones to say they have safely arrived. Outside the arrival hall, some shed tears of joy at being reunited with their family members. RBA's Vice President of Corporate Communications, Anne Aziz Parker, said "Its a relief. It gave us the satisfaction to be able to take care of the passengers who were stranded there."
Commenting on the rescue flight, RBA CEO Ray Sayer said "more flights would be considered if the demand was there". He expressed gratitude to the Thai authorities for their support and for enabling RBA to operate the flight, and thanked the crew and staff in the Sultanate and Bangkok for making it possible.
Having worked round the clock since Friday in contacting and ensuring all passengers can be transported to U-Tapao, RBA country manager Vorakit Nivatongs said, "it has been a challenge in coordinating the logisitics of reaching all passengers and arranging transport from Bangkok when there are limited options to the alternate airport, which is approximately a three-hour drive".
Bangkok-bound passengers, which included Malaysian, Singaporean, British, Belgian, New Zealand, Thai, American and Australian nationals, have been extended a free-of-charge one night's stay at the Sheraton Hotel in the capital and the Orchid Garden hotel in Berakas.
Until the recent forced closure of Suvarnabhumi International Airport, RBA normally operates eight scheduled flights a week to Bangkok.
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