Thai Airways cancels 37 more flights - Bangkok Post

Luggage piles up on the second floor of the Suvarnabhumi airport passenger terminal after overflowing the conveyor belts on Tuesday. (Photo: Nutthawut Wichienbut) Thai Airways International has cancelled 37 more domestic and international flights scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as it tries to dig itself out from under a massive baggage backlog at Suvarnabhumi airport.

The airline’s official Facebook page, THAI Corporate Communications, announced the latest cancellations (listed below) at 7.20pm on Tuesday, hours after Thai Airways chief executive Chai Eamsiri apologised following severe criticism from passengers who had suffered days-long delays at Thailand’s gateway airport.

Many commenters on the post expressed concern that their flights might also be cancelled. Some also asked for updates on the status of their baggage.

A Thai group arriving from Chengdu, China, at about 8pm on Tuesday told the Bangkok Post that passengers waiting for their baggage at the airport “looked like zombies” as they waited desperately for their belongings to arrive. The group were among the lucky ones, however, receiving their baggage after only 40 minutes.

Since flooding in Bangkok began on Sept 26, the airline has cancelled a total of 59 flights, according to announcements posted on THAI’s social-media page, while many other flights have been delayed.

Flooding in the capital and surrounding areas over the weekend also caused delays involving about 5,600 pieces of luggage after hundreds of employees were stranded at home and unable to report for work at the country’s two main international airports, Don Mueang and Suvarnabhumi.

The latter, which recently marked its 20th anniversary on Monday, is the world’s 11th busiest airport for international passenger traffic.