A departure board displays cancelled flights after Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok was closed last week. Pic: AFP, Pornchai Kittiwongsakul

HUNDREDS of travellers were left stranded in Yangon last week after protesters in Bangkok shut down the Thai city’s two airports.

The disruptions, which began on Tuesday night when thousands of People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) supporters stormed Suvarnabhumi Airport, caused the cancellation of all flights from Yangon to Bangkok from Wednesday morning to Saturday evening.

Almost half the scheduled flights into and out of Myanmar are via Suvarnabhumi Airport, and 16 flights to Bangkok from Yangon had been cancelled by press time.

The airport authority said in a statement on Thursday evening that Suvarnabhumi Airport would remain shut until at least 6pm on Saturday. Bangkok’s old airport, Don Muang, was to remain closed until at least 6pm Friday after it was blockaded by protesters on Thursday morning.

Airline sales staff in Yangon were swamped by passengers trying to change itineraries or get refunds on cancelled flights. On Friday morning alone the Thai Airways sales office at Sakura Tower dealt with hundreds of queries from tourists and business travellers whose flights had been affected.

At 11am, more than 50 people were queuing at the Silk Air office at Sakura Tower trying to buy tickets on flights to Singapore. Many affected passengers had already missed connecting flights in Bangkok.

Frank Werning, from Germany, said his Thai Airways flight on Saturday morning had already been cancelled and so he would miss his flight to Laos.
“We are now trying to get on a Silk Air flight to Singapore. We might change our plans and instead of going to Laos fly to Cambodia, if we have to,” Mr Werning said.

“I think [getting a ticket to Singapore] will be very difficult … but our travel agent has been very helpful, sorting out accommodation for us,” he added.

Travel agents in Yangon were also desperately trying to secure seats on flights to Singapore for package tour clients who had originally planned to fly out of Myanmar to Bangkok.

Their options appeared limited, however: Agents said all Silk Air and MAI flights were fully booked until the end of December. Seats were still available on flights to Kuala Lumpur and several destinations in China, according to the airlines.

Exotissimo Travel sales and operations manager Cillia Bettus said because most travellers book their tour separate to their international flights it was difficult for local agents to assist.

“Clients usually buy their air ticket separately to their package tour, because it is cheaper, so most agents in Yangon offer an airport-to-airport service. If their flight is cancelled we can only try to help them with booking accommodation, airport transfers and organising a tour guide if they want one,” Ms Bettus said.