CAAT extends flight ban for Thailand until April 30
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Thailand's airports will remain closed to international flights until midnight April 30, the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) said yesterday. The flight ban was previously extended from 6 to 18 April.
Domestic flights are allowed and the ban on international flights does not apply to state or military aircraft, aircraft seeking emergency landing clearance, technical landings without passengers, humanitarian aid, medical and repatriation flights. Flights that have already received permission from the CAAT can still take place.
Cargo aircraft are also excluded from the ban. If the crew of a cargo flight wants to stay in Bangkok, they must also be quarantined for 14 days.
Both PAL and KLM had plans to resume limited services to Thailand at the end of April. But the CAAT says that the permits granted for the period from April 19 to April 30 have been revoked. Airlines will have to suspend their plans. Flights to Thailand will not resume until May at the earliest.
affected airlines say they are quite surprised by the decision of the CAAT. It is not convenient to announce only three days in advance that flights are no longer allowed. From now on, airlines will be even more careful when planning new flights in order not to fall victim to a possible new ban from the CAAT. Airlines need at least two to three weeks to prepare and schedule aircraft and crews.
It is expected that almost no commercial flights to Thailand will be able to be booked in June, which means that the Thai tourism industry will be hit even harder than is already the case.
Source: TTR Weekly
My wife and daughter with her boyfriend leave for Thailand on June 6 with Eva airways and together with my son I fly on June 27 on the flight where my daughter and her boyfriend come back to Bangkok. July 18 back together. I have already lost hope to be able to go to Thailand, but if we already decide to cancel the flight, it will cost € 200 pp. Health is more important than money because I don't feel like all kinds of restrictions when we are in Thailand.
But when I read the above that there are probably no commercial flights possible in June, I fear that we will have to postpone our family visit for a while. I'm not waiting for vouchers because if you can go again I think you can't go with the original price without paying extra because then all delayed flights will be overbooked.
Wait & See
Hi, Since yesterday an update has appeared on the EVA air facebook page for the May situation. In summary, you are given the opportunity to cancel free of charge. For the time being, this only applies to tickets booked in May, but I would be very surprised that given the current expectations, this will not apply to June either. Just keep an eye on the facebook page for further updates I think 🙂
You mean the website, I see now, not the FB page.
The first announcement I saw was on facebook (you can follow Eva air, it's a bit easier than checking the website daily). I assume that linked to the website. Seems logical to me. But if you find it anyway...
We had booked and paid for tickets with EVA air last year, to the Netherlands. When the corona broke out, we contacted EVA and canceled. No problem with EVA air and the money will be fully refunded to my account. We have been flying with EVA air for a long time, never any problems, good service
We have canceled our tickets for April 23 and we have received our money back, so if they don't fly in June, it will be fine. Top service at Eva Air.
The EU has now extended the entry ban for non-essential travel by non-EU citizens until May 15; obviously also has consequences for the airlines.
entering is the other way. Back from Thailand to Europe. This concerns a trip to Thailand and, of course, a return trip in due course. It is also a non-EU citizen listing. And if I read his question correctly he is just an EU citizen.
What mattered to me was that this also influences airlines' decisions about whether or not to operate flights. An entry ban in EU countries for non-EU citizens means that those citizens in question will not book a flight with you either.
Yes, the entry ban has been extended, I write. What is unclear about that to you?
The entry ban has been extended until May 15. https://www.nu.nl/coronavirus/6045128/inreisverbod-eu-is-verlengd-tot-en-met-15-mei.html
The European Commission and the Member States report the following:
“Today the Commission invited Schengen Member States and Schengen Associated States to prolong the temporary restriction on non-essential travel to the EU until 15 May. The experience of Member States and other countries exposed to the pandemic shows the measures applied to fight the spread of the virus require more than 30 days to be effective. The Commission calls for a coordinated approach to the prolongation, as action at the external borders can only be effective if implemented by all EU and Schengen States at all borders, with the same end date and in a uniform manner.
The travel restriction, as well as the invitation to extend it, applies to the 'EU+ area', which includes all Schengen Member States (including Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, and Romania) and the 4 Schengen Associated States (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland) – 30 countries in total.”
End quote from Brussels.
The longer closure of the external border is not something that the Netherlands decides on its own. That would be pointless. The borders will now remain closed until mid-May for non-EU people who do not have an automatic right of entry.
Source: https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/news/20200408_covid-19-communication-assessment-state-play-non-essential-travel_en
I think KLM has been flying BKK-AMS with passengers 2 times a week all month of April and according to the website, KLM will continue to do this in April and May. Lufthansa also flies regularly from BKK.
So there is no question of a total flight ban, or does flight ban mean an entry ban?
I myself have a ticket for May 4th BKK-AMS so very confusing if you read the above message.
If you read carefully, you will see all commercial flights, including KLM, with the exception of cargo, are not welcome.
What could be so hard?
Leon, if you read my response carefully and checked the KLM website, you would have seen that KLM still sells tickets for tomorrow and Monday. It is sometimes even noted that there are only a limited number of seats available.
Yesterday at 17.30 local time KLM departed from Amsterdam for another flight to Bangkok.
Personally, I do not recommend going for a while, do not think that you can claim on insurance if you unintentionally have to stay longer and that will cost a lot of money. Approximately 12.000.00 people are still waiting to return to the Netherlands. To be clear, I also canceled myself and that hurts.
I had booked BRU-BKK through Etihad Airways for May 30th and just got a flight cancellation notice.
Freight rates are 5 times higher than before. What is still reasonable nowadays?