Bangkok airport eerily quiet as minister refuse to open borders to tourists

Footage from inside Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, today shows how quiet it is, with the coronavirus pandemic still preventing international arrivals.

Despite coronavirus lockdown restrictions in Thailand being eased and businesses returning to normal, international tourist arrivals have been banned since March 22 with no indication as to when borders will re-open to the lucrative industry.

Ministers also this week scotched plans for 'travel bubbles' with popular inbound destinations such as China and Korea after fears of second waves of Covid-19 emerged.

Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) said there were plans to operate select flights from August but they had now been delayed and that domestic flights would have to support tourism for now.

The uncertainty means that Thai Air has also not yet been able to schedule any flights to cities around the world and most of its fleet remain grounded.

The airline’s only services during the pandemic have been domestic, repatriation and private.

Thai Airways made losses of more than 12 billion baht (383 million USD) in 2019 and an increase of 448 million baht (14.3 million USD) on the previous year.