As part of nationwide efforts to contain and curb the spread of COVID-19, Thailand has announced it will extend the existing ban on passenger flights entering the Kingdom until the end of the month. The news was confirmed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT), following a decree from the Thai Government.
The ban, which was previously set to be lifted on 18th April, has now been extended to 30th April at 5pm local time. All flights scheduled for the interim period are hereby cancelled with immediate effect. The only flights excluded from the ban are state and military flights, along with air transport services for medical, humanitarian, repatriation or cargo purposes.
Any passengers or personnel on board these limited flights will be subjected to medical screening and a 14-day quarantine period upon arrival, in line with Thailand’s Emergency Decree on State of Emergency regulations and according to the Kingdom’s laws relating to communicable diseases.
News of the extension was confirmed today by the Thai Government. Thailand’s Ministry of Transport has previously asserted that any airlines wishing to cancel their flights must compensate their customers by refunding the cost of tickets and other related fees.
A number of airlines have already suspended their services beyond the official restriction dates, in anticipation of a protracted closure period due to COVID-19. Last month, Thai Lion Air suspended all domestic and international flights between 25th March and 30th April, while THAI Smile, Thai AirAsia and Bangkok Airways cut all their international flights from 22nd March until further notice. THAI also grounded their European and regional flights until 31st May.
Thailand is currently operating under emergency decree – an increase in executive powers than began on 26th March and is expected to last at least until the end of April 2020. You can read the news in full here. To stay updated with all the latest COVID-19 developments from Thailand, you can follow our social media channels:
