Friday, November 28, 2008

Military Aircraft To Fly Back Stranded Malaysians

From Bernama:

The Malaysian embassy in Bangkok is arranging a special military flight to carry Malaysians stranded in Bangkok following the closure of the Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang airports in the capital by anti-government protesters since Monday.

An embassy official said that since the seats are limited on this flight, those who can afford commercial flights are advised to fly with them.

"For the special military flight, all Malaysians in need are advised to call the embassy's hotline number for the latest information and coordination. We will inform soon on the departure of the military aircraft ," he said.

In view of the uncertainty in Bangkok, the embassy has opened a round-the-clock operations room. The numbers to contacted are (+66) 2629 6808 or (+66) 2629 6800 ext. 4106.

The official said those with Malaysia Airlines (MAS) tickets should contact the airline as it would operate a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Utapao, near Pattaya, on Friday to bring back hundreds of its passengers stranded in Bangkok.

MAS area manager for Thailand A. Vijayakumaran said two more flights would be operated on Saturday, using the Airbus aircraft wit h passenger capacity for 290 people, compared with the normal capacity of 144.

Thailand's Department of Civil Aviation has agreed to allow airlines to use the airport, which is located about 140km from Bangkok, following the closure of the Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang airports.

Vijayakumaran said the MH782 flight on Friday would leave Kuala Lumpur at 3.15pm and arrive here at 16.20pm (Thai time), before the return MH783 departs at 5.10pm and lands in KLIA at 8.15pm.

On Saturday, MAS will operate two flights, starting with MH784 at 9.10am and arriving here at 10.15am (Thai time) and departing (MH785) Utapao at 11.10am.

The second flight (MH788) will depart KLIA at 12.25pm and arrive at 1.30pm while the return flight (MH789) is scheduled to leave at 2.15pm (Thai time) and arrive at KLIA at 5.25pm.

For enquiries, passengers can call MAS office in Bangkok at (+66) 2263 0572 or (+66) 2263 0565 up to 71 (hunting line), as well as MAS' 24-hour Call Centre at 1 300 88 3000 in Malaysia.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

What so special about military aircraft those aircraft are not protected, so what the hell sending military aircraft, not safe either!!! less pax can be loaded in.
Instead MAS with the Boeing, ABus and 737 can do better and faster job and their pilots are much more experienced in international route flying than the current military operators. Don't the PM has better options of using better assets and faster, safer and comfortable. Think man!!!! dh9753

Da Real Deal said...

ake sure they dont send the Nuri. They'd be safer in Bangkok!

Anonymous said...

Nuraina,

Couldn't get your email address.
Could you help me by putting this up in your blog?

Thanks,

Parkaran, Aljazeera.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad will be appearing separately live on Aljazeera's Riz Khan show next week. They will be talking on the current political situation in Malaysia and the implications of the global economic crisis.



Najib will be appearing on 10pm on Monday (Dec 1) Dr Mahathir's show is on Dec 4 (Thursday) at 10pm (1400GMT). Viewers can call in or email questions to this interactive show. They can email to riz@aljazeera.net or call in live to the show at +1 202 275 2360.



In another panel discussion involving Malaysian politics and culture which will among others touch on the Internal security Act, Riz Khan will also appear live with three guests on Wednesday (Dec 3) also at 10pm. They are blogger and ex-ISA detainee Raja Petra Kamarudin and playwrights Kee Thuan Chye and Jo Kukhatas.



People can also join the chatroom by watching on livestation.com and entering the chatroom. Aljazeera English is broadcast on Channel 513 of Astro.



Riz Khan will be in Kuala Lumpur in December for a series of live interviews on the future of Malaysia and the region as a whole. The "Riz Khan" show will air live from Monday, Dec. 1, through Thursday, Dec. 4, at 10pm.



The shows:



Monday (Dec 1) – DPM Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak

Tuesday (Dec 2) – Thailand politics

Wednesday (Dec 3) – Raja Petra Kamarudin, Kee Thuan Chye, Jo Kukhatas

Thursday (Dec 4) – Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad

Unknown said...

Kak Aina,

The situation in Bangkok was not as bad as in Phnom Penh some years ago when there was a civil war.

Remembered then MAS under Tan Sri Tajuddin via his Royal Air Cambodge connection sent in one plane to bring back some of his staff and many more Malaysians out of Cambodia.

That was real life threatening situation compared to the general strike at the Bangkok International Airport.

Anyway, kudos to the government, MAS and Air Asia for all their effort to safely bring back all of Malaysian citizens stuck in Bangkok.

Anonymous said...

the latest :
1) mmgg wants 2juta from dr.csl !
2) the anak mamak WANTS all primary ( kecuali malay) schools
TUTUP = for him to be the youth leader ...@#$%^&* !!