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From Bloomberg:

Thai Airport Restarts Flights as Protesters End Siege (Update3)

By Suttinee Yuvejwattana and Rattaphol Onsanit

Dec. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Thailand’s main international airport restarted limited flights after anti-government protesters ended an eight-day blockade following the removal of Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat.

A Thai Airways International Pcl plane from Phuket with 307 passengers on board touched down at Suvarnabhumi airport at 2:10 p.m., the first passenger flight to land since protesters stormed the airport on Nov. 25, the carrier said in a statement today. Services from Bangkok’s second airport, which was also occupied, will resume tomorrow, the airline said separately.

The siege paralyzed Thailand’s tourism industry in its peak season, stranding as many as 400,000 travelers. Suvarnabhumi will probably return to full service on Dec. 5, Transport Minister Santi Prompat said. In the meantime, carriers with planes already at the airport can use a nearby convention center to check in passengers, according to the airport’s operator.

“We will operate from the areas that are ready first,” Vudhibhandhu Vichairatana, chairman of Airports of Thailand Pcl, said in an interview. “We will try to accelerate the opening as much as we can. I want to do it within the next two days, but every system must meet the standards before the opening.”

Thai Airways will operate 20 flights tomorrow at Don Mueang Airport.

Lufthansa, Cathay

Overseas airlines including Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. said they’ll restart flights to Bangkok once Thai officials certify the airport is ready. About 750 flights a day haven’t been able to get in or out of the airport, Asia’s fourth busiest.

“An end to the protests will come as a big relief to investors, as much as to thousands of stranded passengers,” said Nader Naeimi, a Sydney-based strategist at AMP Capital Investors, which oversees $85 billion. “But there’s still uncertainty, because there’s no guarantee it won’t happen again. This has been particularly bad for Thailand’s tourism industry.”

Thailand’s SET index rose 1.5 percent, paring its loss this year to 54 percent. Airports of Thailand gained 0.4 baht, or 2.4 percent, to 17, reversing a two-day, 6.7 percent decline. Thai Airways added 0.2 baht, or 2.8 percent, to 7.30.

“After it opens again, there is no question we will return to Bangkok,” Deutsche Lufthansa AG spokesman Thomas Jachnow said by phone. “Of course, we have to check for any damage after the protests.”

Japan Air

Japan Airlines Corp., Asia’s largest carrier by sales, canceled flights to Bangkok again today and won’t resume them until the airport confirms that operations have returned to normal, said Hisanori Iizuka, a spokesman for the airline. The carrier is operating special flights to the U-Tapao military airfield east of Bangkok to pick up stranded passengers.

Qantas Airways Ltd., Australia’s largest airline, said it was closely monitoring the situation and hadn’t made a decision yet on when it will resume flights to Thailand.

Singapore Airlines Ltd. also said it would wait to resume flights until the airport declares itself ready. The carrier said demand for flights out has diminished in recent days as tourists have left by alternative means.

All Nippon Airways Co. has canceled flights planned from U- Tapao tomorrow after being informed Bangkok’s main airport would open starting Dec. 5, the carrier said today. Bahraini carrier Gulf Air and Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia Bhd. will also resume flights on Dec. 5, the companies said in e-mailed statements.

Deutsche Lufthansa is diverting flights to Phuket until next Friday, Jachnow said. “If the situation in Bangkok doesn’t allow, we will continue to fly to Phuket.”

Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong’s largest carrier, will resume Bangkok flights on Dec. 5, it said in an e-mailed statement.

First International Flights

The first international flights may leave for Sydney and Rome just after midnight on Dec. 5, to mark the birthday of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Thailand’s head of state, according to the airport’s operator. Cargo flights are already operating, AOT said.

AOT is losing about 100 million baht ($2.8 million) each day the international airport and terminal remain closed, said Serirat Prasutanond, the company’s acting president.

“The full opening may take a week,” he said. “We have 10 kilometers of baggage belts that we need to check. We started bomb checks yesterday, and today we have sent staff in to clear the leftover baggage.”

Finance Minister Suchart Thadathamrongvej said this week the economy may not expand next year, as the airport seizures hurt tourism and a global recession trims exports. He forecasts growth of between zero and 1.3 percent in 2009.

End of the Party

Demonstrators began leaving the terminal yesterday, though hundreds lingered outside early today, listening to speeches and lining up for a last meal before boarding buses. Cleaners arrived at 6 a.m. to clear piles of flattened cardboard boxes that the protesters used as sleeping mats.

Thailand’s Constitutional Court ousted Somchai, saying his party bought votes in last year’s election. The ruling backed accusations leveled by the People’s Alliance for Democracy, whose members besieged government offices in Bangkok for three months.

Protesters accused Somchai of being a proxy for Thaksin Shinawatra, his brother-in-law and a former prime minister who was ousted in a 2006 coup. The group had rejected calls for fresh elections, saying it wants a new political system that reduces the electoral influence of poor farmers, who comprise Thaksin’s political base.

While anti-government demonstrators agreed to end their eight-day occupation of the two airports, they reserved the right to resume the protests.

“I have made a lot of friends here,” said airport protester Lee Meng, whose dog, a pug, was clad in a saffron- colored shirt. “It’s like a family. Whenever there is a call to regroup, I will definitely come.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Suttinee Yuvejwattana in Bangkok at [email protected]; Rattaphol Onsanit in Bangkok at [email protected].

Last Updated: December 3, 2008 08:38 EST