Khon Kaen Airport in Thai Northeast resumes services

KHON KAEN, THAILAND, November 5 (TNA) - Khon Kaen Airport in the Thai Northeast has been reopened for normal services, after a passenger plane of Thai Airways International (THAI), the national flag carrier, which slipped off its runway on Monday night, has already been removed. Workers' attempts to remove the Airbus A330 plane, serving TG047 Flight, took about 30 hours before the success at about 3am on November 5, when the plane was moved away from the runway and was parked within the compound of Khon Kaen Airport pending an official investigation into the incident. Services at Khon Kaen Airport then resumed after concerned authorities had checked its runway and navigation systems and found nothing wrong with them. The resumed services began with the landings of Thai AirAsia and Thai Smile flights at 8am and 8:05am, with the first takeoff from Khon Kaen to Bangkok reported at 8:45am. Khon Kaen Airport Director Athaya Larpmark told reporters that, based on an initial probe, the nose tire of the troubled plane was ruptured, but it has not yet been concluded if the damage happened before or after the plane went off the runway, while the body of the plane remains intact. The THAI Flight TG047, (Khon Kaen-Bangkok), with two pilots, 11 crew members and 246 passengers aboard, slipped from its runway and was stuck in soil while preparing for its takeoff at 8:50pm on November 3, causing the Khon Kaen Airport to be temporarily closed, but all people abroad the aircraft were safe. At Chiang Mai Airport in the Thai North, staffs are, meanwhile, trying hard to collect used sky lanterns falling into the compound of the airport, as local people are celebrating this year's Loy Krathong Festival, which officially falls on November 6. Chiang Mai Airport Director Wisuth Janthana said airport staffs had collected more than 100 sky lanterns over the past 3-4 years to prevent adverse impacts on aviation. (TNA)