THAI ready to cancel flights to avoid Ebola

BANGKOK, August 19 (TNA) - Thai Airways International (THAI), the national flag carrier, has announced that it is ready to cancel inbound and outbound flights to Ebola-affected areas to avoid the deadly disease. THAI Director for Emergency and Crisis Response Smud Poom-on told journalists on Tuesday that the national airline has closely followed up the Ebola virus disease (EVD) situation and if the Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO) asks the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to suspend flights to some risky destinations, THAI will be ready to cooperate. Smud noted, however, that the number of passengers on THAI flights to Johannesburg, South Africa, has not dropped and international travelers appear to have remained confident in THAI services. According to the THAI director, the cabin factor on those flights has remained at 70 per cent on average as usual despite reports on EVD outbreaks in West Africa, as Johannesburg is far away from the EVD affected areas. As precautions, the director acknowledged, THAI staffs have continued screening international passengers at their check-in rows and will have passengers with suspicious symptoms checked up. The THAI director explained if airport doctors do not approve suspects' flights, THAI will reject such passengers and wait for them to recover, while those whose health is subsequently certified can use their same tickets within a specified period afterwards. (TNA)