5,600 Bags Stranded As Thai Airways Slashes Bangkok Flights

Thai Airways canceled several flights to and from Bangkok on September 29 and 30, including services to Singapore, New Delhi, Kuala Lumpur, Frankfurt, Munich and Brussels, as the flag carrier and Suvarnabhumi Airport kept struggling to work through a backlog of delays and stranded baggage built up over nearly a week of flooding in the Thai capital.

Bangkok had been hit by roughly 320 millimeters (12.6 inches) of rain over two to three days the previous week, nearly matching what the low-lying capital typically receives across an entire September. While the city's main airports stayed open through the worst of the flooding, ground operations buckled under the strain, and the government said Tuesday that standing water citywide was expected to clear within three days if no further heavy rain fell.

Chief executive Chai Eamsiri told reporters the carrier would cut about 30 flights from Bangkok on September 29, roughly 30% of its planned departures, with the reduced schedule continuing for at least three more days. "Almost 100% of flights over the past two days were delayed, with fewer than 3% on schedule as operational capacity could not be sustained," he said.

In a Facebook post Tuesday morning, Thai Airways listed a string of cancellations affecting both September 29 and 30, among them TG407 from Bangkok to Singapore and TG408 on the return leg, along with flights on its Frankfurt, Munich, Brussels, New Delhi and Kuala Lumpur routes.

About 5,600 bags from Thai Airways flights remained stranded at Suvarnabhumi Airport, though the airline said it expected to clear the backlog within 72 hours. Photos from the airport showed passengers queuing to reclaim baggage after the disruption to ground operations.

With Thai Airways' own ground staff overwhelmed, 69 Thai Air Force personnel were deployed on September 28 to help process baggage and support ground operations at Suvarnabhumi, one of Southeast Asia's busiest hub airports.

The disruption has drawn criticism from within the Thai government itself. Tourism and Sports Minister Surasak Phancharoenworakul said Thai Airways' handling of the delays and baggage chaos had damaged the country's tourism image, and he called on the finance ministry, the airline's largest shareholder, to convene an urgent board meeting over the matter.

Government spokesperson Ekkapob Pianpises said the cabinet would use its Tuesday session to discuss long-term measures to address flooding and support recovery. Industry Minister Varawut Silpa-archa said 1,267 businesses across 40 provinces, including 52 factories and 1,162 small and medium-sized enterprises, have been affected by the flooding, with nationwide economic damage estimated at more than $320 million.

The chaos at Suvarnabhumi stems from flooding that has affected large parts of Bangkok since late September, prompting Governor Chadchart Sittipunt to declare a citywide emergency across all 50 districts on September 26. Thailand's interior ministry has linked the flooding to 23 deaths across 42 provinces since September 16, including four in Bangkok.

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