UAE | Tourism

'I was scared when thousands of people swarmed the airport'

Some of the repatriated passengers who had been stranded in Thailand by the political disturbances for the past week expressed relief upon on arriving at Abu Dhabi airport on Sunday morning.

  • By Rayeesa Absal, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 00:34 December 1, 2008
  • Gulf News

  • Image Credit: Atiq-ur-Rehman/Gulf News
  • Passengers who had been stranded in Thailand due to the unrest there arrived at Dubai airport on a special plane.
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Abu Dhabi Some of the repatriated passengers who had been stranded in Thailand by the political disturbances for the past week expressed relief upon on arriving at Abu Dhabi airport on Sunday morning.

"I was scared at first when I saw thousands of people swarming the airport, but then I was assured that nobody would be hurt and that the protesters would merely shut down the airport," said Nadeem Jamal Shaikh, who was stranded in Thailand and witnessed the ongoing anti-government protests.

Speaking to Gulf News, Shaikh said that the inconvenience caused was greatly reduced by the good services provided by the airlines. "Etihad helped people as much as possible. They arranged immigration officials at the hotel and we completed all procedures at the hotel itself. Then we were taken by a coach straight to the plane," he said.

Shaikh was supposed to spend five days holidaying but ended up spending 11 days in the city, where tension are mounting.

According to an Etihad official, over 376 passengers touched down on Sunday morning at Abu Dhabi airport aboard an Etihad Boeing 777 plane.

"We were on a recovery mission. Though we expected the passengers to be upset, things went smoothly and everything was fine," said the official, who did not want to be named.

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However, another passenger, Ahmad Qasim, a businessman from Yemen, said his schedule had hardly been affected by the airport siege.

Your comments


My family and I are stranded in Koh Samui with no sign of an end to this protest. Roads are closed and protestors are taking over other airports in Thailand. Does anyone know if the UAE authorities are working on getting expatriates out as well?
Barbara Van Pay
Dubai,UAE
Posted: December 01, 2008, 10:37

My husband is still in Thailand trying to come home. He has been waiting for a flight out and so far all the airlines could say is "we will inform you when there is a flight available". Etihad on the other hand are pulling out all the stops to get their passengers home. My friend's husband was lucky enough to be on Etihad and should be home today.
Amanda Jane Westerman
Dubai,UAE
Posted: December 01, 2008, 10:37

I was supposed to be on a flight back to Dubai on Wednesday but got stranded. I have had no help from airport staff at all and eventually had to make my own arrangements to get to Kuala Lumpur by train and bus and then fly back on Malaysia Airlines, all at my expense.
Jayen Vaghani
Dubai,UAE
Posted: December 01, 2008, 10:35

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