Thai airline staff roll out the welcome mat

Ready for tourists: A worker sanitising luggage trolleys at Suvarnabhumi Airport in preparation for international arrivals. — Reuters

FROM engineers to pilots, Thailand’s aviation industry is gearing up for a grand reopening when the tourism-reliant country will welcome vaccinated arrivals without quarantine, ending nearly 19 months of strict entry rules.

“It’s something everybody’s waiting for,” said Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth, president of the Thai airline association, which has seven members, including Thai Smile Airways, Thai AirAsia and Thai VietJet Air.