Monday, Dec 01, 2008
Gulf News
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.
However, another passenger, Ahmad Qasim, a businessman from Yemen, said his schedule had hardly been affected by the airport siege.
Gulf News 2008. All rights reserved.
