The first flight to land at Phuket International Airport received a water salute as a warm welcome to international flights carrying tourists to Phuket, as the island officially opened for quarantine-free tourism in the Phuket Tourism Sandbox program on Thursday July 1.
A flight from Abu Dhabi operated by Etihad Airways touched down at Phuket International Airport at 11:07 a.m., becoming the inaugural passenger flight carrying international tourists to land at this island province, as it formally reopened to international tourism.
To mark the occasion, a water salute using the airport’s firefighting vehicles was arranged, following the tradition in the aviation industry to mark special occasions such as inaugural flights.
The flight EY430 from Abu Dhabi, UAE, carried 25 passengers entering Phuket under the Phuket Tourism Sandbox program, which waives quarantine requirements for fully-vaccinated visitors, albeit with some other restrictions.
After being left deserted for months, the Arrival Hall at the International Terminal at Phuket Airport returned to life, with souvenir shops now reopened.
Four flights landed in Phuket during the day, with Etihad Airways’ from Abu Dhabi being the first, followed by Qatar Airways’ flight QR840 at 1:30 p.m. carrying 136 passengers from Doha; El Al Israel Airlines’ flight LY87 at 1:45 p.m. carrying 137 passengers from Tel Aviv, and Singapore Airlines’ flight SQ736 carrying 100 passengers from Singapore. The total number of arriving international passengers was between 300-400 persons.
Upon arrival at Phuket Airport’s international terminal, arriving passengers must go through initial screening involving a temperature scan, then present their documents including vaccine certificate, health insurance, booking confirmation at certified accommodation, and undergo a negative RT-PCR test for COVID-19 with health control officials.
Arriving passengers are required to install and activate Thailand Plus and Mor Chana applications on their mobile devices, before passing through immigration, baggage collection, and customs.
Before leaving the airport, international passengers must take an RT-PCR test before heading to their certified accommodation on pre-arranged transportation. At the accommodation, visitors are required to stay inside their room while waiting for their test result, which can take up to 24 hours. They are then allowed to leave the room and travel freely around Phuket once the test returns negative. Travelers whose airport arrival test returns positive will be sent immediately to a hospital for treatment. (NNT)
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