Pilots first reported at around 12:40pm that a section of the runway where aircraft land was damaged, explained Pakin Sirichan of Airports of Thailand (AoT) Phuket.
All flights were suspended while an inspection was carried out, and confirmed that a patch of runway measuring four square metres had been damaged, he said.
The suspension left five flights in a holding pattern waiting to land, Mr Pakin added.
The runway was then closed from 1pm-1:30pm while emergency repairs were made, after which the five flights were allowed to land, Mr Pakin said.
However, the runway ‒ designated Runway 27 despite the airport having only one runway ‒ was closed to all traffic again from 5pm to 7pm as it needed more comprehensive repairs to allow normal operations to resume, Mr Pakin explained.
Pilots of all inbound flights and flight operators at Phuket airport were informed of the temporary closure ahead of time to allow any changes in flight schedules, he added.
The Phuket News was informed that some flights were diverted to Krabi.
Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew arrived at the airport yesterday evening to be briefed on the situation.
Many flights had been delayed, leaving many passengers to wait patiently at the airport.
Normal operations at the airport resumed at about 7:20pm, but by that time the flights that had been delayed had to be scheduled to take off or land while allowing the other flights scheduled for throughout the night to continue. Some passengers had to wait hours.
Governor Narong expressed his appreciation of how the situation was handled.
“After being informed, a Vice Governor came down first and then I came down to help,” Governor Narong said.
“The staff had resolved the problem excellently. It must be appreciated when an abnormality is found and the problem is resolved immediately,” he added.
“I would like to commend all operators,” Governor Narong said.
Kurt | 05 July 2022 - 14:35:39