The alert, issued on Wednesday, called for any passengers sitting near one particular passenger on the flight to present themselves for a COVID test at their nearest government hospital.
The flight involved was Vietjet Airlines flight VZ314 on June 25, departing Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok at 7:20am and landing in Phuket at 8:40am.
As is usual with such alerts from officials, the notice was marked “URGENT!!” and noted, “Please note that those who were sitting according to the specified numbers [of the seat plan image posted], you are a high-risk touch!!️”
However, the notice refrained from actually confirming that the person who was sitting in the seat marked red had been infected with COVID-19.
The statement issued by Vietjet Airlines yesterday (July 1), noted,
“This statement is issued in connection with a report made by Phuket Covid-19 Information Centre regarding passengers having been tested positive for COVID-19 on flights VZ314 (Bangkok - Phuket) on 25 June 2021.
“In response to the report, Thai Vietjet has immediately taken preventive and control measures by having flight crew, cabin crew and ground staff of the reported flights quarantined. The aircraft used to operate the reported flights have also been disinfected on a daily basis following standard since then, to avoid the risk of virus transmission.
“As of now, Thai Vietjet is operating domestic services as usual under highly hygienic and sanitizing practices, including sterilizing the aircraft, requesting all passengers, pilots, and cabin crew to wear surgical masks at all time during the flights, suspending food and beverage services onboard, and so forth. Our priority is to protect and prevent our valued passengers from COVID-19 and ensure all fly safely with us on every flight.
“Since the early outbreak of the COVID-19, Thai Vietjet has been following guidelines designated by World Health Organization, Ministry of Public Health, and Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT),” the statement concluded.