PHUKET, THAILAND – A hard landing by an Air India Express jet forced Phuket International Airport to restrict operations for hours on 12 March, disrupting travel for thousands of passengers.
Hard landing shuts down the runway
Operations at Phuket International Airport were severely limited after a hard landing involving an Air India Express aircraft led to the closure of the airport’s only runway for seven hours. Around 100 flights carrying an estimated 18,000 passengers were either diverted or delayed during the disruption.
The incident occurred shortly before midday, when a Boeing 737-300 arriving from Hyderabad reported a landing gear problem as it touched down in Phuket. During the landing, the nose of the aircraft scraped along the runway, causing damage to the jet and prompting an immediate response from airport authorities.
According to the airport, the damage was limited to property, and no further incidents were reported on the runway at that time. The closure was imposed as a safety measure while the aircraft was secured and the pavement inspected for possible secondary damage.
133 passengers escape injury
On board the affected flight were 133 passengers and seven crew members. According to the airport management, none of them were injured in the incident.
The jet began its landing a few minutes earlier than planned, which added pressure to ground operations during a critical phase of the daily traffic. Handling teams had to rapidly adapt their procedures while emergency protocols were activated on and around the runway.
Despite the dramatic nature of the nose scrape, airport officials maintained that the consequences were confined to material damage. Normal emergency procedures were followed to ensure the safety of travelers and staff.
100 flights hit, 18,000 travelers delayed
Monchai Tanode, the airport’s director-general, put the overall impact at 100 domestic and international flights that either departed late or had to divert to other airports. Many aircraft were forced into holding patterns or rerouted as the closure stretched on for hours.
About half of the affected services were domestic connections, while the remainder were international routes, the airport manager said. Airlines and passengers faced cascading delays as schedules were adjusted throughout the day.
The disruption left an estimated 18,000 travelers waiting for updated departure times or transport arrangements. The effects were felt across multiple carriers operating in and out of Phuket, a major tourism hub in southern Thailand.
Diversions to Krabi, Surat Thani and Bangkok
Following the runway closure, authorities diverted numerous aircraft to alternative airports, including Krabi, Surat Thani and Bangkok. These facilities absorbed flights that could not land in Phuket during the seven-hour shutdown.
For holidaymakers and expatriates, the diversions meant longer journeys, missed onward connections and, in many cases, additional domestic travel back to Phuket. Some passengers faced extra bus transfers or internal flights arranged to reconnect them with their original destination.
The unexpected detours added time and complexity to travel plans at the height of a busy day for regional and international traffic. Airlines and ground handlers had to coordinate replacement transfers and inform passengers amid ongoing uncertainty about reopening times.
Why one runway causes such disruption
Phuket’s airport relied essentially on a single central runway, making the entire operation vulnerable when an incident occurred on the pavement. Any aircraft recovery on the runway, combined with parallel inspections of taxiways and technical systems, quickly slowed or halted take-offs and landings.
While recovery efforts were under way, movements on and around the runway were severely restricted or impossible. Safety protocols required that all relevant infrastructure be checked before traffic could fully resume.
This dependence on one strip meant that even a localized incident, such as a nose scrape, had system-wide consequences. The knock-on effects extended far beyond the initial landing, affecting flights across Thailand and on international routes.
Evening reopening after safety checks
According to Monchai Tanode, airport teams completed their inspections of the runway, taxiways and associated equipment at around 7 p.m. They then cleared the airfield for the resumption of normal operations.
The airport said the closure was necessary to ensure the safe recovery of the damaged jet and to determine whether the scraping of the surface had caused any follow-on damage. Only after these checks were finished did the authorities allow regular traffic to restart.
“The closure served the safe recovery of the damaged jet and the inspection of whether the scraping of the surface had caused consequential damage.”
said Monchai Tanode, airport director-general.
By the evening, flights gradually returned to schedule, although residual delays and rebookings continued to affect passengers whose plans had been disrupted earlier in the day.