RESCUE flights from Europe were due on Phuket tonight to carry off stranded passengers. Two aircraft, one from Air Berlin and the other a Thomas Cook special, are to fly people out almost immediately to Greece.

The passengers will deplane in Greece and continue on by bus or train to their homes. Two earlier flights head out to Munch and Paris, one a regular flight and the other a charter flight. At least nine flights from Europe have been cancelled since April 16, slicing into Phuket's holiday travel market, but not to an alarming degree.


PHUKET is now suffering badly as fallout from Iceland's volcano ash strands tourists on the island and prevents thousands of others from leaving Europe on holidays.

Thai Hotels Association regional president Suchart Hirankanokkul told Phuketwan today that occupancy on Phuket and the Andaman provinces was down by at least 10 percent, and rising.

''The problem is that European visitors are Phuket's mainstay in the low season,'' he said. ''Some charter flights are affected but the main problem is the regular flights that are not connecting with Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok.''

Some hotels, including Cape Panwa and other Kantary resorts, were putting up passengers stranded on Phuket at no cost as airlines in Europe desperately counted the cost and hoped for a return to the skies soon.

Khun Suchart said that Phuket was fortunate that the problem had come at this time of the year, not in high season. ''It is'nt good at any time but if it had happened in the high season, Phuket would have been facing a long, barren 2010.''

As it is, he said, the pipeline of European guests coming through Bangkok had been turned off. ''There are as many tourists stranded here because they can't get back,'' he said.

The red protest in Bangkok has temporarily closed the Holiday Inn Bangkok at the heart of the protest and will probably close other hotels as well. Phuket is continuing to benefit from direct flights from Australia especially, but the highest level black alert in Hong Kong will be deterring many travellers. The mainland China market as well as Japan and Korea have already suffered mass cancellations.

''In the low season, without the volcano, we would have this Asian market,'' he said. ''More than 40 countries, though, are concerned about the red protests and have issued alerts. So it seems that Phuket and Thailand have more than their fair share of travel problems right now. The only good point is the timing of the ash crisis.''

Flights direct to Phuket that have been cancelled include Phuket-Munch, Phuket-Paris, Phuket-Stockholm and Phuket-Amsterdam, the general manager of Phuket Airport, Prathuang Somkhorn, said today.

Given that Phuket has suffered from all kinds of scares and threats over the years since the 2004 tsunami, it would have been a brave forecaster who predicted the next source of damage to the island's tourism industry would be an Icelandic volcano.

Even with a quick all-clear to fly again, it could be a week before the airlines are able to cope with a backlog of passengers. While some have been fortunate with insurance covering costs, others stranded around the world have to fend for themselves.