Monsoon rains delays and reroutes flights at Phuket Airport

Phuket has experienced one of the worst tropical rains in years. We have got 200mm rain within just 12 hour period. To put that in context, in my home town, Turku Finland, the annual rainfall is only 660mm per year. Phuket got one third of that rain in just 12 hours.

Today's monsoon rains were something special. We had several flights waiting for an hour, before the flights could land to Phuket. This caused a lot of flight delays and some flight reroutes coming to the Phuket Airport. 

See the planes landing to Phuket Airport in realtime: Phuket Flightradar

During this time of the year we can see every now an then, the airplanes circling around the Phuket Airport, unable to land, waiting for the weather to get better. 

Multiple delayed flights due bad weather

Silkair flight from Singapore to Phuket being delayed for an hour.

There were many other flights delayed, like this Air Asia flight from Bangkok to Phuket. One hour late.

Tourist planes unable to land to Phuket, rerouting to Bangkok

There was also two separate China Eastern Airlines planes, which circled close to Phuket and then decided to land to Bangkok Suwanabhum airport. 

First China Eastern Airlines plane did a number of circles over the Phanga province, before it decided to fly to Bangkok. 

China Eastern Airlines Failed landing to Phuket 

The second Chinese plane, which made an u-turn. This must have been devastating experience for the tourists, who's flight has been already been delayed for 10 hours before the take-off. Now they saw the beaches of Phuket and then got back north to Bangkok. 





The plane tried it's best. It even tried to land to the Phuket Airport, before it's capitain decided to head back to Bangkok.