AFP

Bangkok, Dec 3: International flights from Bangkok's main airport are set to resume on Thursday after protesters began to end a blockade of the facility, a top airport authority official said.

"We hope to resume flights on December 4, hopefully. From tomorrow night, the first departure flight will be Bangkok-Rome, a Thai Airways flight," said Vudhibhandhu Vichairatana, chairman of the board of Airports of Thailand.

"We will try and get everything back to normal as soon as possible," he told reporters at Suvarnabhumi international airport.

Vudhibhandhu said one domestic flight was due to arrive at Suvarnabhumi later Wednesday, a Thai Airways flight from the southern tourist town of Phuket.

It was originally scheduled to land at the U-Tapao naval base southeast of Bangkok, which has been standing in as the main exit point for travellers, but will now touch down at 2:00pm (0700 GMT) at Suvarnabhumi, he said.

The chairman said damage from the occupation of the airport by the People's Alliance for Democracy since November 25 had not yet been estimated.

Hundreds of PAD supporters started leaving the airport in cars, taxis and buses after the 10:00am time set by PAD leaders for the end of their protests at Suvarnabhumi and other sites.