Ladyboy airline grounded in Seoul

AP

FIRST LADIES: Thai transsexual flight attendants, left to right, Chayathisa Nakmai, Dissanai Chitpraphachin, Nathatai Sukkaset and Phuntakarn Sringern at a check-in counter for PC Air at Suvarnabhumi international in Bangkok.

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It took to the skies with a floourish just months ago, now Thailand's first airline with transsexual air crew, PC Air has flown into financial troubles and ground to a halt with passengers stranded in South Korea.

Unpaid bills are blamed for the suspended service. Thai Deputy Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt was reported by international news agencies as saying: "The airline informed the Department of Civil Aviation that they cannot operate their charter flights due to business problems."

The move is expected to last until at least the end of the month.

PC Air  this year hired four transgender cabin attendants in a highly publicised recruitment drive to operate charter flights from Bangkok to Hong Kong and other Asian destinations.

But last week its only aircraft was grounded at Seoul's Incheon Airport because the company could not pay its service and fuel fees.

The airline has blamed its South Korean agent for the unpaid bill, which left several hundred passengers stuck.

- Sydney Morning Herald