Bangkok Will Have Two International Airports

[jjp]

Bit off topic guys but does anybody know the old flight path route for the flights that land at Don Muang?

I think they came in from the East but I may be wrong.

I have just bought a house on klong 4 Rangsit and am worried about the noise from the flights overhead.

Cheers,

JJP

[popshirt]

I had booked a flight to the US in order to avoid the Songkran jollies, but I have cancelled my trip. Rather be doused by ice water, dye, sticky rice water, etc. than hassle with the airport right now. I'm a seasoned flyer, but I REALLY don't like the idea of an airport with cracks in the runways! And I'm glad I don't have to make this trip. Hopefully things will be sorted out before too many years pass.

[MiG16]

not read any of the posts (too many!) but I wonder if anyone are thinking these 2 things that keep popping back in my head.....

- new airport is built on a swamp that needs to be continuously drained (I dont know the technical terms) but basically if that is not done well then water from below tries to push itself upward..since it has no where else to go. whos responsible for that now?

- related.....you all repeatedly tell us how thais are so good at corruption...and its something that has been going on in the country for ages...no argument about that from me...so the question becomes...from people who are so adept at corruption, and so used to skimming off from construction projects over the years (roads, express way and the likes)....despite the corruption it usually takes years for physical sign of damage to any of the construction...so why suddenly they have become so stupid as to create something that will crack in only about 1 month? any administration that would allow such corruption would do it such a way that nothing surfaces for atleast 3 to 5 years...meaning by such time that they would no longer be held easily accountable. so in this case....there are some question marks for me.....no answer...just question marks...but enough to also make me think I dont wanna believe everything that is being said on the news.....

- another question.....who stood to lose from moving away from Don Muang? and who gains from re-opening it?

thats all folks. Im going back to my kinder buono.

[sriracha john]

A Thai employee pushes a cart carrying boarding pass checking machines to install at the international departure lounges at Thailand's decades-old Don Muang airport in Bangkok. Thailand said it will reopen Bangkok's shuttered Don Muang airport amid mounting problems at its sparkling new air hub, despite fears the move will create confusion for millions of tourists.

AFP

Thai employees clean a waiting area at Thailand's decades-old Don Muang airport in Bangkok.

AFP

[cclub75]

Again we have to question how this gvt is working...

Monday :

Transport Minister says he will not propose the reopening of DM tuesday. "due to the lack of an action plan."

Transport Minister Theera Haocharoen Monday said he would not propose the reopening of Don Muang Airport for Cabinet approval Tuesday, due to the lack of an action plan.

Theera said his ministry would discuss the plan in greater detail with relevant bodies, including Airports of Thailand (AOT), the Department of Civil Aviation and Thai Airways International (THAI).

"With no action plan for using Don Muang Airport, I will not raise it with the Cabinet," he said.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingne...newsid=30026013

Tuesday :

The Cabinet decides the re opening of DM. The goal is to have 2 international airport.

"Considering the problems we have now at Suvannabhumi Airport and the number of passengers are increasing, the Cabinet decided that Don Muang Airport will be re-opened and Bangkok will have two international airports."

The spokesman said it was an idea of the prime minister .

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/02/06...es_30026114.php

wednesday

It appears that the airlines were totally taken by surprise. Even Thai Airways !

"The decision to turn Don Muang into Bangkok's second international airport came as a major surprise to THAI."

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/02/07...es_30026195.php

The Airline Operators Committee said Wednesday on behalf of the more than 65 airlines and travel bodies that it opposes the government's decision to reopen Don Muang airport.

"I'm surprised by the decision," she said, adding that the Transport Ministry and relavent agencies should have asked for AOC's opinions before even proposing such at move at the cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/b...s.php?id=116623

To sum'up.

Here are some interpretations.

-1-PM and the whole gvt are totally lunatic. The recent past (capital control, FBA amendement) could give some "weight" to this interpretation.

-2-It's a huge heist, for instance "we close DM. Price of land go down. We buy. Then we reopen DM. Price go up again. We sell".

-3-From a practical point of view : having 2 international airport is not that easy. Huge problem of staff, equipement (DM's equipement was moved to Suva). It can't be solved in 45 days.

So there could be another, logical, explaination : once again they are lying because the subject is too hot, but the plan is to have only ONE international airport, at least for short and medium term, while Suva will be closed for massive repair operations. So it could be a communication operation, in order to prepare the public to a great shock : Suva, the "national pride", is falling appart, we need to close it.

The game is becoming totally stupid. It has started in summer 2005, with the first reports about the "cracks". The public and privates business actors still don't have an accurate vision of the situation at Suva.

[southwest19]

Again we have to question how this gvt is working...

Monday :

Transport Minister says he will not propose the reopening of DM tuesday. "due to the lack of an action plan."

Transport Minister Theera Haocharoen Monday said he would not propose the reopening of Don Muang Airport for Cabinet approval Tuesday, due to the lack of an action plan.

Theera said his ministry would discuss the plan in greater detail with relevant bodies, including Airports of Thailand (AOT), the Department of Civil Aviation and Thai Airways International (THAI).

"With no action plan for using Don Muang Airport, I will not raise it with the Cabinet," he said.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingne...newsid=30026013

Tuesday :

The Cabinet decides the re opening of DM. The goal is to have 2 international airport.

"Considering the problems we have now at Suvannabhumi Airport and the number of passengers are increasing, the Cabinet decided that Don Muang Airport will be re-opened and Bangkok will have two international airports."

The spokesman said it was an idea of the prime minister .

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/02/06...es_30026114.php

wednesday

It appears that the airlines were totally taken by surprise. Even Thai Airways !

"The decision to turn Don Muang into Bangkok's second international airport came as a major surprise to THAI."

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/02/07...es_30026195.php

The Airline Operators Committee said Wednesday on behalf of the more than 65 airlines and travel bodies that it opposes the government's decision to reopen Don Muang airport.

"I'm surprised by the decision," she said, adding that the Transport Ministry and relavent agencies should have asked for AOC's opinions before even proposing such at move at the cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/b...s.php?id=116623

To sum'up.

Here are some interpretations.

-1-PM and the whole gvt are totally lunatic. The recent past (capital control, FBA amendement) could give some "weight" to this interpretation.

-2-It's a huge heist, for instance "we close DM. Price of land go down. We buy. Then we reopen DM. Price go up again. We sell".

-3-From a practical point of view : having 2 international airport is not that easy. Huge problem of staff, equipement (DM's equipement was moved to Suva). It can't be solved in 45 days.

So there could be another, logical, explaination : once again they are lying because the subject is too hot, but the plan is to have only ONE international airport, at least for short and medium term, while Suva will be closed for massive repair operations. So it could be a communication operation, in order to prepare the public to a great shock : Suva, the "national pride", is falling appart, we need to close it.

The game is becoming totally stupid. It has started in summer 2005, with the first reports about the "cracks". The public and privates business actors still don't have an accurate vision of the situation at Suva.

With the proposed amendments to the Foreign Business Act any companies deemed to be foreign will have to hand over management control to this lot. Will the last foreign investor to leave Thailand please turn out the lights!!

[lomatopo]

Two international airports, and both of them will have the designator "BKK".

No. BKK=Suvarnabhumi and DMK=Don Muang.

[Meerkat]

Bit off topic guys but does anybody know the old flight path route for the flights that land at Don Muang?

I think they came in from the East but I may be wrong.

I have just bought a house on klong 4 Rangsit and am worried about the noise from the flights overhead.

Cheers,

JJP

Depends how far down Khlong 4 you are. If you're near Rangsit-Nakhon Nayok Rd you should be fine. We're just off the main road next to the beginning of Khlong 3 and the planes all but go right over the house. Even when DM was open full-time it was rarely a problem.

[backflip]

My posting was a joke. On the other hand, maestro was very serious when he posted:

"I predicted total closure of Suvarnabhumi on 29 January (“My guess is that Suvarnabhumi will be shut down completely, all flights moved to Don Muang”) and again on yesterday (“And I go further and predict that as soon as Don Muang is ready, not only non-connecting domestic flights but all flights, domestic and international, will be transferred back do Don Muang”)"

That's right, after 4 months of postings by other people, he accurately predicted what would happen in 24 hours. Simply amazing!!

I agree that BKK should have two airports. Other cities with the same "problem": Chicago, Shanghai, Houston, New York. San Francisco has 3 airports within a 25- mile radius...and none of them are within the SF city limits.

Now that the aviation situation has been solved, perhaps topfield will regale us with several more baht FEX threads.

[TukTukDriver]

Think of what a mess it will be with all the connecting flights. How can Thai move just domestic? If they move all of Thai, wouldn't ANA and Lufthansa have to follow since they are partners?

[dai ru55]

FINALLY. The sensible solution as used by most other cities with multiple airports

I suppose we'd better dust off the Airport Rail Link Extension plans again.

thats spot on

[sriracha john]

Now that the aviation situation has been solved, perhaps topfield will regale us with several more baht FEX threads.

I think we're overdue for a rehash thread on the National Park dual-pricing.

[Prakanong]

Air Asia are getting into long haul and you can bet they are rubbing their hands with glee at getting a base at DM to do the same from Bangkok...

No-one has mentioned the obvious, getting Mr Thaksin to stump up for the mess he created....

You can rant on all you like but the whole SUV debacle does not all fall at the door of Taxin - you probably think he is responsible for global warming and bird flu as well ;-)))

What of the 4 firms cited for corruption?

I bet Ital-Thai still gets a big bite of the public cherry in the new mass transit contracts/

[Tony Clifton]

Whine whine whine. The new airport was poorly constructed, hidden defects appear on a weekly basis. Passenger and public safety at risk. The coming rainy season would/will cause further damage to runways. There's no choice but to open the old one. Plenty of time to figure out coordination until proper repairs and done and both can run at full capacity.

Blame the ex-self-appointed chairman of the airport committee-know-it-all pr!ck of a PM who stuck his greedy nose in every project, interfering as if he was some kind of omnipresent and supreme engineer. The new government had other things to deal with when they kicked him out and everything had already been set in motion, like a bowel movement that can't be stopped.

[Jai Dee]

Transport Ministry to clarify reasons in moving back to Don Mueng Airport

Transport Ministry will invite representatives from airlines to attend a meeting aimed to inform reasons on moving some flights back to Don Mueng Airport.

Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont yesterday announced to re-use Don Mueng Airport as an international airport like Suvarnabhumi international airport. In response to the announcement, Mr. Sansern Wongcha-um (สรรเสริญ วงศ์ชะอุ่ม), the Deputy Minister of Transport, said that Transport Ministry agrees with the announcement as the ministry wants to create the optimal use of the old airport. He said that the ministry will expedite the renovation of Don Mueng Airport to be ready to serve passengers within 45 days.

Transport Minister has assigned the Airport of Thailand to seek more officials in preparation for the reopening of the old airport.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 07 Febuary 2007

[ding]

Tony, I've wondered about the first monsoon season too. I figured I would NEVER fly in then.

Now, what of the doubled need for air traffic controllers? It takes a long time to get experience for that task.

[Tony Clifton]

Air traffic controllers can be hired from abroad if necessary.

[Prudent_rabbit]

Air traffic controllers can be hired from abroad if necessary.

Not quite as easy as that as all traffic Controllers have to validated on the equipment and job they are going to do, you cant just turn up and start directing traffic, an easy position such as talkdown can be done quite quickly, but positions such as "approach" and Director" where there are far more things to know and learn could take a while, and while they are doing this, they have to be supervised 1 on 1 by an experienced Controller

I would imagine that the Military will be on hand initially untill the Thai Aviation bods can drum up some new candidates

[Meerkat]

Air traffic controllers can be hired from abroad if necessary.

No need - DM has still been operating continuously since Suva opened, and therefore still has an operating ATC service.

A lot of people seem to think the old airport was moth-balled when the new one opened, which isn't the case. Obviously traffic is vastly down, but I'd estimate there are still upwards of one approach every 20-30 minutes. Likewise, it's still got all the correct international designations (DMK/VTBD).

I don't know how many flights are proposed to be moved back - maybe 50-100 a day? Don't reckon it will be a problem shifting any necessary extra personnel to meet them.

[Jai Dee]

International airlines worry over re-opening of Bangkok's old airport

International airlines have warned that reopening Bangkok's old Don Muang airport could prove costly and confusing for the millions of tourists who play a key role in the Thai economy.

Thailand's military-installed government opted to re-open the nearly century-old air hub to allow a host of problems at the sparkling new Suvarnabhumi Airport to be fixed, catching the aviation industry by surprise.

"For Bangkok to be a strong aviation hub in the region, the long-term vision should still be to have a single airport operation," said Albert Tjoeng, a Singapore-based spokesman for the International Air Transport Association, the global airline industry group.

"Two airports will split passengers, airlines, the AOT's resources and will lead to lower cost-efficiency and inconvenience for passengers," Tjoeng said.

Airports of Thailand (AOT) operates the troubled Suvarnabhumi Airport, which opened in September to replace Don Muang airport.

On Tuesday, the government said it would reopen Don Muang to allow more than 100 cracks on runways and taxiways to be repaired at Suvarnabhumi, as well as ease traffic congestion at the new airport.

The three-billion-dollar Suvarnabhumi Airport, named "Golden Land" in Thai, was supposed to be a gleaming symbol of modern Thailand.

But it has been mired in problems since opening, including embarassing cracks, corruption claims, inadequate toilets and complaints about hygiene standards.

Thai AirAsia, the country's largest budget carrier, said the government should do more to clarify problems at Suvarnabhumi.

"Authorities have to speed up restoring confidence in the international aviation community," the airline's chief executive Tassapon Bijleveld said.

An aviation industry source in Singapore said the government's decision to re-open Don Muang might have been motivated by political factors rather than safety concerns.

"The current military regime is doing everything it can to discredit the Thaksin era," the source said, referring to former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by the military in a bloodless coup in September.

Suvarnabhumi was one of Thaksin's pet projects. The deposed premier made the airport project a personal crusade, once camping at the building site in a show of support.

"One way of discrediting the Thaksin regime is by showing his big, pet project, Suvarnabhumi Airport, was wrecked not only by corruption but also incompetence," the source said.

Meanwhile, the the Airlines Operator Committee, which groups 68 foreign airlines in Bangkok, said it opposed the re-opening of Don Muang.

"Our standpoint is that operating a single airport at Suvarnabhumi is the best thing. If Suvarnabhumi is already congested, we should utilize the existing facilities," said Sopin Daengteth, the committee's chairperson.

Suvarnabhumi has capacity of 45 million passengers per year and Thailand hopes the new airport will further boost the country's tourism industry, which accounts for six percent of the economy.

Sopin said the committee believed the one airport was enough.

"There is no need for Bangkok to have two airports which are just 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) away from each other," she said.

Richard Pinkham, a Singapore-based aviation analyst at the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation, said it could create problems for passengers but argued the two airports could be better for Thailand's air traffic in the end.

"In the short-term, it does cause confusion for sure, but in the longer-term, the initial confusion will be a small price to pay for more capacity," Pinkham said.

"With current rates of growth, it won't be too long before brand-new Suvarnabhumi is overburdened," he said.

Source: AFP - 7 February 2007

[ilyushin]

Bangkok joins the club of cities with more than one operational airport to serve domestic and international flights.

A few major cities with more than one airport

-Berlin is served by three airports: historically, one was in the East Germany and the other two in West Berlin. The western airports are Tegel International Airport and Tempelhof airport, the eastern one Schönefeld International Airport.

-Beijing is served by three airports, two of them to serve for public.

-Bucharest is served by two airports: Henri Coanda International Airport and the smaller Aurel Vlaicu International Airport, both of them situated in the northern part of the city.

-Chicago, Illinois is served by three airports: O'Hare International Airport, Chicago Midway International Airport, and Gary/Chicago International Airport. It used to also be served by the now-demolished Meigs Field.

-Dallas, Texas is served by Dallas Love Field and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

-Houston is served by three airports: George Bush Intercontinental Airport, William P. Hobby Airport and Ellington Field.

-London is served by five main airports: Heathrow Airport, Gatwick Airport, Stansted Airport and Luton Airport are the larger four. The closest and smallest, London City Airport, serves commuter traffic and is located on the old royal docks close to the City. Only Heathrow and City Airport actually reside within the borders of Greater London.

-Montreal, Quebec is served by Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport which is located on the western tip of the island of Montreal. Another airport, Mirabel International Airport is located just north of the city, and is the second largest airport in the world in terms of area. A smaller airport, Montréal/St-Hubert Airport is located just south of the city, and has been in operation since 1926. Montreal has more airports than any other city in Canada.

-Moscow is served by three airports: Sheremetyevo International Airport which handles international flights although some carriers are locating to Domodedovo International Airport the newer of the two airports. The third is Vnukovo International Airport which deals with domestic carriers primarily but also handles international flights.

-New York City is served by two airports: JFK, and LaGuardia Airport, with Newark Liberty International Airport in neighboring Newark, New Jersey also serving as a major airport for the city.

-Osaka is served by two airports: Kansai International Airport, located in Izumisano city, Osaka Prefecture, served all international flights and some domestic flights. Osaka International Airport (commonly called "Itami Airport"), located in Itami City, Hyogo Prefecture, served more than half of domestic flights. Currently, Itami no longer serves scheduled international flights as all of them were moved to Kansai.

-Paris is served by two principal airports which both handle international traffic. The main international airport is Charles de Gaulle International Airport located north-east of Paris while the smaller Orly Airport is located to the south of Paris.

-Saint Louis, Missouri is served by two airports: Lambert-Saint Louis International Airport and MidAmerica St Louis Airport in nearby Mascoutah, Illinois

-Seattle, Washington is served by Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in the adjacent city of SeaTac, and King County International Airport (Boeing Field) in Seattle itself. In addition, Lake Union (entirely within Seattle) and Lake Washington (Seattle's eastern border) are both used for regularly scheduled passenger seaplane service.

-Shanghai is served by two airports: Hongqiao Airport and Pudong Airport

-Tokyo is served by two airports: Narita International Airport, actually located in Narita City, Chiba Prefecture, serves most of international flights and a few domestic flights from/to major cities in Japan. Tokyo International Airport (commonly called "Haneda Airport"), located in Ota Ward, Tokyo Prefecture, serves most of domestics flights and a few international flights from/to Seoul (Gimpo International Airport).

-Washington D.C. is served by Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport, and Baltimore-Washington International Airport, although none of these are technically in Washington D.C.

Opening of Suvarnabhumi Airport last year might have been due to creditor pressure or contract defaults.

Edited February 7, 2007 by ilyushin

[sriracha john]

Air traffic controllers can be hired from abroad if necessary.

Not quite as easy as that as all traffic Controllers have to validated on the equipment and job they are going to do, you cant just turn up and start directing traffic, an easy position such as talkdown can be done quite quickly, but positions such as "approach" and Director" where there are far more things to know and learn could take a while, and while they are doing this, they have to be supervised 1 on 1 by an experienced Controller

I would imagine that the Military will be on hand initially untill the Thai Aviation bods can drum up some new candidates

no need to bother with all of that.... Somdet the Mall Security Guard with his trusty whistle can bring in those big birds and park them just fine. Just blow it reeeeeally loud:

"kapong"

[ovenman]

Air traffic controllers can be hired from abroad if necessary.

Not quite as easy as that as all traffic Controllers have to validated on the equipment and job they are going to do, you cant just turn up and start directing traffic, an easy position such as talkdown can be done quite quickly, but positions such as "approach" and Director" where there are far more things to know and learn could take a while, and while they are doing this, they have to be supervised 1 on 1 by an experienced Controller

I would imagine that the Military will be on hand initially untill the Thai Aviation bods can drum up some new candidates

no need to bother with all of that.... Somdet the Mall Security Guard with his trusty whistle can bring in those big birds and park them just fine. Just blow it reeeeeally loud:

"kapong"

If that route is pursued, they'll also need somebody to hand out/collect those little plastic cards you get when entering a car park at a shopping center.

[mitrapaap]

2 airports for international use....This is what should have been done in the first place.

Apart from the benefits for incoming and outgoing tourists in better baggage handling, less time taken for processing etc...It would have given them time to sort out the teething problems and ensure that the new airport was viable before they were committed to full use.....

I suggest all European and Russian flights go to the new one and flights from the Asian pacific areas go to the old one.

And the americas land in Utapao

[mitrapaap]

International airlines worry over re-opening of Bangkok's old airport

International airlines have warned that reopening Bangkok's old Don Muang airport could prove costly and confusing for the millions of tourists who play a key role in the Thai economy.

Thailand's military-installed government opted to re-open the nearly century-old air hub to allow a host of problems at the sparkling new Suvarnabhumi Airport to be fixed, catching the aviation industry by surprise.

"For Bangkok to be a strong aviation hub in the region, the long-term vision should still be to have a single airport operation," said Albert Tjoeng, a Singapore-based spokesman for the International Air Transport Association, the global airline industry group.

"Two airports will split passengers, airlines, the AOT's resources and will lead to lower cost-efficiency and inconvenience for passengers," Tjoeng said.

Airports of Thailand (AOT) operates the troubled Suvarnabhumi Airport, which opened in September to replace Don Muang airport.

On Tuesday, the government said it would reopen Don Muang to allow more than 100 cracks on runways and taxiways to be repaired at Suvarnabhumi, as well as ease traffic congestion at the new airport.

The three-billion-dollar Suvarnabhumi Airport, named "Golden Land" in Thai, was supposed to be a gleaming symbol of modern Thailand.

But it has been mired in problems since opening, including embarassing cracks, corruption claims, inadequate toilets and complaints about hygiene standards.

Thai AirAsia, the country's largest budget carrier, said the government should do more to clarify problems at Suvarnabhumi.

"Authorities have to speed up restoring confidence in the international aviation community," the airline's chief executive Tassapon Bijleveld said.

An aviation industry source in Singapore said the government's decision to re-open Don Muang might have been motivated by political factors rather than safety concerns.

"The current military regime is doing everything it can to discredit the Thaksin era," the source said, referring to former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by the military in a bloodless coup in September.

Suvarnabhumi was one of Thaksin's pet projects. The deposed premier made the airport project a personal crusade, once camping at the building site in a show of support.

"One way of discrediting the Thaksin regime is by showing his big, pet project, Suvarnabhumi Airport, was wrecked not only by corruption but also incompetence," the source said.

Meanwhile, the the Airlines Operator Committee, which groups 68 foreign airlines in Bangkok, said it opposed the re-opening of Don Muang.

"Our standpoint is that operating a single airport at Suvarnabhumi is the best thing. If Suvarnabhumi is already congested, we should utilize the existing facilities," said Sopin Daengteth, the committee's chairperson.

Suvarnabhumi has capacity of 45 million passengers per year and Thailand hopes the new airport will further boost the country's tourism industry, which accounts for six percent of the economy.

Sopin said the committee believed the one airport was enough.

"There is no need for Bangkok to have two airports which are just 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) away from each other," she said.

Richard Pinkham, a Singapore-based aviation analyst at the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation, said it could create problems for passengers but argued the two airports could be better for Thailand's air traffic in the end.

"In the short-term, it does cause confusion for sure, but in the longer-term, the initial confusion will be a small price to pay for more capacity," Pinkham said.

"With current rates of growth, it won't be too long before brand-new Suvarnabhumi is overburdened," he said.

Source: AFP - 7 February 2007

Maybe we could let Singapore Airlines continue to use Suvarnabhumi and all the others use the safer Don Muang.

[mitrapaap]

Bit off topic guys but does anybody know the old flight path route for the flights that land at Don Muang?

I think they came in from the East but I may be wrong.

I have just bought a house on klong 4 Rangsit and am worried about the noise from the flights overhead.

Cheers,

JJP

Not to scare you more than you already are, but I once visited a friend at Klong 3. You can almost count the passengers when they land.

[mitrapaap]

I think that having two airports to permanently serve the Bangkok area in the furture is one of the best things to happen out of the massive screwup at Suvarnabhumi. I have spent 40 years in the airline industry and believe that the the list of positives of having these two airports, from both the passenger and pilot perspective, far outnumber the negatives. Many major cities in the US and elsewhere have two or more major airports serving their areas. The close proximity of major airports capable of handling large jets is a tremendous advantage for pilots in their flight planning of alternate airports in the case a diversion becomes necessary. This can become a tremendous advantage to getting passengers to their destination safely and in a reasonable time when a diversion becomes necessary. The list of pluses could go on and on.... I think of airport land in prime near city locations as something of a natural resource which once it is replaced by housing and shopping centers, it can never be replaced. Hopefully the Thai government will make the best of this opportunity and be able to transistion smoothly to having both BKK and DMK serve the needs of the flying public.

They rushed to open the new airport, now they are rushing to reopen the old one in time for Songkran. What about passenger safety? I would hope (hope springs eternal!) that would be top priority!! If I hadn't chosen Bangkok as our hub for our forthcoming revisit to Khal Lak and booked non-transferable, non-refundable tickets I would fly to Kuala Lumpur - now THAT is an International Airport.

I don't know which worries me most - an ill-conceived, ill-prepared, fault ridden new airport or an old, mothballed one! I'd be amazed if an old, decommissioned airport could be recommissioned safely, all flight timetables and aircraft rescheduled in 45 - 60 days! If that happens Thailand will prove that it has the best Project Managers in the world!! I'm returning to the UK on 12th April. Worst o two evils, I hope and believe it will be from the NEW airport. I also hope that the international community will not agree to reusing the old until it is guaranteed to be safe - if they are allowed to have a say, that is!

What the hel_l are you talking about? Don Muang was not in use (not on commercial flight use) for 4 months and you get a coronar by the thought that it will be used again? Well then land in a crack at Suvarnabhumi. I'll feel much better landing in an airport that had no issues for almost 100 years. Songkran has nothing to do with it, but the rainy season has a lot to do with it. And the rain slowly starts around April.

[jumnien]

Where are you people getting the idea that Don Muang has been closed down since the new airport opened. It has been operating everyday serving aircraft maintenance, flight training, military ops, fixed base operations, private planes, charters, etc. Did anyone anywhere ever say it closed? It certainly didn't!

[zacatecas]

Maybe just Pattaya is loosing. Was recently in Koh Lipe and it was complete full, no bed free, got from other tourists that koh tao is full and koh lanta. Just looking Pattaya or Phuket does not give an overview about the situation (but might even better than the official statistics).

[zacatecas]

Maybe just Pattaya is loosing. Was recently in Koh Lipe and it was complete full, no bed free, got from other tourists that koh tao is full and koh lanta. Just looking Pattaya or Phuket does not give an overview about the situation (but might even better than the official statistics).