Thai Airways Moves 30 Domestic Flights To Don Muang

[george]

Thai Airways International to Operate 30 Daily Domestic Flights from Old Don Muang Airport in Bangkok

BANGKOK: -- From 25 March 2007 Thai Airways International will be operating 30 daily domestic flights from the old Don Muang airport in Bangkok. Flights with connections to international destinations (11 flights daily) from Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phuket and Krabi will remain at the new Suvarnahbumi Airport.

At Don Muang Airport, THAI will operate full services as follows:

Departure: Check-in at Domestic Terminal, second floor

Check-in counter number 15 – 26

Arrival: Domestic Terminal, first floor

Lounges: For Royal Silk Class Passengers only

Flight operations at Don Muang Airport will be numbered with 4 digits starting with 1 (TG 1xxx) such as TG 1203 and those operated at Suvarnabhumi Airport will have 3 digits.

In addition, THAI will open a City Air Terminal, located on the first floor, parking area of Lad Prao Metro Station. Passengers can pre-check-in their luggage 3 hours prior to flight departure. The service also includes shuttle bus service between Lad Prao Metro Station and Don Muang Airport. The service links transportation facilities between Bangkok Metro, BTS and THAI’s flights. The services, including domestic flights check-in and shuttle bus, will be available between 04.00 – 20.00 hours. Furthermore, passengers without luggage can pre-check-in 1 day before departure.

On 25th March 2007, the first flight operated at Don Muang Airport will be TG 1020, Don Muang-Ubon Ratchathani, departing at 06.00 hours and arriving at 07.05 hours, utilizing Boeing 737-400 aircraft. The first flight to Don Muang Airport will be TG 1161, Phitsanulok – Don Muang, departing at 07.40 hours and arriving at 08.25 hours, utilizing Boeing 737-400 aircraft.

Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited has said it will provide transportation services between Don Muang and Suvarnahbumi Airport. These services are not free and must be paid for by passengers.

--asiatraveltips.com 2007-03-21

[george]

Don Muang airport now officially called "Don Muang Airport"

BANGKOK: -- Bangkok International Airport has been officially renamed to Don Muang Airport, ahead of the reopening of the old airport which could cause confusion among travellers, according to the airport operator Airports of Thailand.

Kalaya Phakakrong, acting president of AOT, said that from March 25, Don Muang would handle 140 flights per day, accommodating 18,000 passengers a day.

It was confirmed that Thai Airways International, Nok Air and One-To-Go will operate their non-transit domestic flights at Don Muang.

"We can handle more passengers and flights as Don Muang's domestic terminal can handle up to 11 million passengers," she said.

She also noted that the reopening of Don Muang would increase AOT's revenue.

-- The Nation 2007-03-21

[bonsaimax]

She also noted that the reopening of Don Muang would increase AOT's revenue.

yeah right!!!

[Levent]

She also noted that the reopening of Don Muang would increase AOT's revenue.

yeah right!!!

Sure, Bangkok will have two operational airports, so the AOT will receive more money from the operators for use of the facilities. The ones losing out on this are the airlines themselves, who face considerable costs again to relocate part of their services to the old airport. All because AOT was wrong by opening Suvarnabhumi and closing Don Muang in the first place. They should have kept Don Muang open, as they knew that Suvarnabhumi's capacity was already reached on the day it opened.

[dreimer]

Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited has said it will provide transportation services between Don Muang and Suvarnahbumi Airport. These services are not free and must be paid for by passengers.

I was at BKK domestic Wednesday and nobody at the AOT desks knows anything about a shuttle bus service starting this Saturday between the two airports. The only thing they could tell me was that the AOT limo service was 1200 Baht to/from Don Muang.

[marshbags]

Reference Dreimer

I don,t see it mentioned specifically in general terms but on last nights Ch.7 news it said that buses had been arranged to start on the 25th of March to take passengers between the airports.

That is D.Muang to the Suvarnabhumi ( not related to " Lad Prao Metro Station and Don Muang Airport. " )

It also said a cheap fare would be applicable.

This is good news indeed for all of us regarding arranged shuttles, that is.

I for one am delighted if it is proved correct and it is applied sensibly throughout the flight periods to enable catching connections within a reasonable timing schedule.

marshbags

[taxexile]

what are the airport codes for the two airports ?

[Meerkat]

what are the airport codes for the two airports ?

Suvarnabhumi - BKK

Don Muang - DMK

[Krub]

She also noted that the reopening of Don Muang would increase AOT's revenue.

yeah right!!!

Sure, Bangkok will have two operational airports, so the AOT will receive more money from the operators for use of the facilities. The ones losing out on this are the airlines themselves, who face considerable costs again to relocate part of their services to the old airport. All because AOT was wrong by opening Suvarnabhumi and closing Don Muang in the first place. They should have kept Don Muang open, as they knew that Suvarnabhumi's capacity was already reached on the day it opened.

And who pays the airlines ?

Us the passengers with our coins and time lost between the 2 airports

[happyman40]

one month ago i ordered 3 flight tickets with thai airways ( an offer called discover thai) and i made at the same time my reservations for the flights...suddenly and by accident today..i read the danish thaiairways site....and learn that they are moving some flights back... well i decide to check my tickets...and yes... one was changed almost two hours... and one they have changed the destination.. ...all that withOUT any notification to me... i almost lost my international flight back home there... as they moved my BKK flight to Don muang...

all i can say is TIT.....

so check your reservations guys...

[JacksonGlurk]

My wife burst out laughing when she saw the paper this morning. Thai has big ads in both the Post and the Nation touting its new service, not to 'Don Muang' at all, but to 'Don Muaeng.' Of course, they served 'Don Muang' happily enough for -- what? -- fifty years, but how quickly they forget, huh?

Hummmm. I hope they can find the place better than they can spell it.

Now please don't waste your time explaining to me how Thai can be transliterated in different ways and that this isn't really a mistake etc etc etc. I've certainly lived in Bangekok and Thaieland long enough to understand that, but in this case....

[nonthaburial]

Two points here, the first could be a little confusing and that is the statement that TG flights with 4 numbers i.e TG 1234 etc will only be used out of the old airport. This is not strictly true as the TG flight to Kaohsiung ( Taiwan) has a flight number TG 6800 and leaves from new airport.

Secondly with reference to the name . If you look at the airport signs on Viphavadee Rd the spelling is Don Mueng and has been for as long as I can remember. and my memory goes back to 1977

[sabaijai]

Secondly with reference to the name . If you look at the airport signs on Viphavadee Rd the spelling is Don Mueng and has been for as long as I can remember. and my memory goes back to 1977

That spelling is an anomaly. The official RTGS spelling is Don Muang and that's what the highway dept is supposed to use. It's also what the AOT and most other government depts use.

[Richard W]

If you look at the airport signs on Viphavadee Rd the spelling is Don Mueng and has been for as long as I can remember. and my memory goes back to 1977

The official RTGS spelling is Don Muang

Not according to p6 of the RTGS. That gives 'uea' for the transcription with a note that it used to be 'ua'.

[chiang mai]

There seems to be a move afoot in Thailand to correct the western spelling of Thai names and much of this seems to involve inserting the letter "e" at random into the middle of words. My wife just had her passport renewed and it came back with the spelling of her surname changed to include two additional e's! When queried the passport office said that the new spelling was the correct way to spell her name - quite remarkable reeeeeelly.

[backflip]

What's the big dealio? China switched to new spelling rules years ago and "Peking" became "Beijing".

[chiang mai]

What's the big dealio? China switched to new spelling rules years ago and "Peking" became "Beijing".

Hmm yes, but, in your example they changed the name of the entire city not merely corrected the long term spelling of an airport name - not quite the same thing but okay anyway.

[pete_r]

Here's a little curiosity... A flight from Suvarnabhumi to Don Mueang, showing on a departure board at Suvarnabhumi (picture shamelessly borrowed from the Pantip forum).

For information, on the Thai airways website, flight TG1222 is announced from Phuket at 21.35 to Don Mueang at 00.20 with a "technical stop" mentioned.

[Auntymarybrown]

Does anyone know if the airport bus service which ran between Don Meuang and Sukumwit (before the Suwannapoom airport started operations) has restarted ? Does it use the old route it used before and is the fare still one hundred baht each way ?

Thank you.