Deputy Transport Minister Hints At Closing Don Muang Airport

[george]

Deputy transport minister hints at adopting single airport policy

BANGKOK: -- Deputy Transport Minister Songsak Thongsri on Monday hinted at adopting a restored single metropolitan Bangkok airport policy, saying that three airlines operating at Don Mueang Airport at the moment will be shifted back to Suvarnabhumi Airport when its expansion project second phase is completed.

He revealed that newly-appointed board members of the Airports of Thailand would be invited to meet and discuss with him this week regarding the ministry's policy.

Initially, he said, the board would be asked to accelerate coping with urgent problems regarding varied inconvenience in services passengers had faced at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Regarding the use of Don Mueang Airport, Mr. Songsak said the ministry had a clear-cut policy to have a single airport in the country and gave the AoT's executives proper understanding on the matter.

In the future, the three air carriers operating at Don Mueang Airport -- Thai Airways International, One Two Go, and Nok Air -- will shift back their local flight services to Suvarnabhumi when its second expansion phase is completely implemented.

"All airlines will be shifted back to Suvarnabhumi when the airport expansion project is completely carried out. Then, Don Mueang Airport will be used in various proposed forms, such as a maintenance and repair centre or an aviation show centre," he said.

Aviation Department director general Chaisak Angkasuwan said the single airport policy is the most suitable for the country's aviation system.

He said the department had enquired of all airlines about the single airport policy and received a common view that it is the approach that could give passengers the most convenience.

--TNA 2008-03-17

[quiksilva]

Sounds good, let's hope that they can make it happen!

[marquess]

Sounds good, let's hope that they can make it happen!

Why what is wrong with having two aiports?

[sriracha john]

Sounds good, let's hope that they can make it happen!

Why what is wrong with having two aiports?

It's counter-productive to the goal of establishing Suvarnabhumi province as Thailand's 77th province.

[raybingham]

Sounds good, let's hope that they can make it happen!

Why what is wrong with having two aiports?

Any chance of them increasing the number of Immigration Officers ?

(the ones in the Non-Thai passport area I mean )

[BigSnake]

Let's hope not,

[jackspratt]

Does anyone know when the second expansion phase is supposed to be finished?

[Plus]

Shouldn't AOT board and airlines themselves have a say in the matter and not some Deputy Transport Minister who could be gone in three months? "The ministry has a clear cut policy" - since when?

[samran]

Military government takes over = reopen the military owned Don Muang

Military government voted out of power = Don Muang to close

Hmm.

We were told Suvarnabhumi was meant to be the solution to Thailand's airport conundrum and the billions upon billions of Baht that have been spent on it have given Thailand nothing but the tallest control tower in the World and the biggest single terminal building in the World while lining a few pockets along the way.

Suvarnabhumi - flawed in nearly every regard and tainted with corruption. Looks good though. A better first impression of Thailand you are not going to get IMHO.

AOT owns both airports. Not the airforce. The airforce used to own it, but it was transferred to the former Airports Authority of Thailand, which was then privatised and rebranded as Airports of Thailand, before it was listed on the SET.

By all accounts, the airforce ran a much more efficient operation before it was handed over to AAT/AOT where it became yet another state enterprise in which to create board seats to parachute useless puu-yai's who had done favours for the government.

The advice provided to the government was that it would have been alot cheaper simply to refurbish Don Muang, but that was always going to be a non starter, for all the reasons you outline above.

[samran]

Shouldn't AOT board and airlines themselves have a say in the matter and not some Deputy Transport Minister who could be gone in three months? "The ministry has a clear cut policy" - since when?

The government owns 75% of AOT. So what is says goes.

[Plus]

No doubt AOT will have to comply, but they are the ones running the airports, arent' they? And what about airlines - they wanted to use Don Muang themselves.

The ministry looks like it's going to bulldoze through no matter what the affected parties think - sure sign that the policy is not going to last longer than the government itself, possibly until May only.

[sriracha john]

I would imagine that the pre-77th province land speculators would be getting impatient by now for a nice profit turnover. Creating that special governing council for it has been on hold for too long in their eyes.

[samran]

No doubt AOT will have to comply, but they are the ones running the airports, arent' they? And what about airlines - they wanted to use Don Muang themselves.

The ministry looks like it's going to bulldoze through no matter what the affected parties think - sure sign that the policy is not going to last longer than the government itself, possibly until May only.

well the economically resposible thing would be to run the two airports, and through better slot management and arrangements of scheduals, make use of a pretty good second airport which has already been paid for.

But I was silly enough to think that they'd do the right thing once, and not even build the new airport. I was wrong. My guess is they'll continue with stage two, spending money that doesn't need to be spent.....

[Ajarn_Jonesy]

Military government takes over = reopen the military owned Don Muang

Military government voted out of power = Don Muang to close

Hmm.

We were told Suvarnabhumi was meant to be the solution to Thailand's airport conundrum and the billions upon billions of Baht that have been spent on it have given Thailand nothing but the tallest control tower in the World and the biggest single terminal building in the World while lining a few pockets along the way.

Suvarnabhumi - flawed in nearly every regard and tainted with corruption. Looks good though. A better first impression of Thailand you are not going to get IMHO.

Largest single terminal, Least amount of seating in the NON-Gate areas. So if you show up 2 hours before your flight you are SOL!

[geriatrickid]

well the economically resposible thing would be to run the two airports, and through better slot management and arrangements of scheduals, make use of a pretty good second airport which has already been paid for.

But I was silly enough to think that they'd do the right thing once, and not even build the new airport. I was wrong. My guess is they'll continue with stage two, spending money that doesn't need to be spent.....

Sorry but disagree on the economics. It is more costly. You need a critical mass of employees and equipment to run both airports. One airport allows an economy of scale when it comes to jet aircraft. The airlines were in favour of the 2 airports at first because of the teething problems at BKK. I use BKK regularly now and the last time I used DM was in Dec. DM was too small to deal with the traffic increases so any talk of it being sufficient was hokum. BKK isn't that bad a place compared to alot of airports in the EU and North America and for all of the immigration problems, try flying into LAX JFK or LHR if you are not a passport holder of those nations. BKK is far more welcoming.

[Ricardo]

Does anyone know when the second expansion phase is supposed to be finished?

Or even started ...

AoT and Thaksin announced at least twice, even before Suvarnabhumi was open, that they had started work on a second terminal, for LCCs. But I haven't seen any sign of it so far.

IMHO this is an intelligent way to go, as it moves away the many smaller aircraft to a simple low-cost terminal, leaving the main-terminal facilities for the larger international flights.

It would also help to get those closed-taxiways & non-functioning airbridges & broken lightbulbs working.

[jayjayjayjay]

Sounds good, let's hope that they can make it happen!

Why what is wrong with having two aiports?

Didn't they re-open Don Muang so the General's could recoup some of their losts income. Expect another coup detat if this goes ahead.........

Actually Don Muang is more convenient, but 2 airports anywhere are a real screwup. Paris/Orly what a stupid balls-up. London/Gatwick, who knows which way to go, where to stay etc....

So what is wrong with 2 airports! Well somehow Singapore and Hong Kong both have exceptional airports with capacity higer than Don Muang, AND they manage to do it in small island states with limited land area! Just coz you have plenty of land, which it not really the case in BKK, do you have to have 2 airports (unless of course your house is in RangSit or Laksii, in which case..... MOVE)

[Plus]

It's really up to AOT and the airlines to decide.

BTW the threar tutle reads "Deputy transport minister hints at adopting single airport policy" while in th article it says "the ministry had a clear-cut policy".

[phayao]

It's really up to AOT and the airlines to decide.

At the end of the day it's a goverment's decission.

Many important cities in the world have more than one airport (London, Paris, New York, Milano...) and that saved them of total collapse in the event of accident, strikes, weather, congestion.

If AOT lowers the landing and handling fees in DM, all Low Cost Airlines will move to DM, alleviating BKK Suvanaphum (and Bangkok traffic) congestion.

[PadThaiGuy]

Don Meung reopened because sombody wasn't get their piece of the action.

Nothing to do with cracked runways or lack of space.

Now that Thaksins group is back they are putting the screws to the Don Meung gang.

[sriracha john]

Don Meung reopened because sombody wasn't get their piece of the action.

Nothing to do with cracked runways or lack of space.

So all of these reports and numbers are false?

SUVARNABHUMI CAPACITY

Holiday surge leads to crowded airport

The crowding at Suvarnabhumi Airport is becoming even more apparent during the holiday season as the airport's capacity is fully utilised. Average daily passenger traffic through Bangkok's new airport between Dec 28 and Jan 3 is expected to be 121,000 passengers, exceeding the airport's designed capacity of 120,000 passengers, said Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT). About 17,000 more passengers are expected to go through the airport each day in the period, above the daily average of 104,285 passengers on normal days. In other words, there would be 850,000 more passengers passing through the airport in the period. Higher passenger volumes reflect a 21% increase in international flight numbers. However, the domestic flight numbers through the Suvarnabhumi are falling as many non-connecting domestic flights were diverted to the old Don Mueang Airport that was reopened in March this year. The busiest days at Suvarnabhumi will be on Dec 29 and Jan 2 when there would be 38 and 25 additional flights operating, respectively. Planners at AoT, the monopoly that runs the country's six major airports, believes the volume through Suvarnabhumi would soar to 44.5 million passengers next year.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/Business/27Dec2007_biz25.php

AoT wants international flights to use Don Mueang

AoT adviser Passakorn Suwankanit said Suvarnabhumi airport would reach its full capacity of 45 million passengers a year in 2009, even if Don Mueang airport served all domestic flights. In his opinion, even though Suvarnabhumi could be expanded under its second- and third-phase development, traffic would reach saturation point by 2015. "The best way out is to use Don Mueang as the airport for both domestic and international flights of low-cost airlines." ''This will enable us to delay the expansion of Suvarnabhumi airport for five years,'' Passakorn said at a workshop attended by AoT executives and airlines' representatives. Today, Don Mueang airport serves only the domestic flights of Thai Airways, One-Two-Go and Nok Air.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/27Nov2007_news05.php

Airport reveals cracks in Thailand's flight to modernity

Thai officials and airport authorities have admitted that the new Suvarnabhumi Airport has numerous cracks in its taxiways and runway, which recently disrupted flights.

In the run-up to its opening a few months ago, Bangkok's $3.7bn Suvarnabhumi Airport was touted as the "pride of Thailand", an ultramodern facility that would turn the Thai capital into a regional aviation hub. But critics might say it could be more aptly dubbed as Thailand's shame. It is plagued with problems, such as broken entry doors at the main terminal, a leaky roof, not enough toilets, and a tiny, congested arrivals area.

Thai officials and airport authorities have admitted that the airport has numerous cracks in its taxiways and runway, which recently disrupted flights and added to the pressure on a facility already at nearly full capacity. "This is going to be a major problem for every airline that flies into Thailand," said Jim Eckes, an aviation consultant. "They are either going to have to divert or delay flights, and this is a big, big, big expense."

Attempts to repair cracks on the west runway caused havoc, delaying many landings. Four flights that nearly ran out of fuel while waiting to land had to be re-routed to U-Tapao, a Vietnam war-era military airfield, for re-fuelling before they could make their way to Suvarnabhumi. After repairs to the west runway, airport authorities said the east runway was to be closed for at least four hours for its own repairs.

A pet project of Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister ousted in a September 19 military coup, Suvarnabhumi, or Golden Land, has been mired in controversy since its inception 40 years ago, when experts questioned planning a big airport on swampland. The construction, which took place during Thaksin's tenure, was beset by corruption scandals including allegations of kickbacks in the procurement of high-tech baggage scanners and the awarding of important contracts to little-known companies or without proper tendering processes.

International airlines strongly objected to Thaksin's insistence on rushing to open the new airport in September ahead of scheduled elections, despite concerns that the facility was not ready and that crucial systems had not been adequately tested. Even before Suvarnabhumi opened, cracks had begun to show, but a local newspaper that reported the problems was slapped with a massive lawsuit by the airport. The reporter and editor responsible for the story were later sacked. The harsh response quelled further speculation about subsidence problems.

- Financial Times

SUVARNABHUMI CRISIS

Don Muang to be resurrected

Airlines can resume domestic flights at old airport; international traffic will continue at troubled new facility

Airlines have been given the option of returning operations to the decommissioned Bangkok International Airport at Don Muang while repairs are made at the Bt150-billion Suvarnabhumi Airport.

The Transport Ministry recommended yesterday that carriers offering direct domestic flights be allowed to return to the old airport. It said it would take between 45 day and 60 days to prepare Don Muang to accept flights and passengers again.

International flights will continue to use Suvarnabhumi Airport.

At present, Suvarnabhumi accommodates 1,150 domestic flights per week.

Theera believed a return to Don Muang would not trouble carriers. They would require ground services only and not heavy, permanent equipment installed at Suvarnabhumi.

Open just four months, Suvarnabhumi is operating near its capacity of 45 million passengers a year. Based on the current volume of arrivals and departures, it is calculated Suvarnabhumi is operating at a level equivalent to 43 million passengers a year.

- The Nation

[laxman1960]

No doubt AOT will have to comply, but they are the ones running the airports, arent' they? And what about airlines - they wanted to use Don Muang themselves.

The ministry looks like it's going to bulldoze through no matter what the affected parties think - sure sign that the policy is not going to last longer than the government itself, possibly until May only.

Actually I believe the airlines fully support having a Single Airport, it costs them a fortune to operate out of both.

They were not supportive at all of the move back to Don Muang.

[khunandy]

Sounds good, let's hope that they can make it happen!

I agree, flying into BKK and then crossing town to pick up a domestic flight to Khon Kaen is a pain in the ar*e.

The sooner they operate out of one airport the better.

[Thai at Heart]

Sounds good, let's hope that they can make it happen!

Why what is wrong with having two aiports?

Didn't they re-open Don Muang so the General's could recoup some of their losts income. Expect another coup detat if this goes ahead.........

Actually Don Muang is more convenient, but 2 airports anywhere are a real screwup. Paris/Orly what a stupid balls-up. London/Gatwick, who knows which way to go, where to stay etc....

So what is wrong with 2 airports! Well somehow Singapore and Hong Kong both have exceptional airports with capacity higer than Don Muang, AND they manage to do it in small island states with limited land area! Just coz you have plenty of land, which it not really the case in BKK, do you have to have 2 airports (unless of course your house is in RangSit or Laksii, in which case..... MOVE)

The scheduling mess that has been put together because of using 2 airports, particularly serving some of the up country destinations (many of them tourist centers) is terrible. It is a situation whereby thousands every day are shuttling across Bangkok, or having to overnight in Bangkok because of the terrible connections.

Not all roads lead to Bangkok. Getting to Bangkok for a morning meeting is a disaster for me (and I know of many other business people who are in the same boat). Getting out to Singapore is awful. It is costing Thai thousands every day to put up passengers who are missing connections. The logic of having one airport is very clear. Local hotels have been bitching and moaning for the last 6 months.

Problem is, logic would have dictated that they should have started extending SVB the minute it was opened. Prior to DMK reopening, I saw the people queuing out the front door, I have stood at the immigration lines for hours. I have seen the shopping mess. I have felt the heat of the inadequate a/c. I have seen the cracks in the floors. They could have made it perfectly, but no, it was just another corrupt mess.

Singapore has just opened it's 3rd terminal. The place is a pleasure to enter/leave and transit. Business and tourist passengers alike love it. SVB has improved, but still the lines at immigration are a disgrace, there are cracks all over the floor, the glass is covered in handprints, and wait till hot season standing in the economy check ins, it is going to be hot on the top floor. I am lucky and can use the lounges. There is no where to sit (unconfortably too), moving around the place is a joke (pillars everywhere), security is marginal, shopping is marginal, customs are aribtrary, taxis are a mess. The list is endless.

So please build another terminal, but how about privatising AOT completely, maybe Temasak can get it too and install the Singapore airport authority to run it.

[wanderer9020]

well, one airport it is, it should be suvanabhumi. And I guess, we should stop complaining about the services or all the craps in this airport, if the locals will just shrug and smile, who are we to complain on thier own way of putting things? I have many bad experiences at this airport but I cant complain no more, I love Thailand and it will always be, Amen.

[PadThaiGuy]

Don't believe for a second decisions are being made for 'public good'.

The decision makers have worked their way to the top so the can reap their rewards.

[Plus]

No doubt AOT will have to comply, but they are the ones running the airports, arent' they? And what about airlines - they wanted to use Don Muang themselves.

The ministry looks like it's going to bulldoze through no matter what the affected parties think - sure sign that the policy is not going to last longer than the government itself, possibly until May only.

Actually I believe the airlines fully support having a Single Airport, it costs them a fortune to operate out of both.

They were not supportive at all of the move back to Don Muang.

No one forced them, look up news from about a year ago. They moved to Don Muang voluntarily to reduce their operating costs.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?ac...amp;pid=1082052

[Seneque]

I hope they will have replaced the missing light bulbs by then ...

[jayjayjayjay]

Sounds good, let's hope that they can make it happen!

Why what is wrong with having two aiports?

Didn't they re-open Don Muang so the General's could recoup some of their losts income. Expect another coup detat if this goes ahead.........

EDIT........

EDIT.......

"So please build another terminal, but how about privatising AOT completely, maybe Temasak can get it too and install the Singapore airport authority to run it."

so funny that it hurts.........

[Tony Clifton]

On tv last week there was a team of Thai engineers with at least 8 huge binders full of pictures from their 1 year complete inspection of the airport, no corner was ignored. Deathtraps, cut corners and low grade material everywhere.

Tonight, another engineer demonstrated how all of the external glass structure and white fabric for the roof was another botched job because of corruption.

The white fabric for the roof is sub-standard and the supposedly fireproof glass panels , even though they were ordered following German standards, were made in Thailand and are sub-standard. He even obtained pictures of the fireproofing tests, not made in a lab but with glass panels on a metal rack sitting over an open fire outside somewhere, Thai style.

And they're ready to kick start phase 2?

Another ex-employee of AOT confirmed that any complaints about corruption were always muffled at the top, and, employees making such complaints were all fired afterwards.

Maybe they can ask the then self-appointed chairman of the airport committee Thaksin.