Just got off the phone to trailfinders, who are giving the usual "phone the day before you fly" as im supposed to be flying London-BKK this sunday (7th dec)

They are saying thai airways are flying to a domestic airport near bangkok starting tomorow, and that i could be flying there instead. but she said informations coming in bits.

Anyone heard anything about this?

Also thai airways only flys to bangkok so apparently if im not flying there they arent flying me anywhere in thailand (phuket etc) instead.

they are apparently using U-tapao airport, which is a military base about 120km or 150km outside of bkk somewhere. Its hardly a new airport.

they are apparently using U-tapao airport, which is a military base about 120km or 150km outside of bkk somewhere. Its hardly a new airport.

i thought U-tapao at first but doesnt domestic mean non-military?

Utapao is a domestic airport within a military airbase. I have flown from there on several occassions to Koh Samui.

Tiny airport which is really not geared up for the amount of traffic going through there at the moment, and it sounds hit and miss whether you will actually be sent there.

If you are flying TG, chances are you WILL hit U-Tapao. Other carriers at their discretion.

any thoughts on if TG are going to start full ops out of Tapao,would love to get to Melbourne this week!!

Ive heard this also, however you will be taken by road to bkk to clear immigration, pity if you are going to pattaya

All check-in for U-Tapao departing flights must be done at BITEC Bang-Na. There's simply insufficient facilities at U-Tapao for checking in walk-in customers which is a pain in the arse if you are already in Pattaya.

Also note that AirAsia have increased their U-Tapao usage through 4th December; assume that this will be extended so keep checking their website for updates if you are seeking entry/exit while the "monster raving loony party" has Bangkok's airports in lockdown.

http://www.airasia.com/site/my/en/page.jsp...e=rescueflights

any thoughts on if TG are going to start full ops out of Tapao,would love to get to Melbourne this week!!

Keep checking their website for announcements and I don't mean check once a day. All the airlines are shooting from the hip on the current rodeo so flights can come up at very short notice.

Thai Airways have added a few extra flights, inbound and outbound to Utapao

(plus a couple from Phuket)

info on their site:

http://www.thaiair.com/Homepage/announce/sbia_situation.htm

good luck to those travelling

Some airline rerouting info can be found here.

http://airlineroute.blogspot.com/

Udon Thani has a new INTERNATIONAL Terminal sitting there doing nothing. Hasn't been used for international flights since Tiger stopped going to Singapore some 12 months ago.

I ask why this infrastructure is not being used now as a temporary measure?

Just for the record...we are travelling on Thai Air this Friday and have just been offered a confirmed seat to Utapao with the option to transfer to an additional service to Bkk if it goes....we wont know if the BKK airport one is going til Thursday.....sounds pretty fair