AirAsia Will Move To Don Mueang On Oct 1

[webfact]

AVIATION

AirAsia will move to Don Mueang on Oct 1

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- AirAsia will move its flight operations from Suvarnabhumi to Don Mueang Airport by Oct 1, hoping that the old Bangkok airport will well serve its plan to expand fleet to 48.

Today, Tassapon Bijleveld, CEO of Thai AirAsia, joined officials at the Airports of Thailand - which operates both airports, in affirming the readiness for the relocation.

He noted that AirAsia's decision to return to Don Mueang Airport was carefully assessed as he noted that the capabilities of Don Mueang Airport are in line with AirAsia's own growth plan. Thorough consideration into transferring to Don Mueang Airport found that the airport's capabilities, coupled with the Airports of Thailand Company's assistance measures, meant AirAsia could better manage its cost more effectively and provide passengers with improved service.

"The uncongested Don Mueang Airport is sure to prove a benefit to AirAsia when it boosts its fleet of Airbus A320s to a total of 48 and welcomes more customers. The airport's location also makes it conducive to further travel. Prospective travelers should have confidence in what Don Mueang has to offer," Tassapon said.

Earlier, he said that the relocation should save the airline by nearly Bt1 million in daily fuel cost, as congestion at Suvarnabhumi Airport requires airlines to circle above the airport for 10 minutes or more particularly when Suvarnabhumi Airport’s East Runway is closed for maintenance.

The government recently decided to reopen Don Mueang Airport for low-cost airlines to ease congestion at Suvarnabhumi Airport, which is expected to welcome nearly 50 million passengers this year despite its 45 million capacity.

According to Tassapon, AirAsia expects all of its services to be based at Don Mueang Airport from Oct 1 onward. The airline's flights will retain their FD code and original schedules. Passengers who are affected by the switch to Don Mueang Airport, may alter their flights by either choosing another travel date on the same route either 7 days before or after their original travel date, at no additional cost. Passengers also have an option to convert the paid flight into credit shell available to be used within the next 90 days. The change options are only available to affected passengers who purchased their tickets before 26 June 2012 whose travel dates are from October 1 onwards.

-- The Nation 2012-06-25

[Theboy]

And no public transport betwen the 2 airports - yet again another ill thought out, stupid scheme

[hands22]

Noooo......ooooooo!

Well, looking on the bright side, I hope the immigration clearance would be much faster here in DM than at Swampy! I have already booked three Air Asia flights for later of the year.

[zydeco]

Going to KL on AA on 1 October. Great. Just great. Better get there the day before in order to work through all the bugs in the system that will be highlighted that first day.

[Nickymaster]

How about connection flights? Have to travel a few hours from 1 side of town to the other.

No more Air Asia for me.

I rather pay a bit more and travel from Suvarnabhumi (assuming flights are cheaper from Don Muang since they are going to pay much less for airport usage now).

[Ricardo]

So they will switch to DMK, just in time for the flooding-season, oh goody !

[webfact]

Thai AirAsia moving to Don Mueang Airport Oct 1: CEO Tassapon

BANGKOK, June 25 - Thai AirAsia, Thailand's largest low-cost air carrier, will relocate its operations base from Suvarnabhumi to Don Mueang Airport Oct 1, Thai AirAsia Chief Executive Officer Tassapon Bijleveld announced on Monday.

Airports of Thailand (AoT) President Anirut Thanomkulbutra today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Thai AirAsia CEO Tassapon Bijleveld on the airline's plan to return to Don Mueang.

Mr Anirut said that Don Mueang Airport is ready to provide full services and that AoT is aiming to persuade at least 14 airlines to shift their operations back to the Thai capital’s original international gateway.

Apart from Thai AirAsia, three or four other airlines have already agreed to move their services to Don Mueang.

He added that AoT also offered substantial fee discounts to attract airlines to return to Don Mueang, including a 95 per cent reduction on fees for aircraft takeoff and landing, fee reduction for check-in counter services, as well as office renting.

The AoT president said that Don Mueang airport operated 40,903 flights in 2011, with some 3.4 million passengers from low-cost carriers NokAir and Orient Thai. The airport has a capacity of 36.5 million passengers a year.

Thai AirAsia CEO Tassapon confirmed that the relocation of the airline to Don Mueang will be permanent and it will not return to Suvarnabhumi even after the completion of the second-phase construction of the country's main airport.

The airline's operation base will move to Don Mueang Oct 1 and will occupy 70 per cent of Terminal 1, using four of the six check-in counters, he said.

Mr Tassapon noted that Thai AirAsia decided to return to Don Mueang airport due to the improved convenience for passengers and ground operations including the efficiency of the check-in system as well as runway and taxiway lengths which are much shorter than that of Suvarnabhumi Airport, saving the company's several hundreds million of baht of fuel costs annually.

Thai AirAsia's domestic and international flights currently serve eight million passengers, and the number of passengers is expected to rise to nine million next year.

Another no-frills airline, Nok Air, is now operating flights from Don Mueang with three million passengers a year on average. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-06-25

[theoldgit]

I live pretty near Suvarnabhumi and have a flight to Hong Kong after the date of the change.

Although it’s not really convenient I will probably still take the flight, a credit shell to be used within 90 days is no good to man or beast, as it will still be inconvenient.

I don’t suppose I will be only customer they will lose, but I’m sure they will gain from those for whom Don Mueang is a better option

[bangkok blue]

What about Thai Air? This is gonna cause problems for those returning from home and going onwards to Chaingmai and Phuket etc.... Could well mean a night in BKK in some cases! Around one hour plus to get from one airport to the other at least!!!

[h90]

How about connection flights? Have to travel a few hours from 1 side of town to the other.

No more Air Asia for me.

I rather pay a bit more and travel from Suvarnabhumi (assuming flights are cheaper from Don Muang since they are going to pay much less for airport usage now).

Air Asia is a point to point cheapo carrier.

[zakk9]

Very bad news indeed. I don't see any other options than changing to an airline that flies from Swampy. Spending extra time and money getting to Don Mueang isn't an option. Thai Airways will obviously earn a lot from this.

[zakk9]

How about connection flights? Have to travel a few hours from 1 side of town to the other.

No more Air Asia for me.

I rather pay a bit more and travel from Suvarnabhumi (assuming flights are cheaper from Don Muang since they are going to pay much less for airport usage now).

Air Asia is a point to point cheapo carrier.

They also used to be very convenient. Not so anymore. Being cheap doesn't help much if one has to spend a lot more time and money going to the airport. There must be more to this than hits the news. Air Asia is one of the few budget airlines that have been willing to pay the cost of flying to the main airports. The rosy painted press releases are there for a reason, but I'm afraid the long term effect will be very negative for them.

[spacemand]

The champagne most be flowing at Thai Airways headquarters today they just got back a lot of business they lost to AA.

I usually fly AA because it saves me a few hours at BKK connecting to my domestic flight, from here on out I am only flying Thai when you count all the fees and all Thai is not that more expensive and adding transport cost and time between DMK and BKK and I am guessing I am not the only one not wanting to go cross town.

[Ricardo]

What about Thai Air? This is gonna cause problems for those returning from home and going onwards to Chaingmai and Phuket etc.... Could well mean a night in BKK in some cases! Around one hour plus to get from one airport to the other at least!!!

One can only hope that Bangkok Airways & Thai Airways will put on extra late-evening flights from Swampy, to mop up some of the extra demand, from people who used to fly Air Asia domestic when connecting inbound from international-flights on other airlines ?

But at least they're giving a few months' advanced-warning this time, which they didn't, with their pull-out of routes to Europe.

Edited June 25, 2012 by Ricardo

[1huahin]

this fills me with dread as we are flying 01 October!

[falang07]

I hope they will refund tickets in case the airport is closed again due to the floods. Anyone knows what their policy says in cases like this?

[mamypoko]

How about connection flights? Have to travel a few hours from 1 side of town to the other.

Great question...has this been addresses?

[h90]

How about connection flights? Have to travel a few hours from 1 side of town to the other.

No more Air Asia for me.

I rather pay a bit more and travel from Suvarnabhumi (assuming flights are cheaper from Don Muang since they are going to pay much less for airport usage now).

Air Asia is a point to point cheapo carrier.

They also used to be very convenient. Not so anymore. Being cheap doesn't help much if one has to spend a lot more time and money going to the airport. There must be more to this than hits the news. Air Asia is one of the few budget airlines that have been willing to pay the cost of flying to the main airports. The rosy painted press releases are there for a reason, but I'm afraid the long term effect will be very negative for them.

Well for some people it will be equal distance or even closer to DM.

Without looking the map I guess Swampy has the advantage to be closer to Pattaya which alone creates a lot business.

So maybe they loose some customer but not everything.

For me DM is closer. I liked DM a lot better when it was full in action. Had more charm than Swampy. But now of course it is just a skeleton.....

[Lingba]

How about connection flights? Have to travel a few hours from 1 side of town to the other.

Great question...has this been addresses?

Yes..great question indeed...you make one decision like this and it opens the floodgates to a deluge of other problems that will result from this decision

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Yet more sterling reporting by the local news media...

No mention at all of transit connections between the two airports...

And no mention of the fact that DM was totally flooded for weeks, and possibly will be again later this year.

[Puwa]

would be great if air asia allowed baggage transfers at don muang on its flights from places like singapore to upcountry destinations like chiangmai. it's always been a drawback when connecting with air asia that you have to clear customs and immigration in bangkok just to check in again for an onward domestic flight.

[zakk9]

Well for some people it will be equal distance or even closer to DM.

Without looking the map I guess Swampy has the advantage to be closer to Pattaya which alone creates a lot business.

So maybe they loose some customer but not everything.

For me DM is closer. I liked DM a lot better when it was full in action. Had more charm than Swampy. But now of course it is just a skeleton.....

I also liked DM a lot more, but getting there and back could be a hassle. Traffic is even worse now than then and it certainly won't improve with hundreds of landings and departures there every day. Another interesting fact is that it's located in the middle of a very densly populated area, but I guess a little more noise isn't much of a consideration in Thailand

If there's a big flood again, and sooner or later there will be, they will have to protect DM as they did Swampy last year. That means higher water levels for somebody else. That will be popular I'm sure

[zakk9]

would be great if air asia allowed baggage transfers at don muang on its flights from places like singapore to upcountry destinations like chiangmai. it's always been a drawback when connecting with air asia that you have to clear customs and immigration in bangkok just to check in again for an onward domestic flight.

Probably won't happen. Part of the low price is that you deal with that yourself. Baggage handling costs money. The price difference between AA and a regular airline also diminishes when flying more than one leg.

[mozzieslapper]

It is good news for JetStar, Tiger and Scoot the new Singapore Airlines budget long Haul B777 servicing Swampy.

AA will have to be many thousand cheaper for me to justify the DM hassle. Swampy is much more convient, as well to get into town.

It would be good if Air Asia X operates out of DM though.

Scoot now servicing Swampy, Info here on Thai Visa: http://www.thaivisa....hts-to-bangers/

Edited June 25, 2012 by mozzieslapper

[Richmah]

I thought AA is so tough that it will never goes back to DM.

Why now goes back? Says it will ONLY stick to SUVARNBUM.

What a shame? Not welcome because of BAD service...air delay....

[Tafia]

Just when the rail link is working so well from Swammpy they do this to us...looks like its back to the bus!!

[rheinwiese]

It is good news for JetStar, Tiger and Scoot the new Singapore Airlines budget long Haul B777 servicing Swampy.

Not to mention Thai Smile Air operated by TG beginning operations in July 2012.

Destinations: Macau, Krabi, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Surat Thani.

They must have a field day with AA now out of the way.

[toybits]

If that is so, then I will be changing airlines. So long Air Asia. I am not going to Don Muang. Period.

[BusyBee123]

The Amari hotel Don M will be very pleased with this news, may even get the escalators switched back on. I wonder if they will ever get the railway link finished to Don M all the supports have been there for what seems like several years now. I have no problems with an extra 40 mins on my journey either i often stay at the Amari anyway good for access to Future Park shopping (which is a fraction of the cost of shopping in Bangkok)

[spacemand]

I don't get why AA want to move to DMK they have a majority of the domestic market and they would continue to have that if they stayed at BKK but now they are losing the a lot of the people connecting through BKK. AA is not that much cheaper than Thai and if you add in the hassle of going cross town and the risk of losing a flight they are not worth it I would rather spend 2 hours extra waiting at BKK than risk missing my flight. For me I am going from 100% AA domestic flights to 100% Thai flights with this change.

If DMK gets flooded this year all the savings AA got will be wiped out for years to come, I think its a bad business decision.