Thailand To Be Aircraft Maintenance Centre Of Asia

[george]

Thailand likely to be aircraft maintenance centre of Asia

BANGKOK: -- The Civil Aviation Training Centre (CATC) will propose that an aircraft maintenance centre be established in order to help promote Thailand as a regional hub providing airlines with full service.

CATC intends to make their recommendations once an interim government is selected.

The biggest player in Asia’s 500 billion baht a year aircraft maintenance industry is Singapore which services a fifth of the market.

“Thailand has the potential to provide more maintenance services than Singapore, but we don’t have a proper centre. Moreover, many people working in Singapore’s aircraft maintenance industry were trained in Thailand,” said Boonritr Saovapruk, CATC governor.

Analysts predict that after Suvarnabhumi Airport begins full international and domestic operations on September 28, growth in the aviation industry in terms of cargo and passenger volume will accelerate. Some fear that without a maintenance centre, Thailand will not fully benefit from greater air traffic and as a result lose out on a very lucrative opportunity.

CATC estimates it would take one billion baht to establish a new aircraft maintenance centre, and forecast that after a year the centre would see a full return on investment on the back of 10 billion baht in revenue.

CATC has trained a number of people in aircraft maintenance and will soon sign a memorandum of understanding with Airports of Thailand Plc. to continue human resource development programmes. According to Boonritr, the company can instruct many more in maintenance but lack the necessary funding.

--TNA 2006-09-26

[ColPyat]

BANGKOK: -- The Civil Aviation Training Centre (CATC) will propose that an aircraft maintenance centre be established in order to help promote Thailand as a regional hub providing airlines with full service.

Reassuring to know that Thailand still maintains its status of being a hub.

Some things never change...

[britmaveric]

No worries - these extra parts left over aren't necessary for the plane anyways!!

[LaoPo]

Thailand likely to be aircraft maintenance centre of Asia

Moreover, many people working in Singapore’s aircraft maintenance industry were trained in Thailand,” said Boonritr Saovapruk, CATC governor.

--TNA 2006-09-26

In Thailand?.....in English (manuals etc.) or Thai?

Hmmmmmm

LaoPo

[tso310]

This is an old favourite which comes up year after year. Wasn't Khon Kaen going to be the Airbus maintenance hub for Asia last year. Forget who Airbus finally decided on, Singapore I think.

[PanzerJohn]

Do these planes crash often?

No,only the once!

God help us.

[kayo]

Thanks fro posting this George... It`s been far toooooo long since we`ve had news of what else LOS wants to be a hub of!!!

speaking of which.. what happend to farang news.. haven`t received it for ages..

[englishoak]

Thailand to be the hub of blah blah blah

Here we go again, you gotta love em

Edited September 26, 2006 by englishoak

[farangconnection]

Maybe I'll see all my old mates again. A few years back Butler Aerospace did a programme in K.L. servicing Jumbos, and also in Singers. Marshalls of Cambridge also had a contract to service the C130's at Don Muang military. Lots of things have been talked about in this neck 'o the woods for years.

[stumonster]

with only a 12% increase in maximum capacity to what Don Muang has - where will they be able to fit in the extra traffic ?

[astral]

BANGKOK: -- The Civil Aviation Training Centre (CATC) will propose that an aircraft maintenance centre be established in order to help promote Thailand as a regional hub providing airlines with full service.

I just knew it when I read the title.

Yet another HUB......................

[marquess]

with only a 12% increase in maximum capacity to what Don Muang has - where will they be able to fit in the extra traffic ?

Hub of stupidity! And they are closing down the old airport, just like that! (sounds a bit like Tommy Cooper, I wonder if he is managing the whole thing?) I have never seen such inept management, still I suppose that the world is what you make it!

[Scott]

And I am sure there will be no need to issue any work permits as locals can do all the work on their own!

My next journey will be on a tanker, I think!

[geoffphuket]

with only a 12% increase in maximum capacity to what Don Muang has - where will they be able to fit in the extra traffic ?

Hub of stupidity! And they are closing down the old airport, just like that! (sounds a bit like Tommy Cooper, I wonder if he is managing the whole thing?) I have never seen such inept management, still I suppose that the world is what you make it!

Tommy Cooper's not been around for a few years....very sad. Your're showing your age sir...ooops, so am I

[Ricardo]

with only a 12% increase in maximum capacity to what Don Muang has - where will they be able to fit in the extra traffic ?

Hub of stupidity! And they are closing down the old airport, just like that! (sounds a bit like Tommy Cooper, I wonder if he is managing the whole thing?) I have never seen such inept management, still I suppose that the world is what you make it!

Don Muang, with its quiet long runways, and its large empty Thai Airways maintenance-hangers, would indeed seem to be the obvious place to locate any such centre.

But can Thailand compete from maintenance on cost ? I recall that cheap-charlie low-cost Phuket Airways always sent its planes elsewhere, for anything major, and indeed had problems getting them released afterwards, until they paid their bills.

[Nimzo]

Thailand likely to be aircraft maintenance centre of Asia

“Thailand has the potential to provide more maintenance services than Singapore, but we don’t have a proper centre. Moreover, many people working in Singapore’s aircraft maintenance industry were trained in Thailand,” said Boonritr Saovapruk, CATC governor.

--TNA 2006-09-26

wow..i never know that many people were trained inThailand..What a big Joke...

[Hermano Lobo]

I thought Don Muang (funny how they named it after a Spaniard?) was to stay open but now I read it is to be shut.

Anybody got any definite information on this ?

What are they going to do with all that land and golf course?

"Four !" Whoops that engine on a Boeing 777 has just eaten my golf ball !

Edited September 27, 2006 by Hermano Lobo

[Crushdepth]

Anyone know how/why this Rampant Hubbism started?

How about the Hub of Lame Ideas?

[Dakhar]

I think it is a good idea. It is a lot better than the Gold Card.

Edited September 27, 2006 by Dakhar

[Sing_Sling]

I think it is a good idea. It is a lot better than the Gold Card.

Is Thailand aiming to be the Gold Card Hub of Asia as well?

It's true, though:

Moreover, many people working in Singapore’s aircraft maintenance industry were trained in Thailand,” said Boonritr Saovapruk, CATC governor

You can see many Singaporeans going to Thailand every day . . . must be going for training . . . in one hub or another.

[fxm88]

When I hear maintenance I'd like to think of a people that take pride in the quality and precision of their work: the Germans, the Swiss, the Japanese. Not the Thai.

They tell me a single jet airliner may contain hundreds of miles of electric wires. Seeing first-hand how badly a Thai electrician can botch even a short straightforward job, do you really want one working on your airplane? (Did the Duke of Edinburgh ever make it to Thailand? He might have had nicer things to say about Indian electricians.)

To mis-quote John Glenn: "As I hurtled through space, one thought kept crossing my mind: Every part of this aircraft was maintained by a Thai."

Or by "maintenance" do they mean tidying the loo and restocking the mini-bar?

[John K]

I doubt this will happen. Simply the Thai education system does not produce people with enough skill for this type of aerospace work. I doubt airlines would risk it after seeing how the word “creative” is often used in describing Thais. No insult intended but simply a reality check.

[Hermano Lobo]

Don Muang airport calls it a day

Public, staff nostalgic as they say goodbye

ANJIRA ASSAVANONDA

People took photographs, spoke about the old days, and posted messages about a place they called home as Thailand bade farewell to Don Muang airport yesterday, 92 years after its commercial opening.

As airline officials and airport authorities made their final moves to Suvarnabhumi, air force commander-in-chief ACM Chalit Phukphasuk said Don Muang would become a charter flight hub at least for now.

The curtain came down on Don Muang after Kuwait Airways flight KU414 took off for Kuwait at 2.50am this morning. Just over an hour earlier, staff of THAI's last flight, TG 662 to Shanghai, posed for photos with passengers before take-off.

It was one of the many nostalgic moments during Don Muang's last day.

But the final hours were not without frustration. Passengers on a THAI flight from Shanghai, TG 665, were annoyed at the absence of air-conditioning and the lack of luggage trolleys.

''You can spend millions building an airport but you can't afford to provide luggage carts?,'' said Raymond Toma.

At a farewell party last night, THAI president Apinan Sumanaseni said staff at the national carrier were ''excited'' about the move to Suvarnabhumi and its state-of-the-art facilities. But after working at Don Muang for 46 years they were ''rather nostalgic'' about the place.

Flight Lieutenant Pinit Saraithong, the airport chief, said he had spent more time at the airport than in his own home during 36 years of service there.

''I have seen many things, from an aircraft wing on fire, to an aircraft landing beyond [the airport] at Thung Chang,'' he added.

Noting that many world capitals had two airports, he argued for extending the life of Don Muang.

There were few travellers and flights in and out of the airport yesterday.

Busier were airport staff and people with personal attachments to the airport recording strategic spots on camera, including the check-in counters, the departure hall and along the walkways.

One of the most photographed corners was the special exhibition staged by THAI tracing the airport's history with pictures of crew members from the old days. The exhibition also had farewell messages written by the airport staff and passengers.

Chujit Muangporn called Don Muang ''a home we used to stay at happily. Though we're moving to a new one at Suvarnabhumi, all the good memories here will always be in my heart''.

An unidentified writer wrote that Don Muang was more than a workplace but ''a place where we meet friends, and above all our home''.

Naphat Putcharoen's message read: ''I love Don Muang. My house is on the opposite site, and it's convenient for me to travel abroad whenever I want. Today I plan for a take-off here, as it's the last day. It's sad just thinking of it.''

A 48-year-old female aircraft maintenance staff member who declined to be named said she felt sad about the closure.

''I was born in the Don Muang area, and have been working here for Thai Airways for 25 years. It's sad we won't see these pictures again. It's like something will be missing,'' she said.

Phayao Srivilas, 57, had been at the airport since 9am yesterday to take photos of the place she felt closely tied to since early on in life.

''I moved away to Klong Sam in Pathum Thani five years ago, but I will never forget Don Muang,'' said Ms Phayao.

She did not think her trip to Phuket a few months ago was going to be her last chance to take off from Don Muang.

''That why I came today, to take photos of the place which will soon become history, so that I can show them to my children in the years ahead,'' she said.

Boonmee Piampring, 47, a senior aircraft mechanic who has been working for THAI for 22 years, said he felt sorry that Don Muang was going to lose its identity as the gateway to the country.

The Post Office at Don Muang airport served clients until 11.30 pm.

Pairote Imkong, the office head, said nearly a hundred stamp collectors dropped in at the office yesterday to have postcards or mail inked with the special postal stamp showing Don Muang's final day of service.

A turbo-prop plane at Don Muang in June 1972.

The airport closed down for commercial flights at 3am today

when Suvarnabhumi took over. — FILE PHOTO

A Douglas DC-4 (C-54) a turbo-prop ! There can't be many spotters in Thailand

Edited September 28, 2006 by Hermano Lobo