Old airport spruced up and ready

Don Muang airport appears set for the return of scheduled domestic flights on Sunday, taking the pressure off Suvarnabhumi, which needs to fix its cracked runways, taxiways and other problems.

''Everything has been tested, including the terminal, airline offices, parking space, security and other facilities,'' said Don Muang director Pinit Saraithong yesterday.

Facilities at the airport include restaurants, snack bars, souvenir shops and taxi services, which will levy a 50-baht extra charge.

Taxis would be under the supervision of the Land Transport Department. They would be subject to random checks for vehicle and passenger safety.

Don Muang will handle about 140 flights a day operated by One-Two-Go, Nok Air and Thai Airways International (THAI). The three airlines will move almost 20,000 passengers a day through the airport, which now provides services only for chartered flights.

Its airport code is DMK, while Suvarnabhumi uses BKK. Passengers should note the codes on their tickets to avoid confusion, acting president of Airports of Thailand Kulya Pakakrong said.

All THAI flights moving to Don Muang will do so on Sunday.

The two low-cost airlines, One-Two-Go and Nok Air, will divert some of their evening inbound flights from Suvarnabhumi to Don Muang on Saturday to test the services at the old airport (see graphic for flight numbers).

Thai Airways tested its check-in and ticketing systems at Don Muang yesterday, so ensure they could handle the change of the airport's code and the use of four digits on flight numbers in and out of Don Muang, an airline staffer said. THAI flights to Suvarnabhumi have three digits.

Ms Kulya did not rule out the possibility of Don Muang again accepting international flights in the future, given its capacity of 11 million passengers a year.

If so, she indicated a preference for limiting its international services to flights within the region.

AoT would evaluate the use of Don Muang after six months, she said.

After the relocation of flights to Don Muang, repairs at Suvarnabhumi will get fully under way.

The government's decision to reopen Don Muang is intended to save the money needed to expand Suvarnabhumi, which is already close to its full capacity of 45 million passengers a year due to the large number of travellers attracted by low-cost carriers.

An AoT official said security will be strict at Don Muang with bomb experts from the air force and police sniffer dogs on duty. He said 422 security cameras have been installed.

Ms Kulya said since all regular flights were moved to Suvarnabhumi on Sept 28 Don Muang has been operating in the red, with monthly expenses 88 million baht above income.

She said reopening of the old airport will boost revenue by about 90 million baht from 40 million baht a month.

Losses on the balance sheet will be slashed to 38 million baht, she said. Bangkok Post