Thai airport reopens for domestic flights

Bangkok, March 25: Thailand today reopened Don Mueang airport in Bangkok for domestic flights as the new Suvarnabhumi airport in a nearby province has been plagued by repair works and increase in traffic.

The 93-year-old Don Mueang airport is expected to serve nearly 20,000 passengers a day for about 150 flights by three airlines ~ Thai Airways, Nok Air and One-Two-Go Airlines, Ms Kalya Pakakrong, acting director, Airports of Thailand, said.

“We faced no major problem on the first day of reopening, but we will take special care for passengers who use Suvarnabhumi airport to avoid confusion,” she said. Airports of Thailand also expects more airlines to operate at Don Mueang airport, but most international airlines have refused to move back to the airport due to high costs, government officials said.

Before being closed in September, Don Mueang airport served around 38 millions passengers a year, while Suvarnabhumi, which opened the same month, is designed to be able to serve 45 million passengers a year.