BANGKOK - Thailand on Friday backtracked on a plan to turn
Bangkok's shuttered Don Muang airport into a second international
hub, after a revolt by international airlines who threatened to cut
off service.
Army-installed Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said Don Muang
would still re-open as a domestic airport, but backed down on a
plan to move international flights there.
Instead, the government will spend six months studying the
feasibility of running two international hubs in Bangkok, he
said.
The about-turn came one day after some 94 international airlines
threatened to halt flights to Thailand if they were forced to
move.
Surayud said that some domestic flights would still be moved from
the sparkling new Suvarnabhumi Airport to allow repairs to its
tarmac, but only on a voluntary basis.
"The damage at Suvarnabhumi Airport can be repaired while the
airport is running, but it will be necessary to reduce some flights
and switch them to Don Muang," he told reporters.
"Initially only domestic flights which have no connections will
land at Don Muang," he said.
"I have assigned the Transport Ministry to conduct a study and come
up with a proposal within six months on whether any other flights
should be diverted to Don Muang," he said.
So far, only two domestic low-cost airlines have fully embraced the
idea of moving back to the nearly century-old Don Muang.
Government spokesman Yongyuth Mayalarp said 71 flights, or 17
percent of the traffic at Suvarnabhumi, would move to Don Muang
while the new airport is repaired.
Just 10 days ago Surayud had announced that Don Muang would be
reopened within two months as a second international airport,
catching the aviation industry by surprise and generating a torrent
of criticism.
Airlines are worried about abandoning their investments at the
three-billion-dollar Suvarnabhumi, which just opened in September,
and creating confusion for millions of tourists.
The new airport has been mired by problems since its opening,
including more than 100 cracks on taxiways and runways, corruption
claims, inadequate toilets and facilities, and complaints about
hygiene standards.
But further investigations have shown that the cracks are
relatively minor and could be fixed within weeks.
Outside analysts have also warned that the military-backed
government may be inflating its claims in a political bid to
discredit the government of former prime minister Thaksin
Shinawatra, who was ousted in a September coup.
The head of Thailand's Civil Aviation Department, Chaisak
Angkasuwan, said the government had taken into account the concerns
of international carriers.
"We chose a solution that would pose as few problems as possible.
Domestic flights are Thailand's internal issue, and because
international airlines don't want to move back to Don Muang, we
don't force them to do," Chaisak told AFP.
Thai AirAsia, Thailand's largest budget carrier, slammed the
government's flip-flop for sewing confusion among airlines.
"Policies have been constantly imposed and changed over the past
few months. It is very confusing," said chief executive Tassapon
Bijleveld.
Thai AirAsia was among the few airlines that had been willing to
move international flights to Don Muang, but Tassapon now said the
airline will keep all its operations at Suvarnabhumi.
"What the government decided today means almost nothing in terms of
relieving traffic at Suvarnabhumi," he said. - AFP/ir
