Airlines warn: No flights to Thailand's old airport

The Straits Times, February 16, 2007

BANGKOK - INTERNATIONAL airlines yesterday threatened to halt flights to Thailand if the government forced them to move back to Bangkok's old airport, which is expected to reopen next month.

'Some members are going to review commitment to continue the services from Thailand if they are forced to split operations to serve two airports,' said Mr Brian Sinclair-Thompson, president of the Board of Airline Representatives, a group of more than 60 international carriers.

The government said last month it would reopen Don Muang airport, to allow repairs on a host of problems at Thailand's new Suvarnabhumi Airport, which opened in late September.

So far only a handful of carriers have said they wanted to return their operations to the nearly century-old Don Muang airport.

Mr Sinclair-Thompson said the group was against having two international airports in Thailand.

'We are firm with the position that we favour a single airport solution,' he said, following a meeting with the government.

He warned that if Thailand had two international airports, Bangkok would lose the chance to become a regional hub.

Since its opening, the US$3 billion (S$4.6 billion) airport has been mired in problems, including more than 100 cracks on taxiways and runways, corruption claims, inadequate toilets and facilities, and complaints about hygiene standards.

But assessing the true extent of the damage at Suvarnabhumi has proved difficult, with a leading engineer saying the cracks could be fixed within weeks and that there was no need to shut down the airport.

Some analysts have also warned that the military-backed government may be inflating its claims in a bid to discredit the regime of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a September coup.

Suvarnabhumi was one of Mr Thaksin's pet projects.