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Thursday, March 15, 2007 Bangkok to reopen old airport The Associated Press BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Bangkok's old international airport would be ready to reopen later this month to ease congestion at the new international facility, which has been plagued by problems including taxiway cracks, an official said Thursday. "The taxiways, runways and all facilities at Don Muang airport are ready to resume operations by March 25," said Deputy Transport Minister Sansern Wongcha-um. The government had earlier approved a plan to reopen the old airport, Don Muang, to operate along with the new international airport, Suvarnabhumi, which opened in September but has been hampered by repair work on cracks in the taxiways and runways. The $3.8 billion Suvarnabhumi project was intended to be Southeast Asia's leading air hub. Instead it has become a national embarrassment, with widely publicized problems that also include a shortage of toilets, dozens of design flaws and a long list of corruption allegations. National carrier Thai Airways International, along with two budget airlines -- Nok Air and One-Two-Go -- will transfer domestic flights to the 90-year-old Don Muang airport, which will handle about 150 domestic flights a day, Sansern said. Around 70 percent of Thai Airways flights will operate from the old airport, he said, adding that the ministry expects roughly 20,000 passengers a day during the early phase of service resumption. Thai Airways International said earlier that all the flights being transferred will be domestic-bound routes that do not transfer to international flights. Critics have objected to reopening Don Muang, saying it could confuse tourists and cause problems as visitors are shuttled between the two airports through Bangkok's legendary traffic jams. Do you have an opinion about this story? Share it with other readers in our CAA Discussion Forums http://www.californiaaviation.org/dcfp/dcboard.php ***************************************** |