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Bangkok airports face uncertain future Don Muang Airport, formerly Bangkok’s international airport but now superseded by the country’s showcase Suvarnabhumi Airport, is scheduled to be converted into a regional aircraft maintenance and training center. In the next four years the facility will rival Singapore, according to Boonrit Saowapruk, director of the Civil Aviation Training Center. Boonrit says that it will seek to capture up to a quarter of the regional market. Once the plan is approved by Thailand’s transport ministry, work will immediately start on a large maintenance facility on the airport’s south side, requiring an investment of 600-700 million baht (US$17.6-$20.5 million). The domestic terminal is scheduled to be developed into a civil aviation training center. The two international terminals will be left intact in case the government needs to make use of them in future. However, the airport’s future has become a bit of an open question following the opening of Suvarnabhumi last September. While the new airport is an international showcase and was intended to take over virtually all operations from Don Muang, leaving only charter operations active there, higher costs at the new facility led some airlines, particularly low-cost carriers, to request to be allowed to return to Don Muang. Thailand’s transportation authorities originally rejected the request, but they are now reconsidering the option of partially re-opening Don Muang, as Suvarnabhumi is already operating at close to capacity during peak traffic periods. The issue also has a strong political dimension, as the status of the two airports – and the possible re-opening of Don Muang – was also under consideration by the previous civilian government of Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a bloodless military coup just before the new airport opened.
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