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Traffic at Don Mueang Airport Soars
25th Mar 2013
Bangkok's old and former international gateway, Don Mueang Airport, is heading for a steady growth this year and beyond as its passenger traffic continues to soar.
For the first six months of the fiscal year, starting October 2012 to February 2013, Don Mueang had already handled over 6 million passengers. A top airport official, General Manager Paranee Vatanotai, is optimistic that the passenger traffic would likely breach the 17 million mark at the end of the fiscal year.
Upon its reopening to traffic early last year, Don Mueang Airport was initially designated as hub for low-cost carriers for domestic flights. In October last year, however, the airport was allowed to handle international traffic as well, following the decision of the government to move the base of all budget airlines to the old airport, leaving the Suvarnabhumi Airport as hub for full-service or legacy airlines.
All airlines of the AirAsia group moved all its operations, domestic and international, to Don Mueang Airport on October 2012, marking the start of international flights at the rehabilitated airport. At present, AirAsia group (AirAsia X, Indonesia AirAsia, Thai AirAsia) as well as Nok Air and Orient Thai are the main operators at the airport's Terminal 1. Terminal 2 is scheduled for rehabilitation this year and will open tentatively on 2017.
Don Mueang Airport recorded 1.88 million passengers for its international traffic during the first six months of the current fiscal year. The total number of international passengers passing through the airport was courtesy of the three airlines of the AirAsia group.
The Airports of Thailand (AoT) has been trying hard to lure other budget carriers to move their base from Suvarnabhumi to Don Mueang but, so far, there has been only one other airline heeding the call. This despite the juicy incentives dangled by AoT to sweeten the offer.
Other budget carriers the AoT is courting to move to the old airport are the Cebu Pacific and Tiger Airways as Suvarnabhumi Airport is already operating beyond its capacity.
The government of Thailand has officially designated Don Mueang Airport as Bangkok's second gateway, for budget airlines offering both domestic and international service.
Upon the reopening of Terminal 2 in 2017, Don Mueang Airport is projected to handle 27.5 million passengers, according to Airports of Thailand official. Work on the terminal's rehabilitation will start this year and completion date is targeted on 2016. It shall be already operational shortly after, increasing the airport's capacity.
By 2016, it is estimated that Bangkok's two airports will be handling a total of 87.5 million passengers between them.
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