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
