Bangkok To Have Two International Airports - Tourists Need To Check Their Tickets Carefully!
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Only four months after the opening of Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi airport, Thai authorities have decided to re-open the old Don Muang airport, meaning that tourists to Thailand will need to pay attention to which airport they arrive and depart from
It's been confirmed this week that Bangkok's old Don Muang airport will be reopening soon and that international flights will be arriving at both Don Muang and the new Suvarnabhumi airport. Don Muang is expected to be operational within 45 days, meaning the first international flights to Thailand should be arriving at the old Bangkok Airport at the beginning of April. However, international flights will also continue to fly to the new Suvarnabhumi airport too.
At the time of writing (10th February 2007) it's not clear which airlines will be operating to and from each airport. The main thing that tourists to Thailand have to bear in mind is to know exactly which airport that they will arriving an departing from. The two airports are on opposite sides of Bangkok and have no easy link between the two. So if you go to the wrong airport, you will probably miss your flight, as it would take a minimum of 2 hours to drive from one airport to other - and given Bangkok's notoriously bad traffic, probably even longer.
The other thing for tourists to Thailand to consider while they make their travel plans is getting domestic flights within Thailand. You need to ensure that your domestic flight is flying to or from the same airport as your international flight if you want to make a connection.
As you can imagine, the reopening of Bangkok's old Don Muang airport is going to cause of lot of headaches for travellers, especially those who are not familiar with the fact there are two airports. The reason the old airport is reopening so soon after the launch of the new Suvarnabhumi airport is because the latter is plagued with problems, and sections of it need to be partially shut down to be properly repaired. The Bangkok newspapers are filled with a daily litany of woes about the ongoing problems at Suvarnabhumi, and right now how quickly the reopening of the old airport will help solve the new airport's troubles is not known.
For travellers to Thailand coming to the country after April 1st 2007, make sure you check with your airline and travel agent at which Bangkok airport you will be landing, and ensure any connecting domestic flights within Thailand that you book go to the same Bangkok airport as your international flight.
There's no doubt going to be a lot more said about this in the next few weeks...
- Bangkok Airport To Re-Open 4th December - BBC
- Bangkok Airport Will Take At Least One Week To Re-Open - December 11th Likely Opening Date
- Bangkok Airport November 30 - Still Closed With Some Flights From UTapao Airport
- Bangkok Airport Not Re-Opening on November 29th
- Live Updates About Bangkok Airport From Twitter
Other Travelhappy stories of interest:
- Don Mueang Airport Re-Opens For Domestic Flights In Thailand
- Bangkok Airport Real Time Flight Information
- Asia Budget Airline Guide
- New Bangkok Airport Real Time Flight Information
- Bangkok Airport - Flight Arrival And Departure Updates
