Domestic flights return to Don Muang
PHUKET: Thai Airways International (THAI), Nok Air and One-Two-GO domestic flights between Phuket and Bangkok will resume using Don Muang Airport, Bangkok’s former international airport, this weekend.
Kalayapha Panich, THAI’s District Sales Manager for Upper-Southern Thailand, explained that THAI flights to and from Bangkok will run from both airports in the capital.
“Passengers are welcome to choose which destination they want: Don Muang or Suvarnabhumi. We are happy to make the changes and do our best for them,” she said.
Each day from Sunday to October 27, the first THAI flight from Don Muang to Phuket will be at 7.20 am and the final flight at 7:30 pm. The first flight from Phuket to Don Muang will be at 9:25 am and the last flight will depart the island at 9:35 pm.
Also until October 27, the first THAI flight from Suvarnabhumi to Phuket will be at 8 am and the last at 6:20 pm. In the opposite direction, the first flight from Phuket to Suvarnabhumi will be at 10:10 am and the last at 8:40 pm.
THAI flights using Don Muang Airport will be coded with four digits, starting with 1 – TG 1203, for example – while those operating out of Suvarnabhumi Airport will have just three digits, K. Kalayapha explained.
Nok Air has announced a new flight schedule, effective from Sunday, corresponding with its move to Don Muang. Daily flights to Phuket will depart Don Muang from 7:30 am through to 5.55 pm Monday to Thursdays and Saturdays, and a late service will depart 8:10 pm Fridays and Sundays.
Also from Sunday, Nok Air daily flights to Don Muang will depart Phuket from 9.15 am to 7:45 pm Mondays to Thursdays and Saturdays, and a late service will depart 9:55 pm Fridays and Sundays.
One-Two-GO also will resume using Don Muang on Sunday, but will keep some services flying to and from Suvarnabhumi.
Flights to Phuket will depart Suvaranbhumi at 2:30 pm daily; and at 10:20 am on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays; and at 6:20 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.
Flights from Phuket to Suvaranbhumi will depart the island at 12:10 pm daily; and at 8:10 am on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays; and at 4:20 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.
Daily flights to Phuket will depart Don Muang at 7 am, 10:40 am, 2:30 pm and 6:20 pm, while One-Two-GO flights departing Phuket for Don Muang will leave at 8:50 am, 12:30 pm, 4:30 pm and 8:10 pm.
Phuket business owner Vatchara Pongsa, who regularly flies between Phuket and Bangkok, told the Gazette that she is very happy that flights will return to Don Muang.
“Suvarnabhumi is too big and too far to walk inside, it takes too long to get my luggage. But at Don Muang, everything is much more convenient. It is just a short walk to the car park or to get a taxi, and the cost of a limo or taxi is much cheaper at Don Muang,” she said.
Phuket Tourist Association Vice-President Panu Maswongsa told the Gazette, “There should be no problems for passengers flying to and from Phuket. Nothing much has changed; passengers just need to check and specify which airport they want to go to,” he said.
However, he added, “What we want most is for Japanese, Taiwanese and Chinese group tours to return to Phuket. The previous government made a policy of directing those tourists to Chiang Mai.
“We want these tourists back. We especially want direct flights from Tokyo and Osaka to Phuket to bring back Japanese tourists, which we have not had in large numbers for a long time.
“They spend on average 5,000 to 6,000 baht a day in Phuket. We have lost about 100,000 tourists a year. We will raise this issue with the government,” he said.
