Post-Flood: Don Muang airport reopens

Only one airline Nok Air will be using Don Mueang despite soaring Suvarnabhumi traffic of 51 million (above capacity of 45 million).

Photo above of Nok Air’s passenger check-in counters at Don Mueang’s Terminal 1.

Click button to listen to Don Mueang Reopens After Floods to download

Aviation
AIRPORTS

Don Mueang gets clearance

Nok Air the initial beneficiary
2/03/2012 
Boonsong Kositchotethana, Deputy Editor Business

Flood-ravaged Don Mueang airport is due to reopen for commercial flights next Tuesday with a bit of fanfare officiated the day before by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

Bangkok's old airport, which closed last Oct 25 during the deluge that paralysed central provinces and Bangkok for two months, will serve only one scheduled airline, the budget carrier Nok Air.

Orient Thai, the other budget airline that used to operate through Don Mueang in the pre-flood period, has yet to set a return from Suvarnabhumi.

Don Mueang director Kanphat Mangkhlasiri confirmed that the airport was "100%" ready to resume operations next week.

Nok Air executives said separately that the airline will begin ferrying its aircraft Monday afternoon at the end of scheduled service at Suvarnabhumi, with nearly all of its fleet of 14 aircraft slated for normal flights starting at 6am on Tuesday.

They said facilities required to support Nok Air's operation, particularly at Terminal 1, were largely spared by the floods and all systems are now ready.

Nok Air will continue to provide passenger check-in service at Row 6 on the third floor of Terminal 1, with existing flight dates and times unchanged.

The carrier, which operates 35 domestic flights a day, has been eager to return to its home base. Heavy congestion at Suvarnabhumi has forced it to burn more jet fuel waiting for take-off slots, causing flight delays and frustration for passengers.

Initially Nok Air's on-time performance at Suvarnabhumi slipped to 28% before improving to 75-80% recently. The airline's pre-flood record at Don Mueang was 96%.

By resuming operations at Don Mueang, Nok Air should be able to woo back passengers and attract new clientele who prefer to travel through the airport, where it takes five-10 minutes after landing to get to ground transport.

Next week's reopening means that Nok Air will have the entire facility at its disposal. No other airlines have expressed interest in staging operations from the old airport.

Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) has blamed the vacuum on unclear government policies and lacklustre support.

A stumbling block is a state directive that Bangkok's old airport should only serve carriers with point-to-point domestic services.

AoT planners are keen to see Don Mueang help with off-loading traffic from the congested Suvarnabhumi, whose passenger throughput is expected to soar to 51 million passengers this year despite a design capacity of 45 million.

During its heyday, Don Mueang served nearly 39 million passengers a year. Since September 2011, it handled just 3.97 million, note AoT statistics.

(Source: Bangkok Post, Aviation, AIRPORTS, Don Mueang gets clearance, Nok Air the initial beneficiary, 2/03/2012, Boonsong Kositchotethana, Deputy Editor Business, link) 

Airline Industry Vocabulary

aviation - 1. the flying of aircraft การบิน; 2. science of flying aircraft ศิลปและศาสตร์ในการบิน (See Wikipedia)

passenger - a person who rides in a car, airplane, bus, etc (not the "driver")
check-in - when a passenger presents their ticket and gets a "boarding pass" before their flight 
passenger check-in counters

clearance - official permission to go ahead and do some activity, to continue (after a check that everything is ok)

Don Mueang gets clearance

initial - first; happening at the beginning of a process ในเบื้องต้น
beneficiary - the one who gains from some action  or activity

Nok Air the initial beneficiary

flood-ravaged - damaged by the floods
commercial - for business purposes
commercial flight - a flight that transports passengers and/or cargo for profit (See Wikipedia)
fanfare - a loud short piece of music played, usually on a trumpet and to introduce the arrival of someone important การป่าวประกาศ
with a bit of fanfare - doing things to make an event important in people's minds 
officiated by - when an important person oversees some event

Flood-ravaged Don Mueang airport is due to reopen for commercial flights next Tuesday with a bit of fanfare officiated the day before by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

deluge - a flood
paralysed - unable to move เป็นอัมพาต
scheduled - planned to happen at a particular time or day ตามตารางเวลา
scheduled airline - an airline with flights at certain times every week
scheduled flight - a flight at a certain time every week
chartered airline - an airline that only flies special flights (arranged ahead of time, opposite of "scheduled airline") 
chartered flight - a special flight for someone who rents the airplane
carrier - an airline company
budget carrier - airline with very cheap tickets

Bangkok's old airport, which closed last Oct 25 during the deluge that paralysed central provinces and Bangkok for two months, will serve only one scheduled airline, the budget carrier Nok Air. Orient Thai, the other budget airline that used to operate through Don Mueang in the pre-flood period, has yet to set a return from Suvarnabhumi.

confirmed - said that a claim is true, verified
resume - start again; to begin again after stopping for a period of time ดำเนินต่อไปใหม่, กลับมาอีกครั้ง
resume operations - start operating again, start working again, return to normal operations 

Don Mueang director Kanphat Mangkhlasiri confirmed that the airport was "100%" ready to resume operations next week.

executives - a high level manager in a company (making plans and ensuring they executed successfully) ผู้บริหาร
ferrying its aircraft - moving airplanes from one place to another (not a light with passengers)
fleet - a group of ships or airplanes, or all of the ships in a country's navy ขบวนเรือ
slated - scheduled

Nok Air executives said separately that the airline will begin ferrying its aircraft Monday afternoon at the end of scheduled service at Suvarnabhumi, with nearly all of its fleet of 14 aircraft slated for normal flights starting at 6am on Tuesday.

facilities - the buildings, equipment and services provided for a particular purpose สิ่งอำนวยความสะดวก
support - help, by giving money, for example สนับสนุน
largely - mostly (not 100%)
spare - when bad thing does not happen to you (but did happen to others) 
largely spared by the floods - the floods did not damage it  
provide - to give someone something that they want or need

They said facilities required to support Nok Air's operation, particularly at Terminal 1, were largely spared by the floods and all systems are now ready. Nok Air will continue to provide passenger check-in service at Row 6 on the third floor of Terminal 1, with existing flight dates and times unchanged.

domestic - within the country ภายในประเทศ
domestic flights - flights flights inside the country
eager - wanting to do or get something very much or enthusiastic about something that will happen กระตือรือร้น
base - a place from where an activity can be planned ฐานที่มั่น
home base - the place that is the central location from which a companies operations are run
congestion - a situation in which a place is crowded with people or vehicles แน่นขนัดไปด้วยรถหรือคน
heavy congestion - a lot of traffic (many airplanes landing and taking off)
take-off slots - the period of time that an airplane is given to take off during
frustration - an annoyed or discouraged feeling because you cannot do or have what you want ความผิดหวัง, ความไม่พอใจ

The carrier, which operates 35 domestic flights a day, has been eager to return to its home base. Heavy congestion at Suvarnabhumi has forced it to burn more jet fuel waiting for take-off slots, causing flight delays and frustration for passengers.

performance - how well or badly something works (or whether an investment provides a reasonable return)
record - the best or most ever achieved สถิติ

Initially Nok Air's on-time performance at Suvarnabhumi slipped to 28% before improving to 75-80% recently. The airline's pre-flood record at Don Mueang was 96.

woo - 1. to try to persuade people to support you or do something โน้มน้าวใจ จูงใจ หาเสียง, ขอคะแนน 2. try to make a woman love you, so you can marry her
woo back - persuade people and make them come back
woo back passengers - do things to make passengers come back
attract - to cause someone to be interested in something ดึงดูดความสนใจ
clientele - (formal) customer ลูกค้า
attract new clientele - get new customers to buy your service or product
transport - to move people or things from one place to another ขนส่ง

By resuming operations at Don Mueang, Nok Air should be able to woo back passengers and attract new clientele who prefer to travel through the airport, where it takes five-10 minutes after landing to get to ground transport.

facility - a building used for a particular purpose
at its disposal - can use
expressed interest - said they were interested; that they might do it or choose it
staging operations - running the business
lacklustre - not very good or impressive
lacklustre support - not trying very hard to help

Next week's reopening means that Nok Air will have the entire facility at its disposal. No other airlines have expressed interest in staging operations from the old airport. Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) has blamed the vacuum on unclear government policies and lacklustre support.

stumbling - making mistakes
stumbling block - something that causes problems (that prevents something from being successful)
state - government รัฐ
directive - an official order คำสั่ง
state directive - a government order
carriers - ariline companies
point-to-point - one place to another place (not stopping at other places along the way

A stumbling block is a state directive that Bangkok's old airport should only serve carriers with point-to-point domestic services.

keen - very interested, eager or wanting (to do) something very much สนใจ, ใจจดใจจ่อ
traffic - the number traveling to a place during a period of time (people, aircraft, ships, trains, cars, trucks, etc.) ความหนาแน่นของจำนวนคน หรือยานพาหนะในช่วงเวลาใดช่วงเวลาหนึ่ง
off-loading traffic - take some of the crowd using one facility and moving it to another less crowded one
expected - believe will happen คาดว่า (จะเกิดขึ้น)
soar - to rise very quickly to a high level มีความหวังสูง,พุ่งพรวดขึ้น
capacity - the greatest amount of work that can be done (or traffic that can be handled) ความสามารถ (ความจุ) ในการจัดการ
heyday - the period of time in the past when it was very popular
during its heyday
statistics - facts about something, described by counting them สถิติ

AoT planners are keen to see Don Mueang help with off-loading traffic from the congested Suvarnabhumi, whose passenger throughput is expected to soar to 51 million passengers this year despite a design capacity of 45 million.  During its heyday, Don Mueang served nearly 39 million passengers a year. Since September 2011, it handled just 3.97 million, note AoT statistics.