THAI plans to test second round of international flights

Thai Airways International (THAI) will conduct a second round of international flights through Suvarnabhumi Airport on Sept 22 to test its readiness ahead of the Sept 28 airport opening.

Four flights on three routes normally operated through Don Muang, will fly to Seoul and Beijing and from Guangzhou, through Suvarnabhumi instead for the test day only.

Unlike the first round of international test flights on the Bangkok-Hong Kong and Bangkok-Singapore routes on Sept 1, which involved mostly THAI staff and their families, the second round will involve paying passengers.

The national carrier will use Airbus A300-600 and A330-300 aircraft, each with around 250 seats, and will soon accept bookings.

A THAI executive confirmed yesterday that the test flights were part of a series of exercises aimed at familiarizing passengers as well as the airline's personnel with the facilities at the new 125-billion-baht airport to ensure a smooth start-up of full-scale THAI services at Suvarnabhumi on the big day.

The national carrier is due to begin offering domestic flights tomorrow from Suvarnabhumi on three routes, with a total of five flights a day.

Chosen because of limited flight connection requirements, the three routes are Suvarnabhumi-Phitsanulok (three flights), Suvarnabhumi-Ubon Ratchathani (one flight), and Suvarnabhumi-Chiang Mai Airport (one flight).

THAI operates more than 200 flights a day on its network that covers 70 destinations in more than 30 countries. It operates more than 80 aircraft.

Meanwhile, Jetstar Asia, the Singaporean budget carrier owned by Qantas of Australia, is set to become the first among some 80 foreign carriers to operate through Suvarnabhumi starting tomorrow.

Jetstar Asia said the decision formed part of a deliberate move to gain momentum for an expedient and smooth transition in the relocation to Suvarnabhumi from Bangkok International Airport (Don Muang).

Jetstar Asia will operate three Airbus 320 flights per day from Singapore to Bangkok.