Thai Airways starts using Suvarnabhumi for some international flights one week early

Thai Airways said it will start using Bangkok's new airport for three international flights from today, a week ahead of its official opening.

The flag carrier will operate night flights to Seoul, and Beijing and Guangzhou in what will be test runs for the new airport, which is set to open for full commercial use on Thursday (Sept 28).

Suvarnabhumi airport, which name means 'golden land' in Thai, has been in the works for 40 years but suffered repeated delays due to construction problems and allegations of graft.

The new airport, with an initial capacity to serve 45 mln passengers a year, will replace the overburdened Don Muang, which currently handles about 37 mln passengers, 2 mln over its official capacity.

Since Sept 15, Thai Airways has been flying five daily domestic flights from the new airport. All its other flights will be moved there on the official opening date.