Air show will give Don Mueang new role

[CebPac]

By: BOONSONG KOSITCHOTETHANA
Published: 4/07/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: BusinessThailand will stage its first air show in almost a century of aviation industry later this month in an initial attempt to demonstrate the potential to host a fully-fledged international aviation event in the future.



Miss Siam, Thailand’s first privately owned civil aircraft, first took flight in 1932.
The show, scheduled from July 24-26, is also meant to support the government's plan to find new roles for Don Mueang Airport which has been left largely unused since the opening of Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi Airport in 2006.

Staging the show, entitled the Civil Aviation Exhibition, is supposed to display the 95-year-old airport's ability to accommodate an international-scale air show to rival major regional events which take place in Hong Kong and Singapore.

It is one of future functions the government has just defined for the Don Mueang, in addition to turning it into an integrated aircraft maintenance and repair centre, aircraft trading centre, simulator training centre and private jet terminal.

Don Mueang was an important hub of Asia prior to its closure. At its peak, it served most air traffic in Thailand, with 80 airlines operating 160,000 flights and handling over 38 million passengers and 700,000 tonnes of cargo in 2005. It was then the 18th busiest airport in the world and second in Asia by passenger volume.

Today, it serves only two scheduled airlines - Nok Airlines and One-Two-Go Airlines - both operating non-connecting domestic flights, and a very small number of chartered private flights.

The first event, organised by Department of Civil Aviation and the Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT), is on a local scale for the general public.

But DCA deputy director-general Wuthichai Singhamanee said the Transport Ministry hoped to see the event evolve into an international one as soon as next year. It hopes to interest international organisers to host future international air shows in Bangkok.

This month's event consists of four parts:

- Static displays of 70 aircraft, mostly corporate jets, light aircraft, helicopters.

- A flying show of 15 light aircraft including the vintage propeller plane Miss Siam.

- A seminar on topics including Don Mueang's readiness to support the industry; the future of aviation; becoming professional pilots and cabin attendants; Thailand's open-sky policy and unmanned aircraft technology.

- About 100 exhibition booths at Terminal II by airlines, operators, universities, pilot association and civil aviation institutes.

The event is open to the public free of charge.