Don Mueang International Airport

Don Mueang (International) Airport (IATA: DMK, ICAO: VTBD) (or also (Old) Bangkok International Airport) is an airport in Bangkok, Thailand. It was officially opened as a Royal Thai Air Force base on March 27, 1914, although it had been in use earlier. Commercial flights started in 1924. Don Mueang Airport closed in 2006 following the opening of Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi Airport. After some problems at Suvarnabhumi, flights resumed at Don Mueang on March 24, 2007.

Don Mueang was an important hub of Asia and the hub of Thai Airways International prior to its closure. At its peak, it served most air traffic in Thailand, with 80 airlines operating 160,000 flights and handling over 38,000,000 passengers and 700,000 tons of cargo in 2005. It was then the 18th busiest airport in the world and 2nd in Asia by passenger volume.

On September 28, 2006 the airport was replaced by Suvarnabhumi Airport. Don Mueang became a facility for charter flights, military aircraft and civil aviation. The airport was reopened for non-connecting domestic commercial flights again on March 24th, 2007. Three airlines are now using the airport, which includes Thai Airways, Nok Air, and One-Two-GO Airlines. The airport is now in operation along with Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Don Mueang is a joint-use facility with the Royal Thai Air Force's Don Muang Royal Thai Air Force Base, being the home of the RTAF 1st Air Division, consisting primarily of non-combat aircraft. Vibhavadi Rangsit Road is the main route linking the airport with downtown Bangkok. The Uttaraphimuk Elevated Tollway, running above Vibhavadi Rangsit, offers a more rapid option for getting into the city and connects to Bangkok's inner city expressway network. Besides travel by road, there is rail service connecting with Hua Lamphong station in the centre of Bangkok. The train station is across the highway and linked with the airport by walkway bridge. There is a RTAF golf course located between the two runways. The course has no separation from the runway, and golfers are only held back by a red light when planes land. In the aerial/satellite pictures below one can see the greens and bunkers quite well.

History

The airfield was the second in Thailand, after Sa Pathum, which was actually a part of the Sa Pathum horse racing course. The first flights to Don Mueang were made on March 8, 1914 and involved the transfer of aircraft of the Royal Thai Air Force. In 1911 Thailand had sent three army officers to France to train as pilots. On completion of their training, the pilots had been authorized to purchase four Breguets and four Nieuports, which formed the basis of the Royal Thai Air Force.

Commercial service to Don Mueang began in 1924. The first commercial flight was an arrival by KLM.

The airfield was used by the Japanese during World War II, and was bombed and strafed by Allied aircraft on several occasions.

During the Vietnam War, Don Muang Royal Thai Air Force Base was a major command and logistics hub of the United States Air Force.

Before the opening of Suvarnabhumi, the airport used the IATA airport code BKK and the name was spelled Don Muang. After Suvarnabhumi opened for commercial flights, the spelling was changed and as Don Mueang it now uses the airport code DMK, though it still retains the ICAO airport code VTBD.

Last flights before the move to Suvarnabhumi

The night of September 27-28, 2006 was the last night of operations at Don Mueang airport. The last commercial flights were:

Domestic departure: Thai Airways TG 124 to Chiang Mai at 10:15pm
International arrival: Kuwait Airways from Jakarta at 1.30am
Domestic arrival: TG 216 from Phuket at 11:00pm
International departure: Although scheduled for Kuwait Airways KU 414 to Kuwait at 2:50am, Qantas flight QF302 to Sydney, originally scheduled for 6:00pm, was delayed for more than 9 hours, before finally taking off at 3:12am, about 10 minutes after Kuwait. Qantas claimed that QF302 was an extra flight.
However, Don Mueang continues to be used for charter flights as well as the domestic carriers despite the fact the higher landing fees at the new airport are being applied to Don Mueang.