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Published on December 5, 2007

THAI president Apinan Sumaseni said yesterday that the group would petition Transport Minister Theera Haocharoen to express their disagreement with the dual-airport policy. Apinan said it was necessary for an aviation hub to have a single service spot. Two Bangkok airports would cause inconvenience to passengers.

"Star Alliance members would definitely not move back to Don Mueang, as we have invested more than Bt67 billion at Suvarnabhumi," Apinan said.

Aside from THAI, Star Alliance members include Lufthansa, Scandinavian Air-lines and United Airlines.

Apinan said congestion at Suvarnabhumi was manageable. Compared to the greater congestion at London's Heathrow Airport, Suvarnab-humi still has room to improve its service through readjustment of take-off and landing schedules.

"As a pilot, I am of the opinion that the existence of two airports would cause problems in air-traffic management," he said.

On Sunday, Airports of Thailand's board approved the reopening of Don Mueang as a domestic and international airport. The board said it was necessary to alleviate congestion at Suvarnabhumi, which is running near its full capacity of 45 million passengers a year. It was reported that in its first year the new airport handled 42 million passengers.

Theera hinted on Monday that the next government would consider the option of reopening Don Mueang to international flights.

The Nation