Concern about the new airport
 

I just read that the new airport is closing for repairs on March 25 and that flights will be operating from the old airport during that time. See

http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-02-20-voa44.cfm

This is cause for concern since we are booked into the Novotel at the new airport on the last night of our visit (March 30) and unable to cancel it since it was booked through a travel web service.

How far is the Novotel from the old airport? Our flight is very early the next morning and we wanted to be as close as possible for our last night and this now seems to be becoming a problem.

Thanks for any feedback you have.

All international flights will still be flying out of Suvarnabhumi (the new one). You're fine.

How do you know that? The article does not mention much.
Thanks

There have been many posts in this forum about it. And this is from the 2nd and 3rd paragraph from the page you link to:

<i>Government officials said Tuesday that the old airport will resume service on March 25. <b>Its services, however, will be limited to chartered and domestic flights.</b>

The move was approved to help ease flight congestion at Suvarnabhumi International Airport while workers repair cracks on runways and taxiways.</i>

BTW, I assume you're flying out of Thailand going home. If you're flying domestic, then you need to check with your airline.

The two airports are on opposite sides of Bangkok. You don't want to stay at the Novotel if you're flying a domestic or chartered flight out of Don Muang.

The new airport ( Suvarnabhumi ) is 'not' closing !

Domestic flights of Nok Air, One-2-Go and certain Thai domestic flights will be operating from the old airport, Don Muang.

International flights remain at the new airport.
If you care to tell us your routings and airlines we can add clarification for you.

Rest assured, this new airport will knock your socks off! The local papers love to complain about it - I think their news must be slow and they're looking for stories. We were there 5 times and never found a shortage of bathrooms, it was marvelously clean, and everything seemed efficient. Security lines never had more than 2 people ahead of us. And shopping there is amazing. The Jim Thompson store there is actually cheaper than their store at the JT House in BKK. No way will this airport be closing... Claire

The news is slow? Are you kidding? It has some real serious problems, and we're not talking about bathrooms.

Serious? I don't really know if I would characterize it like that. THe Bangkok Post, in particular, greatly exagerates the problems. If you ignore the headlines and read the articles, I see mostly normal maintenance and administration issues.

The 'firetrap' stories were particularly silly, IMO. Why don't they talk about how completely out of date the Thai building codes are?

Having to reopen the old airport just 6 months after the new open opens is not serious news? It's a huge embarrassment for the country, inconvenience plenty of travelers, and dampen the growth potential of Suvarnabhumi.

Would you say the same thing is Hong Kong has to reopen Kai Tak, or if Kuala Lumpur has to reopen its old airport? No big news? Give me a break.

Even for me, who lives 9000 miles away and has no plan to visit Thailand soon (I've been there twice previously), it's huge news.