Theera said after meeting with the committee on Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang operations chaired by Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont, that Don Muang should handle about 70 flights per day.

"International flights will continue to be handled at Suvarnabhumi Airport," he told reporters, adding that the meeting's recommendation would be forwarded for Cabinet approval next week.

The 70 flights account for 8.5 per cent of traffic at Suvarnabhumi, which handles 822 flights per day operated by 80 airlines.

The decision came a day after more than 60 airlines, in particular members of Star Alliance, insisted they would not leave Suvarnabhumi as they had invested a huge amount of money and effort and were also concerned about inconveniencing passengers.

They also said that as safety problems are not the issue, Suvarnabhumi remained suitable for their operations.

Thai AirAsia earlier insisted that if Don Muang were not reopened for both domestic and international flights, it would keep all its operations at Suvarnabhumi.

Surayud said Suvarnabhumi would not be closed, as repairs could take place while it was still open.

However, traffic would need to be reduced to accommodate the repair work. Iinitially only non-transit flights would be relocated to Don Muang and the Transport Ministry would in six months decide if other airlines should move back there.

"[Despite the decision], Don Muang still remains an international airport, as international chartered flights still land there," Surayud said, adding that repairs at Suvarnabhumi should be completed within a few weeks.

He said two airports were needed, as safety is paramount. Airports of Thailand (AOT) would have to assure the international community that Suvarnabhumi is safe while the repairs are carried out.

The Transport Ministry also proposed at the meeting to close the western runway at Suvarnabhumi for two weeks for repairs. It gave the committee a list of problems found at Suvarnabhumi, including broken windows, shortage of toilets and road signs.

It also proposed a plan to speed up the construction of the mass-transit link between the two airports.

Theera also insisted that once both airports are operational, the ministry had a plan to facilitate travel between them.

Attendees at the meeting included General Saprang Kalayanamitr as chairman of AOT, THAI president Apinan Sumaseni, Tortrakul Yomnak as chairman of the committee inspecting runway and taxiway cracks, and Yodyiam Theptranont as chairman of the panel inspecting facility problems at Suvarnabhumi.

Yodyiam said he had given the panel a list of problems affecting Suvarnabhumi.

While saying that problems with the passenger terminal were negligible, and unrelated to the building structure, Yodiam said he was concerned that he had been unable to locate all of the construction plans for the terminal and therefore could not answer whether construction violated the Building Control Act.

However Surayud told reporters that it was impossible that any blueprints were missing as AOT and the contractors must have copies.

Piyanart Srivalo

The Nation