Chiang Mai Aviation: Outcry over Air-Hub Plan

Private airline operators have expressed sharp disapproval of the Thaksin government's plan to let Singapore Airlines develop Chiang Mai into a regional aviation hub.

This follows a remark by Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungruenkit, who said the government might allow Singapore Airlines to operate a budget regional airline out of Chiang Mai.

Jothin Pamon-Montri, president of PB Air, said developing Chiang Mai International Airport into a regional aviation hub was a good idea - but it was not appropriate to allow Singapore Airlines do the job.

With Singapore Airlines a major competitor of Thai Airways International, granting it a business role in Chiang Mai would hurt the country's aviation industry as a whole, he said.

The initiative to turn Chiang Mai into a regional aviation hub came directly from Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. As a result, Thai Airways International recently started operating flights between Chiang Mai and Chittagong, a major city in Bangladesh.

Thaksin is due to meet with his Singaporean counterpart Goh Chok Tong this weekend at a retreat in Phuket to discuss the possibility of forming the regional airline, which would either be 100-per cent Singaporean owned, or a joint venture with a Thai partner.

Goh and his party, including Foreign Minister S Jayakumar and Trade and Industry Minister George Yeo, are due to arrive in Thailand tomorrow. The following day they will hold talks on a yacht while cruising around coral islands off the coast of Phuket in the Andaman Sea.

Jothin said: "If Singapore Airlines is allowed to operate the regional airline, it would amount to Thailand handing over its traffic rights to a foreign entity. We should not give them domestic traffic rights. The rights are a national asset."

The government should allow Thai Airways and private airlines to join forces and develop Chiang Mai as an aviation hub, he said.

Udom Tantiprasongchai, chief executive officer and managing director of Orient Thai Airlines, also voiced his strong opposition to granting foreign airlines domestic traffic rights. "This would suggest our country is very undeveloped," he said.

Thai airlines should be involved in any plans to develop Chiang Mai airport, he said, adding that the airport is too small to be an aviation hub.

The Thai government should hold discussions with local airline companies before inviting foreign airlines to develop Chiang Mai as an aviation hub, he said.

Singapore has long striven for a greater role in Thailand's aviation industry, having previously shown an interest in the privatisation of the Airports Authority of Thailand and Thai Airways.

In the meantime, Thai Airways will next Tuesday hold a seminar in Phuket on how to turn the island into a southern aviation hub. Kanok Abhiradee, Thai Airways' president, members of the airline's management, and other tourism officials will be attending.