Aviation
Asia’s Oldest Airport: Bangkok’s Don Muang Airport Over The Years

Bangkok’s Don Muang International Airport is Thailand’s longest-standing airport and Asia’s oldest Airport, once a glorious gateway for tourists to enter and exit the country and formerly the 2nd busiest airport in Asia, its former glory seems to have been long forgotten.
IATA Code | DMK |
IACO Code | VTBD |
Skytrax rating | 3 Stars |
Number of Terminals | 3 (Terminal 1- International, Terminal 2- Domestic, Terminal 3- Disused/abandoned) |
The main hub for: | Nok Air, Thai AirAsia, Thai Lion Air |
Early Years 1914 -1946

Don Muang Airport was first established as a military airfield for the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF), being the second airfield to be established in Thailand. The airport’s first flight was on the 8th of March 1914, with an RTAF transport plane, and was officially opened on the 27th of March 1914 by the RTAF. The airport mainly served Breguets and Nieuports which were French, turboprop aircraft. Ten years later in 1924, Don Muang received its first commercial flight, a KLM Royal Dutch airlines arrival. Fast forward to 1933, the airfield became a protest ground in the Boworadet Rebellion which was an uprising against a prince in the royal family. In 1945, Don Muang was occupied by Japanese forces which caused it to be bombarded heavily by the Allied forces. Following the Axis powers’ loss in WWII, the British Air Force stationed their 211th squadron at Don Muang from September 1945 to March 1946.
Glowing & Golden 1947-1990

In 1947, Don Muang’s name was changed to Bangkok Airport to cater to international tourists. In the 1920s, the Thai government realized how profitable and beneficial tourism could be for the country so after the 2nd World war, the Thai government set about creating tourism campaigns to draw in more western tourists. This would mean that Don Muang or Bangkok Airport as it was then called would face higher demands so the airport was expanded and underwent a slow but steady renovation. Thai Airways Company (TAC) which was the precursor to Thai Airways International opened new routes in 1947, these included flights to Japan, The Philippines, and India. Lufthansa, Pan American World Airways, and other airlines like B.O.A.C saw the opportunity and started flights to Bangkok Airport. The passenger volume at Don Muang would only increase from here.




Don Muang’s activity was boosted when the Vietnam War rolled around, the US Air Force (USAF) used it as a logistics and command hub while serving commercial flights at the same time. By 1990, Don Muang’s air traffic was just as heavy as Kai Tak airport. For the next ten years, Don Muang stayed at this level.
Still Going 2000 – 2019
By the early 2000s, flights were at an all-time high at Don Muang. At its peak, 80 airlines were serving at Don Muang, and there were 52 flights an hour, being the 18th busiest airport in the world and 2nd busiest in Asia by passenger volume. In 2005, Thai Airways launched flights from New York’s JFK to Bangkok Don Muang, using their A340-500 aircraft, this only boosted the number of arrivals and departures. Unfortunately, this all came to a half when a new airport came, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, it was newer, more attractive, more modern, and larger despite having the same amount of runways as Don Muang’s two. This meant that airlines left Don Muang for Suvarnabhumi. Thai Airways International and other major airlines moved away and Don Muang was left inactive. This caused the government to shut it down in 2006. It soon re-opened when low-cost airlines and regional carriers realized that Suvarnabhumi airport was too expensive. As Suvarnabhumi was more extensive and more popular, Don Muang lost its BKK IATA code which was given to the former. The latter then gained a new IATA code which was DMK.




In 2011 Bangkok was hit by a devastating flood that ruined many areas and left hundreds and thousands of people homeless. Unfortunately, DMK was hit very hard by these floods. The entire ground floor of the airport was submerged, and the aircraft parked there were ruined. The general manager of DMK airport Mr. Chaturong Kapon stated “I didn’t think I’d live to see the day when Don Muang was almost drowned”. The flood caused Don Muang to be shut down for a whole year for repairs. Don Muang recovered from the flood and re-opened in 2012. Orient Thai Airlines and Thai Sky Airlines jets were a common sight seen at Don Muang until they went bankrupt and ceased operations in 2018 and 2006 respectively.
Present Day 2022




Don Muang International Airport runs mainly regional and domestic flights now. The main airlines serving Don Muang are low-cost carriers, Nok Air, Thai AirAsia, ThaiAirAsiaX, and ThaiLion Air. Don Muang is Asia’s oldest standing airport and has seen 108 years of action. It saw the two world wars, the Cold War (including Vietnam), and many other important events in history. Don Muang Intl Airport is also the only airport in the world to have an 18-hole golf course between its two runways. In 2019, the airport had 41.3 million passengers served. The remaining international routes that are operated at Don Muang are to:
- Indonesia
- Thailand (Domestic)
- Japan
- Malaysia – Most popular international route
- Vietnam
- China
- Cambodia
- Myanmar
- Taiwan
- Nepal
- India
- Maldives
- Singapore
- Sri Lanka
Sources
- Simpleflying.com
- thairath
- The Guardian
- Bangkok Post
- ThaiPBSWorld
- Airways Magazine
airbus
The Story of the A220, how it Came About and How it’s Becoming Popular

Aside from the fact that the Airbus A220 is the only airbus aircraft to not have a 3 in its name, the A220 is special from the fact that it isn’t fully made by Airbus, but instead a joint venture between them and Bombardier. This is all because of what some might call a mistake made by Boeing, causing Airbus to acquire a 50.01% stake in the company. In this article I explore its controversial creation, and why it’s needed.

Creation
The Airbus A220 was first named the “CSeries” by Bombardier, and was meant to cater to the demand of small aircraft in between their current-sized fleet and those larger already made by Airbus and Boeing. The particular area where it was expected to boom were the US markets, given there is always demand to be flying from small airports as there is no lack of them in the large country. At first, things were running smoothly and it was expected to enter commercial service in 2014, just one year after its first flight. However, things turned out not to go as planned, and the CSeries encountered issues on one of its test flights, causing it to miss the Farnborough air show, the largest in the industry, and delay its release. This was not good for the aircraft, nearly causing the project and the company to go bust, until financial aid was provided by the Canadian government.

Boeing’s crucial mistake
Eventually, these problems were fixed, and the first CSeries was delivered to SWISS on June 26, 2016. Eventually, more orders began to come for the new aircraft, including the critical ones in the US. In fact, Bombardier was offering Delta 75 of the aircraft at $20 million a piece, a price which was even lower than the cost to build them, and a cost which was just too good to refuse. However, this was contested and was seen to be Dumping, when a manufacturer essentially gives away its aircraft as sort-of “Samples”, and is illegal in the US and other countries. Boeing was quick to take action, claiming that it was stealing the market from its 737s, despite the fact that Delta had explicitly said that they weren’t looking to purchase the variants that Boeing were claiming to be losing out. It was then decided that, given Bombardier was a foreign company, the US government would impose a 300% import tariff, something near-destructible for the company.

Airbus saves the day
However, Airbus decided to step in and acquire a 50% stake in the company, something beneficial for both parties concerned. This was good for Bombardier, as Airbus has its final assembly station situated in Alabama in the US, meaning that seen as the aircraft technically wasn’t foreign, the import tariff wouldn’t be imposed on it. This would also help Airbus, as it would mean that the company would now profit off of an aircraft which had no competitors at the time. This allowed the aircraft to be reintroduced to the US market, allowing it to thrive.

Where it is now
Now, the CSeries has been re-branded to be the Airbus A220, a move which has knocked it out of the park for the world’s largest aircraft manufacturer. This has allowed airbus to spend absolutely no money on development, and come away with an excellent aircraft, which is dominating its playing field. As of April 2023, 251 aircraft have been delivered, with another 785 firm orders. The airlines operating the aircraft include Delta, JetBlue, SWISS and airBaltic, who operate a fleet solely made up of the A220. When Aviation for Aviators asked their CEO, Martin Gauss, about the aircraft, he said that “The aircraft has performed beyond the company’s expectations, delivering better overall performance, fuel efficiency, and convenience for both passengers and the staff.”

Sources:
- Wendover Productions
- Simple Flying
- airBaltic
- Delta
Airlines of the World
An interview with Helvetic Airways CEO, Tobias Pogorevc

Helvetic Airways is a Swiss airline which operates its fleet of Embraer aircraft to destinations such as Greek islands and the Egyptian Red sea coast from their hubs in Switzerland. Their CEO, Tobias Pogorevc, has been in charge of the company since 2018 and overseen major developments such as the introduction of the Embraer E195 E2 and E190 E2 to their fleet. I put some questions to the man himself about the environment and the pandemic.
What do you see as the biggest challenge to the aviation industry at the moment?
One of the biggest challenges in the entire aviation industry is the staff situation. The pandemic
disrupted the entire aviation ecosystem and the situation is still very tense in the personnel area – both
on the ground and in the air. Helvetic Airways was able to counteract the natural fluctuation in the
cabin through early recruitment measures. In addition, as of the beginning of 2023, Helvetic Airways
has significantly expanded its existing and very popular part-time models for cabin crews, and now
offers various innovative models with “Fly your way”, in which cabin attendants can determine their
own assignments on a weekly, monthly or annual basis. Today, we employ over 240 flight attendants
and senior flight attendants in the cabin crew – more than ever before in the history of Helvetic
Airways.
In the cockpit, we benefit from the good and long-standing cooperation with our sister company
Horizon Swiss Flight Academy. From this pool, we were able to recruit 24 pilots this year.
Another challenge relates to supply chains, from carpet suppliers to engine manufacturers. This will
keep the industry busy for a long time to come.

How are you lessening the impact of Helvetic’s aircraft?
Helvetic Airways has renewed almost its entire fleet between 2019 and 2021 and now has 12 state-of-
the-art Embraer E2s – eight E190-E2s with 110 seats and four E195-E2s with 134 seats – and four
Embraer E190s. Helvetic Airways thus operates one of the most modern regional jet fleets in Europe
and the most modern fleet in Switzerland. The Embraer-E2 is currently the most environmentally
friendly regional aircraft on the market. Compared to the E1, the E190-E2 consumes 20 to 23% less
fuel per seat on European routes and the E195-E2 up to 30% less. Our own measured values are
even higher than Embraer’s factory specifications.
The E2 also sets new standards in terms of noise emissions, impressing in particular with its low noise
levels both inside the cabin and outside. The noise diagrams for departures from Zurich Airport show:
The noise contour of the Embraer E195-E2 is 28% lower than for the Airbus A319 and 60% lower than
for the Airbus A320. Particularly for airports near densely populated areas, the ability to reduce the
noise impact on people is an important factor.
What lessons did you learn from the pandemic?
In aviation, crisis situations are regularly trained for, but no one was prepared for a global crisis like the
Corona pandemic. We kept all our crews current during the pandemic so that we would be ready when
business picked up again. In retrospect, that was absolutely the right decision. But then the restart
happened faster than expected. On the one hand, we all had to get back to the “old normal” as quickly
as possible; on the other hand, the pandemic was not yet over – a balancing act that placed enormous
demands on the entire industry.
The pandemic showed us that even when things are at a standstill, you always have to keep moving.
As an airline with lean structures, we have the opportunity to implement new ideas and innovations
quickly, which proved its worth during the restart after the pandemic.

How is the Russo-Ukrainian war affecting Helvetic Airways’ business?
The Ukraine war and the fates associated with it are terrible but have no immediate impact on us as a
regional airline from an operational point of view. Our routes do not pass over Russian or Ukrainian
territory, which may not be flown over at present. What we do feel, however, are the indirect effects of
the war, for example on the fuel prices.
You have been CEO of the company since 2018, what has been the biggest change you have seen in the company since you became in charge?
On the one hand, as a small, private company, the fleet renewal to an E2 fleet has been very busy for
us. It is something special that we, as a niche player, can rely on the most modern fleet. But this is
only possible thanks to the financial strength of our owner, which got us through the Covid crisis even
without government aid. Today, we are financially strong, with no liabilities.
On the other hand, there was the biggest difference in the area of human resources: the needs that
applied in 2018 are outdated today. Today, we need to offer innovative and flexible working models to
recruit the best young talent. Work-life balance, diversity, inclusion must not just be buzzwords, they
must be lived.

Helvetic airways operates a fleet solely made up of Embraer aircraft, why was the decision made to do this?
Before unifying to an all Embraer fleet, Helvetic Airways operated Fokker100 aircraft, an Airbus A319
and Embraer E1 aircraft, four of which are still in our fleet today. The cooperation with Embraer was
excellent from the beginning and the development of the E2 series progressed well also due to our
experience and input from Switzerland. So the decision was also obvious to carry out the planned fleet
renewal in 2019 to 2021 with the new Embraer E2 models. The Embraer E2 is an aircraft of the latest
generation and therefore the right aircraft for the future. The E2 consumes significantly less fuel than
the E1 and, especially in times of high kerosene prices, it makes economic sense to operate an
aircraft that saves 20 to 30% fuel on certain routes at high load factors.
Another key reason for choosing the E2 jet was the commonalities, which is particularly advantageous
in the areas of training and maintenance.
All our pilots are certified for both the E1 and the E2, and the maintenance in our hangar is also
certified for both types of aircraft. We operate the aircraft, we maintain it and we have our own flight
school, the Horizon Swiss Flight Academy, where we train our pilots and engineers – all from Zurich.
In other words, we have specialists for all areas: training, operations and maintenance – in effect we
have become the Embraer competence center in Europe.

And Finally, what can we see in the near future for Helvetic airways?
First and foremost, our goal is to continue to offer our partners, customers and passengers reliable
flight operations with top service. In doing so, we will continue to rely on our three main pillars of
wetlease, charter and scheduled flights. Furthermore, we want to remain a good and modern employer
for our employees. Due to our manageable size, we remain agile and score with innovation and a
family atmosphere with flat hierarchies. We will continue to promote this spirit. From April, for example,
the first “Helvetic shared apartments” will be ready for occupancy – apartments rented by Helvetic
Airways and sublet to employees who do not have their main place of residence in Zurich. These
colleagues should immediately feel at home in our Helvetic family!

Cover image credit: Flikr
Aviation
Brussels Airlines’ Female Crew on International Women’s Day 2023

On March 8th, International Women’s Day 2023, Brussels Airlines made history by operating a flight from Brussels to Marseille with an all-female cockpit crew. This milestone marks the first time that the airline had ever flown with an all-female cockpit crew, and it sends a powerful message of support for gender equality in the aviation industry.


Brussels Airlines is the flag carrier airline of Belgium and operates flights to over 120 destinations, with a fleet of more than 50 aircraft offering both economy and business class seating. The airline is also committed to sustainability and supports social initiatives through its charity program, b.foundation for Africa. Its subsidiary, Brussels Airlines Cargo, provides cargo services.
Captain Anne-Sophie Godart, First Officer Charlotte Verstraete, and Flight Engineer Virginie Dupon, all highly experienced pilots with a combined total of more than 25,000 flight hours, were the crew who operated the special flight. The three women were honored to be part of this historic event, with Captain Godart stating, “It’s an honor to be part of this flight and to be able to make a statement about gender equality in the aviation industry. We are proud to be able to show that women can do the same job as men, and that we can do it just as well.”


The flight was a success, and the crew received cheers and applause upon arrival in Marseille. It was a powerful statement of support for gender equality in the aviation industry, and a reminder that women are capable of anything men can do.
Brussels Airlines has been actively recruiting more female pilots and creating a more inclusive and supportive work environment for all of its employees. This flight was a proud moment for the airline, which is committed to promoting gender equality in the aviation industry and providing equal opportunities for all.



As International Women’s Day 2023 is celebrated, it is a time to acknowledge the progress made in the fight for gender equality, but also recognize the work that still needs to be done. Brussels Airlines‘ all-female cockpit crew serves as a beacon of hope for aspiring female pilots and a symbol of progress for the aviation industry as a whole.
“Let us soar higher on this International Women’s Day 2023, celebrating the fearless women who have conquered the skies and shattered stereotypes in aviation, inspiring generations to come.“

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