Nok Air connects Bangkok Don Mueang and Chumphon in southern Thailand

• Nok Air, the budget carrier with minority shareholding by Thai Airways, launched a new domestic route on 1 October, and it now offers daily flights from Bangkok Don Mueang (DMK), which used to be the country’s main airport before the opening of Suvarnabhumi Airport in 2006, to Chumphon (CJM) in southern Thailand. Competition on the route comes from Solar Air, operator of a small fleet of 19-seater Dornier 228s and EMB110s, and the only other airline to operate at the airport, which was closed for almost a decade prior to its reopening in 2008. All flights offered by Nok Air on the route are operated with Saab 340 aircraft.