Nakhon Ratchasima airport may soon be resurrected, as budget carrier Thai Lion Air (TLA) is keen to offer regular flights through it.
TLA, the Thai offshoot of Indonesia's Lion Group aviation giant, is in talks with authorities about linking the northeastern provinces with Chiang Mai, Phuket, Hat Yai and even Bangkok.
Prawat Duangkanya, director of state-run Nakhon Ratchasima airport, confirmed TLA recently spoke with local officials about serving the airport.
Having TLA operate through Nakhon Ratchasima would give a major boost to the airport's struggle to host a major scheduled airline with regular services rather than small charter flight operators with irregular or training flights.
The last time Nakhon Ratchasima, commonly known as Korat, had regular flights was from February-June this year by Kan Air, a Thai commuter airline.
Kan Air operated three flights a week between Nakhon Ratchasima and Chiang Mai using a 66-seat ATR 72 turboprop.
Those flights were suspended due to issues related to the nature of the permit granted by the Department of Civil Aviation.
It ruled Kan Air could not operate scheduled flights while holding a charter flight licence, which led to the suspension in the middle of June.
Mr Prawat told the Bangkok Post the airport was seeking permission from national authorities to offer incentives such as landing and parking fee waivers to sweeten the deal for TLA.
TLA is understood to be drawing up a plan for opening a network from Nakhon Ratchasima, he said.
No launch date has been indicated, but Mr Prawat said three or four flights a week might be possible for the proposed TLA routes out of Nakhon Ratchasima.
TLA operates a fleet of Boeing 737-900ER and 737-800 jets, each with 214 and 189 seats, respectively.
Nakhon Ratchasima airport can accommodate both types of aeroplane.