NEWS:
Bangkok airport experiences severe birthing pains
Thomas Fuller - International Herald Tribune
From a distance
it is a shimmering edifice that rises above the surrounding flatlands like
a giant space pod, a prime candidate for the cover of an architecture
magazine.
But do not look
too closely. Six weeks after opening, the tarmac at Bangkok's new airport
is cracked in several places, the bare concrete walls of the sprawling
terminal appear unfinished and the arrival hall is chronically
overcrowded.
These are only a
few of the problems and complaints that have emerged at Suvarnabhumi
airport, which after four decades of debate, planning and construction
opened on Sept. 28 and was supposed to cement Bangkok's role as an air hub
for the region.
"I hear so many
complaints from my clients I don't know where to begin," said Onsuma
Prompong, 38, the owner of the Tour Agency Travel Corner. "The most common
are the crowding in the check-in areas, delays in check-ins and this
marathon walk passengers have to endure when they're trying to reach the
plane.
"Dirty toilets
are also a big concern," she said. That is, when travelers can find a
toilet.
Last month, the
deputy prime minister of Thailand's military-appointed government,
Pridiyathorn Devakula, ordered the airport authority to tear down offices
and install more toilets in response to one of the most glaring and
frequently criticized oversights of the complex, which is now used by
about 100,000 people a day.
"It has been
under constant criticism since the day it came into operations,"
Pridiyathorn said. Suvarnabhumi airport replaced the workmanlike and
time-worn Don Muang airport, which is now used mainly by the government.
Raveewan
Netarakawesana, director of public relations for the Airports Authority of
Thailand, which manages the airport and oversaw its construction, says her
office has received a litany of gripes: "inadequate and ambiguous signs,"
overcrowding, faulty air-conditioning, lack of seats at the departure
areas - and the "naked-looking concrete, paintless columns, walls and
structures."
Every new
airport, especially one as big as Suvarnabhumi, which has the world's
largest single terminal, has teething problems.
But while some
of the problems at the airport are being addressed, others will be more
difficult to fix, such as the overcrowding, which is a "structural
restriction resulting from the design," Raveewan said.
The airport
authority also has no plans to change the look of the facility - Raveewan
says the bare concrete, which is most visible at boarding gates, is "part
of the design."
Some of the
cracks in the tarmac have been patched, but a survey of runways, taxiways
and parking gates revealed three or four more problem areas, Raveewan
said. Suvarnabhumi was built in what used to be a swamp and although the
area was drained and filled, the airport has had trouble with water
accumulation.
"The cracks were
the result of poor maintenance, together with the water that stays idle on
the surface for a long time," Raveewan said.
Inside the
terminal, the airport authority has earmarked 40 million baht, just over
$1 million, to build 20 new bathrooms - with a total of 205 toilets, 118
urinals and 248 new wash basins. Some of the current wash basins are
poorly designed and water splashes onto the floor.
There is no
doubt Suvarnabhumi has its fans: The airport itself has become a tourist
attraction for Thai families, who picnic beside one of the main runways on
weekends and watch the giant aircraft taking off and landing. Taxi drivers
also like the new airport and not only because they get higher fares.
Suvarnabhumi is connected to central Bangkok by a number of highways so
the trip is less afflicted by traffic jams that sometimes blocked access
to the old airport.
But the
complaint most often heard about Suvarnabhumi is that it is more pretty
than practical. One particularly nagging problem is that, despite the size
and number of parking gates at the main terminal, passengers are often
asked to disembark onto buses that bring them to the building.
"It's the last
thing you expect to have with such a huge airport that claims to live up
to a regional standard," said Janthana Samleerangkul, 35, a travel agent
in Bangkok.
Alex Temander,
29, a jewelry designer, who recently flew out of the airport to Phnom
Penh, also disembarked onto a shuttle bus instead of walking straight off
the plane and into the terminal. She complained of a lack of automatic
teller machines, long lines at the foreign exchange booth and a general
lack of signs. The airport, she said, was more difficult to use than more
established facilities around the region.
"It's a great
design on the outside but it doesn't measure up to Hong Kong or Singapore
airport and should be more customer-serviced," Temander said.
The airport
authority has blamed the rush to completion for the problems. After a
series of delays, the government of Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed in
a coup on Sept. 19, ordered that the airport open on Sept. 28. Some
officials said that was several months too early.
"It's undeniable
that the problems resulted from the decision to open the airport too soon,
when it was not ready," said the president of the airport authority,
Chotisak Asapaviriya, according to the Bangkok Post.
Yet many of the
problems seem to stem from design flaws more than hurried construction -
the lack of bathrooms and the overcrowding among them.
Pridiyathorn,
the deputy prime minister, asked that the airport authority focus on
improving the airport before turning to expansion plans - plans that would
more than double capacity from the current 45 million passengers a year.
The hope,
passengers said, was that the expansion did not mean even bigger crowds
and even longer walks.
"In general,
it's a very nice airport," said Angus Hain, 36, an English teacher who
recently flew from Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City. "But an airport is an
airport. What makes a good airport is that you can get through as quickly
as possible."
Some relief at BKK
25 October 2006
Suvaranabhumi Airport operators are to take space from Customs, security
and Thai Airways International to build new toilets for passengers at a
cost of 40 million baht (more than $1 million).
Airports of Thailand President Chotisak Asapaviriya acknowledged the
scathing criticism of passengers and the public over the lack of toilets.
He said AoT intends to invest 40 million baht to build more toilet
facilities because Suvarnabhumi has fared poorly on this issue. Over 200
toilets for both men and women will be added, he said. But he estimated
passengers and airport staff would have to hold for about four months to
await completion of construction.
Making way for more pressing demands of basic human need will be "some
office space" of Thai Airways International on the second floor, as well
as some Customs, Immigration, security and retail space on the fourth
floor, the main area for passengers.
On another matter, Mr Chotisak said he was confident that no-frills
airlines will soon stop insisting on returning to Don Muang airport.
Several low-cost airlines have asked to operate from Don Muang, which
closed at the time of the commercial opening of Suvarnabhumi airport
nearly a month ago. Mr Chotisak said a meeting between AoT and
representatives of all budget carriers operating at Suvarnabhumi has been
scheduled.
Mr Chotisak said a tentative conclusion has been reached for Don Muang to
serve military carriers and the Royal Thai Air Force, chartered flights,
and small and private aircraft.
He also said he needs more convincing evidence on passenger loads to
justify building a new terminal exclusively for low-cost carriers at
Suvarnabhumi.
Early warnings of airport problems
(The Nation, 15 September)
The new airport has its soft opening today, but bosses
must face some huge concerns - the main departure hall has only 100 seats
and just four restrooms for men
The people behind the new Suvarnabhumi Airport love to boast about its
numerous and impressive statistics and they have been doing so with some
gusto for the past few weeks.
With the Bt150-billion airport's soft opening for some domestic flights by
Thai Airways International starting this morning, here are some statistics
that they don't want to boast about.
Question 1: How many toilets for men are there in the main departure hall,
which is 444 metres long and about 50 metres wide, and a place where
domestic and international passengers have to check in their luggage and
get their boarding passes?
Some experts have told The Nation that given the volume of people passing
through, there should be 200 or even 300. Are there that many at
Suvarnabhumi?
The answer: there are 12 toilets and 16 urinals in four restrooms.
In fact, make that eight toilets as four of the 12 - one in each restroom
- are set aside for the physically disadvantaged.
So if you're in a hurry, you might have to hop across to the nearby
Novotel Suvarnabhumi Airport Hotel, which has 19 toilets alone on the
ground floor.
In the words of Deputy Prime Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit,
Suvarnabhumi is "one of the most modern airports in the world with
multiple distinctive features".
With tens of thousands of people departing each day, one of those
"distinctive features" is bound to be long queues at the restrooms.
With the other three floors having about the same number of toilets,
Suvarnabhumi is in danger of being labelled a farce come September 28.
Now on to question 2: On that very same fourth floor, the only departure
hall, how many seats are there for the public to rest their weary bones?
A couple of thousand would seem reasonable, you'd think. But if you said
100 you'd be spot on the money. Not bad for a place where thousands will
congregate each hour. "There are hardly any seats because passengers must
stand," huffed an Airports of Thailand (AOT) information officer. "We want
them to check in quickly and get to the retail space."
The uniformed staffer added: "We have received many complaints that the
duty-free space is too large." At an enormous 20,000 square metres or
more, that's a lot of ground to cover. You'll definitely need a seat
afterwards.
A female Thai Airways ticket staffer complained: "There are too few seats
and too many shops. It's not like an airport but more like a shopping
mall."
When the chairman of the AOT board, Srisuk Chandransu, happened by just at
that moment, he quickly shied away from The Nation's questions about
toilets and public seating, saying he was a bit too busy. The Thai Airways
staffer then aired some more concerns as the hours count down to the soft
opening of the airport today. "We don't even know what number to call for
a wheelchair or any other units for that matter. They haven't handed that
over to us yet."
The complaint list began to get bigger: the central conveyor belt should
automatically read a check-in tag, but if the tag is not attached properly
the computer won't be able to read it and the bag most likely will end up
in the wrong terminal.
"For every 50 pieces of test luggage, 20 went missing," said the staff
member, who did not want to be identified. So, if a piece of luggage goes
missing, what happens next, she was asked. Well, with the new centralised
single conveyor system, it means more of a headache to trace it and
re-channel it back to the right place. "We're trying to fix it," she said.
The woman staffer added an even more ominous note to the list of
complaints. It seems many who will man the airport have not been trained
yet. "Training is not completed yet," she said, in an echo of the many
critics who feel the government wants the airport opened as soon as
possible and at all costs so that it will reap a feel-good windfall ahead
of the election.
And what about that most controversial of purchases for the airport, the
state-of-the-art CTX X-Ray bomb scanners? Well, the consensus is that they
may be good but they only scan luggage after it goes through the conveyor
belt, meaning there is still a risk of a bombing, said another Thai
Airways staffer.
One major difficulty for passengers boarding public buses to and from the
airport is that they will have to off-load and re-load their luggage at
the public transport centre. If you are a departing passenger, you will
have to grab your bags from the bus and drag them to where your bus is
specifically parked. Then you load on the bags and head to the main
departure hall.
Oh, you should know that there are no trolleys to help you with this task.
Nor air-conditioning to make it more comfortable for you. The AOT claims
the shuttle service is "free", but passengers still have to pay airport
fees.
"Yes, it's a problem," admits Kaetsuda Ho-morb, a driver on the new public
bus link. "Nobody is talking about it ... but we do need the trolleys."
"It looks convenient but in a way it's not," said Darunee Suknakorn, one
of the many "airport tourists" who have come to admire the new pride of
the Kingdom.
Bangkok Airways latest to make an
early move
Bangkok Airways has become the latest carrier to decide
it will operate flights through Suvarnabhumi Airport ahead of its Sept 28
scheduled opening.
The privately owned carrier becomes the fifth airline to
offer limited services through the new airport ahead of schedule,
primarily to test its own systems and identify and solve any problems that
might arise before the official opening.
Other airlines that have confirmed plans for an early
start are Thai Airways International and the Singaporean budget airline
Jetstar Asia, both on Sept 15, followed by the low-cost carriers AirAsia
(Sept 24) and Nok Air (Sept 26).
The 80-plus international carriers serving Thailand are
unlikely to follow suit, as most are already racing against time to
establish themselves at the new site, which some executives believe won't
be ready on Sept 28 in any case.
Bangkok Airways vice-president Nandhika Varavarn said
yesterday that the carrier was responding to suggestions from Airports of
Thailand Plc for airlines to tests their operations ahead of time.
''We want to try out our personnel and systems in
advance. That will give us the opportunities and time to fine-tune and
correct any mistakes that may occur before our full operations at the new
site start on Sept 28,'' she said.
Like THAI, Bangkok Airways will offer only a limited
number of early flights on low-traffic routes with minimal requirements
for connecting flights. Its plan involves five routes and nine flights a
day. Bangkok Airways' current network covers 22 routes, both domestic and
regional, with a total of 120 flights a day.
The flights through Suvarnabhumi are those to Sukhothai,
Chiang Mai and Samui, and to Jinghong and Shenzhen in China.
The airline is offering discounts to attract passenger
interest. The return fares from Suvarnabhumi to Jinghong and Shenzhen are
6,000 baht; and to Samui at 4,000 baht. Fares to Sukhothai and Chiang Mai
remain unchanged. To qualify for discounts, passengers must depart between
Sept 21 and 27 and return by Oct 15.
M.L. Nandhika expressed confidence that Bangkok Airways'
own facilities at the new airport would be fully functional on the opening
date.
Bangkok Airways passengers, both domestic and
international, will check in at Row F, on the fourth floor of the
passenger terminal beginning on Sept 21.
Nok Air's vote of no confidence
When reading this you should remember that Nok Air is
the low cost domestic airline controlled by Thai Airways.
Nok AIr will move early; all its flights on September 27
will operate from the new airport. BUT, the airline has announced that it
will cancel all flights (by its 4 planes) on 28th September, the first
full day of operations at the new airport.
The airline says it has no concerns about safety or the
readiness of the airport. It was simply trying to head off inconveniences
that its passengers may face on the day.
Passengers with bookings on that date on Nok Air have
been rescheduled to other dates. What was that about not inconveniencing
customers!
Other move dates:
One Two Go, the low-cost unit of Orient Thai, said it
would transfer all its flights to the new airport on September 26, two
days before the opening date.
One of the company's officers said the firm was keen to
have a two-day head start to learn more about the airport.
Nok Air, another budget carrier and THAI's sister
airline, confirmed it would transfer all its flights to Suvarnabhumi
Airport on September 27, one day ahead of the official opening.
A small number of THAI's own local flights will be using
the new airport from September 15, as required by the government.
Jetstar Asia will be the first foreign airline to use
Suvarnabhumi Airport, flying from Singapore three times a day - also from
September 15.
Thai AirAsia to move to new Bangkok airport
on Sept 25
Budget carrier Thai AirAsia said Wednesday all of its flights will move to
Bangkok's new international airport on September 25, three days ahead of the
airport's official opening.
Thai AirAsia, a joint venture between Thai telecom giant Shin Corp and
Malaysia's AirAsia, said its 70 daily flights will shift from the existing Don
Muang airport to the new airport on September 25.
The last 10 flights, both domestic and international, on September 24 will also
fly to the new airport, the airline said. This is how they will get all the
planes on site at the new airport ready for the early morning departures on the
25th.
TAA said that the early move is to try and avoid traffic congestion at the new
airport the night before the opening date.
The government has said all flights must move to the new airport on September
28, when the existing Don Muang will close to commercial traffic.
The airline has already informed passengers about the move. Well sort of - it
did this by advertisements in the local newspapers. Not by email or any other
contact. I have a flight booked out on Air Asia on 25th September; the e-ticket
does not say which airport the flight is from.
First few domestic flights from 15
September
Thai Airways International Public Company Limited will
begin operating domestic flights from Suvarnabhumi Airport on 3 routes, at
a total of 5 flights, on the route Bangkok – Phitsanulok (3 flights),
Bangkok – Ubon Ratchathani (1 flight), and Bangkok – Chiang Mai (1
flight), effective September 15th, 2006 onwards.
Flg. Off. Apinan Sumanaseni, President of Thai Airways
International Public Company Limited, said that in accordance to the
Government policy for domestic air carriers to begin operating flights to
and from Suvarnabhumi Airport as of 15 September 2006 onwards, the company
has studied the possibilities based on concern for passenger impact. The
company has arranged flight operations on 3 routes, at a total of 5
flights, those being return flights to and from Bangkok – Phitsanulok v.v.
(3 flights), Bangkok – Ubon Ratchathani v.v. (1 flight), and Bangkok –
Chiang Mai v.v. (1 flight), effective 15 September 2006.
Opening date confirmed for 28 September
All systems at Suvarnabhumi airport will be ready for the
opening of its full-scale commercial service at 3am on September 28 when
Don Muang airport will be closed to scheduled flights, caretaker Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said yesterday. Mr Thaksin was speaking
after chairing a meeting of the government's committee supervising the
airport's construction.
Airlines will bring
their aircraft for departure at the new airport from that time. 'Empty
planes will wait for take-off at Suvarnabhumi that morning and that will
start the full-scale commercial service,' he said.
All systems at the new Bangkok airport had been
completed, and tests had been a success. Faults detected in previous
tests had been corrected.
Although tests had not integrated all operating
systems and were done only through simulation, they reflected the
readiness of the airport. Mr Thaksin said he was confident enough to
announce the airport opening on September 28.
Suvarnabhumi airport will undergo real tests on July
29 when special flights of six domestic airlines land and take off
there. Then on September 1, Thai Airways International (THAI) will test
its international flights. Public buses will be available at
Suvarnabhumi on July 29 and Sept 1 to take passengers to and from the
city.
The government would now start public relations work
to familiarise people with routes to the airport, he said.
From 3am on September 28, Don Muang airport would stop
serving regular commercial flights. It will only handle chartered, VIP,
private and military flights.
Suvarnabhumi airport boasts the world's largest single
passenger terminal that can serve up to 45 million passengers annually.
With that capacity, Mr Thaksin said it may not be
necessary to build a separate terminal for budget airlines or look at a
second-phase terminal expansion right away. His deputy Gen Chainant
Charoensiri said test flights on July 29 would prove if the airport was
really ready.
Airport Tax to Increase
The international departure tax would be increased by
Bt200 to Bt700 and domestic passengers would incur a Bt100 fee, up from a
current Bt50. The increase would be effective from February 1 2007.
AOT operates Suvarnabhumi Airport. It had planned to
introduce the new taxes upon the opening of the new airport on September
28. Meanwhile, new landing fees levied on aircraft using the airport would
be imposed from April 1, 2007. That is a six-month delay from the original
schedule.
AOT said it was postponing the new fee to attract airlines to Suvarnabhumi.
The new landing fee is a 15-per-cent increase on that charged at Don Muang
airport.
Only a week ago Airports of Thailand PCL (AOT),
Thailand's main airport operator, said on Wednesday its third-quarter
net profit jumped 171 percent, topping analyst forecasts. AOT said in
a statement it made a net profit of 2.1 billion baht (US$56.18
million). A 40% increase in the international departure tax would appear a
little excessive in the circumstances.
Suvarnabhumi
Airport - Bangkok's new airport
