Bags fly faster

BANGKOK  The recently launched Transfer Baggage Terminal (TBT) service at Savarnabhumi International Airport could speed up luggage transfer between flights.
The airport opened the new two-storey TBT building, 1 November, with an area 12,550 square metres. The baggage handling terminal is used exclusively for bags transferring between flights and should reduce the connecting time for passengers.
Airport director, Prapon Pattamakitsakul, said TBT would reduce the baggage transfer time from the current 75 minutes to 60 minutes.
Inside no2“It also helps reduce baggage congestion in the main terminal building, which is dealing with more than 13,000 bags daily.”
Located above the South Airside Tunnel, TBT can transfer 66 bags per minute between flights. All bags will pass through CT scans, In-line Screening, Room and Baggage Inspection Room equipped with explosive detection machines.
The director said the new service could help the airport compete with other global international airports by making connecting flights more convenient for passengers.
However, passengers complain that despite all the improvements to reduce connecting times between flights, airlines are still using buses to transfer passengers between the terminal building and planes rather than using air bridges.
It adds around 10 to 15 minutes to the boarding time for flights and is extremely inconvenient for travellers with small children or for handicapped passengers. In today’s airports, diesel guzzling buses should play just a marginal role in the transfer equation.
Bangkok’s airports have been using bus transfers for 40 odd years despite all the improvements, expansion of terminals and even the opening of a new airport. Airport vehicles cause considerable congestion around the aircraft parking area and could be a security risk.
Suvarnabhumi Airport handled 52 million passengers and about half of them transferred between airport and plane by bus, while flights at Singapore’s Changi Airport are almost exclusively served by air bridges.
This year, the airport will see passenger traffic drop to around 48 to 50 million a decline of 3.8% to 7.7% due to the political instability since late last year. However, it is a boon for passengers who suffered massive queues, inflated prices and poor services.

sourced:ttrweekly.com