Suvarnabhumi readies for holiday rush

BANGKOK, 17 December 2012: Suvarnabhumi Airport is gearing up to handle a surge in airline traffic that is likely to test the airport’s passenger handling capacity to the hilt over the New Year.

Airport’s general manager, Vilaiwan Nadvilai, told TTR Weekly that Suvarnabhumi Airport was ready to cater to a massive influx of passengers during the Christmas-New Year holiday period with beefed up security measures.

It will be a serious test for the relocated security checks that are now on platforms one floor above immigration. So far, they have improved passenger flow to the air-side of the terminal. Previously, the checks were carried out after immigration in areas that were originally designed as walkways to the main concourse.

During the New Year holiday week passengers will increase to 1.88 million or about 156,000 passengers a day (daily average 130,000). Aircraft movement will rise from 750 to 800 a day mainly due to additional regional charter flights from China, Russia, Korea and Japan, she reported.

“It could lead to take-off delays because we are operating close to capacity, but not to the level we had to cope with when the runways were being repaired.”

Security-wise, there will be more patrols and stricter security checks. Airport staff will also assist airlines during check-in, at the security screening and immigration checkpoints to speed up the flow.

Ms Vilaiwan also said the immigration bureau had promised to fully man all counters both in departure and arrival areas.

In the past that has been a sore point between airport and the bureau, with the latter complaining it had insufficient budget to employ enough officers for all the checkpoint booths.

Thai travellers can use the automated checkpoints that are much quicker than manual checks. The machines read the passport and confirm identity via a fingerprint scanner and photo imaging. It takes around five seconds to pass through, once the passenger is familiar with the procedure.

During New Year, the security checkpoints for domestic flights behind the check-in Row C will be relocated to Concourse A and B on the  third floor to give more space. The airline ticketing counters in the departure hall will also be relocated to space on the mezzanine floor above the departure hall.

By the end of this year Ms Vilaiwan said passenger traffic should grow 10% to 12%. At the end of October Suvarnabhumi Airport received 44,341,463 passengers or an increase of 10.83%. Aircraft movement stood at 267,246 or 9.65% increase.

The airport has been plagued by congestion at all levels. Aircraft take-off delays and long queues at ever checkpoint beginning with airline check-in counters where it has been taking up to two hours to clear during early morning and late evening peak hours.

The only bright spot was the opening of the security checkpoints on raised platforms that were previously located after immigration.

Signs in the airport have been improved in the concourse making it easier for passengers to locate the gates.

But the airport’s restaurants and fast food outlets are still  too expensive. A cup of coffee is triple or fourfold the cost of the identical brand served in a downtown up-scale shopping mall.

Restaurants at the airport claim they need to charge premium prices due to the substantial fees they need to pay AoT and the cost of space rentals.

However, despite the high real estate value of prime shopping malls such as Siam Paragon, in downtown Bangkok, a cup of coffee is served at a fraction of what it costs in the identical  outlet at the airport.

Sourced: ttrweekly