Suvarnabhumi Airport

Post by **BKKSTAN** » September 14, 2006, 7:39 am

10,000 taxis instead of 2500 and taxis dropping off passengers will be able to pick up passengers!
Source:Bangkok Post

We will see how long the drop off/pick up lasts.It could get a little congested trying to get dropped off!

Post by **beer monkey** » September 15, 2006, 1:59 am

Bangkok's airport faces nervous start
BBC News

The huge terminal is due to open at the end of September
Anyone travelling to Bangkok from the end of September will find themselves flying not into the dilapidated old airport at Don Muang, but into a brand new, state-of-the art airport situated 25km east of the capital.

Called Suvarnabhumi (Golden Land), the project was held back by frequent changes of government in Thailand, until the election of Thaksin Shinawatra as prime minister five years ago, who made it a personal priority to get the airport built.

Even now Suvarnabhumi is mired in controversy over allegations of corruption during its construction and complaints from the travel industry that Mr Thaksin is forcing it to open before it has been fully tested.

From a distance it shimmers in the heat, a series of huge steel-and-glass hoops and sweeping triangles of fabric glinting with the sun.

Up close, the sheer size of the main airport terminal - the world's biggest single terminal building - takes your breath away.

Designed by the renowned architect Helmut Jahn, with concessions to indigenous Thai motifs that are hard to spot in the uncompromisingly modern design, this is building on a monumental scale, building that is meant to impress.

But will it work? Will it be as good to use as it is to look at?

IATA, the International Air Transport Association, which represents the world's airlines, and therefore Suvarnabhumi's main customers, is not convinced it will be, at least in the first few weeks. Nor is much of Thailand's travel industry.

"We want Suvarnabhumi to be a success," says Albert Tjoeng, from IATA. "But we want it to open only when it is operationally ready - there needs to be more meaningful consultation between the airport and the airlines which will use it."

Complaints by airlines about the cost of using the new airport have forced AOT, the airport authority, to bring down the charges.

But the airlines are far more worried that the airport will not be fully tested by the time it opens on 28 September and that there will be problems handling passengers, baggage and security.

AOT has brushed these concerns aside, bizarrely even accusing the IATA spokesman of trying to favour rival airports in the region. But there is no getting away from the fact that this $4bn project has become embroiled in politics and prestige.

Tourism accounts for 14% of Thailand's GDP, and the new airport will play a vital role in keeping the numbers of visitors growing.

Having missed three other deadlines he set for it to open, Prime Minister Thaksin insisted it must open by 28 September - his critics argue that this is in order to benefit him before a difficult election scheduled for October.

"He wants to open the airport before the election to project an image that he's in charge, that Thailand is going somewhere under his government," says Thitinan Pongsudhirak at Chulalongkorn University.

After the chaotic openings of some other airports in Asia in the past, IATA drew up a check-list for airport developers to follow, which it says enabled Incheon in South Korea and Chubu in Nagoya, Japan, to open smoothly.

The airport is the world's largest single terminal building

The association says it cannot understand why AOT has not followed their example.

But AOT insists there will be no serious problems.

I was taken on a tour by the authority during the final weeks of preparation. Thousands of staff from the old airport, the national airline and volunteers from the army were practising check-ins, security screening, passport control, baggage collection.

The spectacular building gave a tremendous feeling of light and airiness, although it might seem a little cold or intimidating for those used to the quieter and more intimate atmosphere at Bangkok's main rival airport in Singapore.

AOT claims Suvarnabhumi sets a whole series of world records - the largest single terminal building, at 563,000 sq m, the tallest control tower and arguably the longest-delayed opening, 45 years since the project was first mooted.

A series of large-scale works of art have been commissioned to decorate the new building, ranging from impressive murals in the baggage-collection hall to some slightly garish reproductions of Thai mythical figures.

After checking in passengers will be presented with kilometre-long corridors of duty-free shops, although critics say not enough space has been given to retailers, forcing individual Power, the company controversially awarded a monopoly over duty-free outlets, to charge much higher prices.

But facilities should be much better than at the old airport, including a spa and a bowling alley.

Transport to the new airport is another matter.

There are still concerns about transport links to the terminal

A new rail link is not expected to open for at least two years; there is good access from expressways, but Suvarnabhumi is further from Bangkok than the old airport, and there is still some confusion over whether taxis will be allowed to pick passengers up directly from the terminal.

So by 0300 on 28 September, Bangkok's old airport at Don Muang, which has done sterling service accommodating tens of millions of travellers, will have seen off its last commercial flight.

Few will miss its shabby departure and arrival halls.

But there are likely to be plenty of anxious moments for passengers and airline officials during the new airport's first weeks, as they find out whether Suvarnabhumi will live up to its ambition to be one of the world's leading transport hubs.

Post by **JimboPSM** » September 15, 2006, 2:18 am

From The Nation:

Not enough toilets!

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.

Pravit Rojanaphruk

The Nation

If the various reports on the airport are correct, the authorities will have to start making a few modifications pretty quickly, otherwise the airport will very quickly get a reputation as a bit of a joke.

Post by **farang** » September 15, 2006, 2:39 am

[quote]THAI Ready for first flight from Suvarnabhumi

BANGKOK: -- Thai Airways International (THAI) is ready to begin commercial operations at Suvarnabhumi Airport on Friday.

Post by **beer monkey** » September 15, 2006, 3:35 am

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."

sounds like terminal 3 heathrow.

Post by **BKKSTAN** » September 15, 2006, 7:02 am

Wow,They may have committed the biggest tourist ''foulpaw''ever conceived because of arrogance and making ''big'' face!With facilities like this,after one trip,falang tourists,except sexpats,are probably going to be to discouraged to return

No seating,not enough toilets,unbelieveable

They may be able to correct the taxi and luggage problems,but what do they do about toilets and seating?Maybe they can plant some gardens for the Asian men to water,and since the Asian people don't seem to mind sitting on the floor,they could change the airport to be for Asians exclusively

valentine · Post by **valentine** » September 15, 2006, 7:21 am

BKKSTAN wrote::

They may be able to correct the taxi and luggage problems,but what do they do about toilets and seating?Maybe they can plant some gardens for the Asian men to water,and since the Asian people don't seem to mind sitting on the floor,they could change the airport to be for Asians exclusively

You may be right, it would of course fit in perfectly with the new visa policy.

Post by **papaguido** » September 15, 2006, 7:45 am

BKKSTAN wrote: Wow,They may have committed the biggest tourist ''foulpaw''ever conceived because of arrogance and making ''big'' face!With facilities like this,after one trip,falang tourists,except sexpats,are probably going to be to discouraged to return No seating,not enough toilets,unbelieveable

They may be able to correct the taxi and luggage problems,but what do they do about toilets and seating?Maybe they can plant some gardens for the Asian men to water,and since the Asian people don't seem to mind sitting on the floor,they could change the airport to be for Asians exclusively

Porta-Johns

Post by **BKKSTAN** » September 15, 2006, 7:59 am

''Porta-John Airport'',that will bring the customers

Will they still have the female attendants mopping the floor and wiping down the urinal as you shake your ''willy''?Or even worse,as your trying to get it out

Can you imagine male janitors in the women rest room

I have noticed that the women janitors are not ''curious''!The same can not be said for the Thai male at the urinal next to you

Post by **beer monkey** » September 15, 2006, 3:21 pm

ah yes the expressionless face's of the women janitor's, always a welcoming sight when you are busting for a "Johnny Cash". Nahhh.

not enough lavatory's to go round ?
you could always buy one of these.....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4578895.stm .

Post by **BKKSTAN** » September 15, 2006, 3:29 pm

beer monkey wrote:ah yes the expressionless face's of the women janitor's, always a welcoming sight when you are busting for a "Johnny Cash". Nahhh.

not enough lavatory's to go round ?
you could always buy one of these.....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4578895.stm .

BM,you are a gas

I think they should install them in all airport registered taxis

Post by **BKKSTAN** » September 15, 2006, 3:34 pm

I had a dream,nightmare,dream,no nightmare at the computer

I had a vision of vendors, on arrival & departure sidewalks,with rent a toilet in tents that they can pack up and fade away when the gov't mafia comes around to collect their ''fee''

Post by **beer monkey** » September 15, 2006, 3:38 pm

BM,you are a gas . I think they should install them in all airport registered taxis

good idea, lets face it we have all had near misses and had the urgent need to use the toilet after the well trained advanced driving skills of a Bangkok Taxi driver.
still as long as the " Horn" don't stop working we will all be fine.

Post by **beer monkey** » September 15, 2006, 3:49 pm

First Flight touched Down Today.

BANGKOK (XFN-ASIA) - Suvarnabhumi airport opened for business as a Thai Airways International plane carrying 70 passengers touched down, the first commercial flight to land at Bangkok's new international aviation hub.

Employees from flag carrier Thai Airways reported no major glitches as the day got underway, two weeks ahead of the official opening of the airport.

'There were no major disruptions or errors this morning. We've prepared for any emergency,' said Thai Airways president Apinan Sumanaseni.

Thai Airways, along with Australian budget airline Jetstar, began flights today at Suvarnabhumi, the airport the government hopes will help Thailand compete against rivals Malaysia and Singapore to become the region's most important aviation hub.

Suvarnabhumi has been in the works for 40 years but suffered repeated delays due to construction problems and allegations of graft.

The only problem to occur at opening day, however, was a short hold-up at the check-in counters when boarding passes could not be printed, officials said.

Satoshi Yamada, a passenger on the inbound flight from the northern Thai city of Thitsanulok, said the new airport was 'clean' but complained that it took too long to get from the planes to the terminal.

'It takes quite along time because the airport is really big,' he told Agence France-Presse, adding that he also worried about the time it would take to travel from the airport to Bangkok, 25 kilometers away.

The new airport, with initial capacity to serve 45 mln passengers annually, will relieve congestion at the overburdened Don Muang, which now handles about 37 mln passengers, 2 mln over its capacity.

Thai Airways will begin with six daily flights at Suvarnabhumi, while Jetstar will operate six services flights between Bangkok and Singapore.

'Everything (at the new airport) is now ready to serve passengers,' said Mano Sapayanon, director of Thai Airways' ground services support department.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said the government has not forced airlines to start operations at the new airport earlier than the September 28 opening but he encouraged the move as a way to head off congestion on opening day.

Bangkok Airways is expected to begin flights at Suvarnabhumi on September 21.

Airport general manager Somchai Sawasdeepon said the soft opening would help aviation authorities test the new airport systems and ensure a smooth official opening

just hope they all did'nt need to use the toilet at the same time.

Post by **BKKSTAN** » September 15, 2006, 4:10 pm

It goes on and on,management experts stating''we're prepared for any emergency'' and a minor glitch,unable to print out boarding passes!Good thing there were on 70 passengers.They all had seats and could use the toilets !Of course,the earlier flights are designed to test the system

Post by **BKKSTAN** » September 15, 2006, 4:14 pm

All incoming flights should have announcements,''we are within one hour from landing in Bangkok,all passengers should avail themselves of our inflight rest rooms

Post by **arjay** » September 15, 2006, 4:26 pm

Satoshi Yamada, a passenger on the inbound flight from the northern Thai city of Thitsanulok, said the new airport was 'clean' but complained that it took too long to get from the planes to the terminal.

'It takes quite along time because the airport is really big,' he told Agence France-Presse, adding that he also worried about the time it would take to travel from the airport to Bangkok, 25 kilometers away.

I spotted these remarks. So longer to get from planes into terminal building and longer/further to get into Bangkok.

Maybe will have to stay overnight at airport hotel!!

Is there one??

Post by **BKKSTAN** » September 15, 2006, 4:28 pm

arjay wrote:
Satoshi Yamada, a passenger on the inbound flight from the northern Thai city of Thitsanulok, said the new airport was 'clean' but complained that it took too long to get from the planes to the terminal.

'It takes quite along time because the airport is really big,' he told Agence France-Presse, adding that he also worried about the time it would take to travel from the airport to Bangkok, 25 kilometers away.
I spotted these remarks. So longer to get from planes into terminal building and longer/further to get into Bangkok.

Maybe will have to stay overnight at airport hotel!!

Is there one??

Yes,Think it is a Novotel.

Post by **Stevo** » September 15, 2006, 4:57 pm

Post by **arjay** » September 15, 2006, 5:03 pm

Another thought. Does the main route into Bangkok involve tollroads?