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Suvarnabhumi Archive for October, 2007


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1 Year of the Bangkok’s new international airport Suvarnabhumi near capacity

Wednesday, October 17th, 2007

Official figures released yesterday confirm that Suvarnabhumi Airport is closing in on its designed capacity just one year after it opened.

Total passenger movements through Bangkok’s new international airport reached 41.8 million from October 2006 to September 2007, or 92.88% of its 45million passenger a year capacity.

The 155 Billion Baht airport handled 267,480 aircraft movements, including both takeoffs and landings, according to Airports of Thailand Plc (AOT), the majority state-owned company that operates the country’s six major airports.

Cargo shipments through Suvarnabhumi hit 1.23 million tonnes, representing 41% of the airport’s annual capacity of three million tonnes.

The figures confirmed earlier projections that the airport would reach full capacity only two or three years after its inception.

The crowding has already prompted speculation that Airports of Thailand may shift some international traffic to the old Don Muang airport, which has served some non-connecting domestic flights since last March.

Serirat Prasutanond, the general manager of Suvarnabhumi airport, said passenger volume through the airport was likely to reach 44.5 million in its second year of operations in 2008, thus putting more strain on the facility.

Airports of Thailand is considering whether to proceed with the original master plan for expanding Suvarnabhumi with help from the International Civil Aviation Organisation, which is undertaking a study.

Mr Serirat said the Airports of Thailand would likely submit recommendations on how to relieve congestion at Suvarnabhumi for the Transport Ministry in the near future.

The 93-year-old Don Muang airport has processed 3.17 million passengers from March to the end of September.

In other words, about 40% of domestic flights where shifted to Don Muang airport.

Airports of Thailand figures show that Suvarnabhumi handled 32.60 million international passengers in its first year, an increase of 4.85% from the number that passed through Don Muang last year. It also handed 191,278 international aircraft movements, up 5.01%. Suvarnabhumi handled 9.23 million domestic passengers and 76,202 aircraft movements.  (Boonsong/Bkk Post )



New Airports of Thailand chief promoted

Sunday, October 7th, 2007

The new Airports of Thailand (AOT) president is being offered lower pay than his predecessor and will have some tough goals to meet, including making Suvarnabhumi one of the world’s top 10 airports in six months. According to an Airports of Thailand source, Airports of Thailand’s remuneration committee discussed a package with Chana Yusathaporn for over an hour on Tuesday.

The panel offered a monthly salary of 550,000 baht to Air Marshal Chana, who was promoted on Oct 1, 2007 and is now deputy commander of the air combat command.

However, his salary after taxes would be 385,000 baht.

By comparison, the salary of previous Airports of Thailand president Chotisak Asapaviriya was 700,000 baht, or 490,000 baht after a 30% income tax deduction.

Apart from the salary, Airports of Thailand proposes AM Chana have a monthly entertainment allowance of 20,000 baht and a phone use allowance of 5,000 baht a month.

The Airports of Thailand will also prohibit him from hiring an adviser because Mr Chotisak hired many advisers during his term, giving them very generous pay.

AM Chana was selected the new Airports of Thailand president after beating other candidates in an open application contest last week. He was promoted to air marshal at the beginning of the month.

Seen as the toughest challenge for the new Airports of Thailand president is making Suvarnabhumi one of the world’s top ten airports within six months. How well he fulfils that condition will go towards his evaluation.

The source said it would be an uphill task pushing Suvarnabhumi up the world airport rankings in such a short time.

The Airports of Thailand board will meet and expected to iron out conditions to be set out in AM Chana’s contract. The board may have to decide if it still requires the new president to realise the airport’s top ranking ambition.

If talks with AM Chana over the contract fail, Airports of Thailand may have to invite the runner-up candidate, Paolo Hospital executive Chanin Yensudjai, for negotiations over the top post.

Airports of Thailand board member Chirmsak Pinthong, who is on the Airports of Thailand remuneration committee, said yesterday the package for AM Chana was still negotiable.

If AM Chana agreed to sign the contract, his committee would seek approval from the Airports of Thailand board of directors and the Finance Ministry, the major shareholder of Airports of Thailand, to sign a contract with him.

Today, the Airports of Thailand board will also be informed of the Airports of Thailand’s negotiations with the Loxley-ICTS consortium where Airports of Thailand wants to shorten the contractor’s airport security service contract at Suvarnabhumi from 10 to three years.



Airlines praise Suvarnabhumi airport

Thursday, October 4th, 2007

National and international airlines have praised an overall improved service at Suvarnabhumi airport which will mark its first anniversary on Sep 28, 2007, airport director Serirat Prasutanond said Thursday.

He said a number of airline managers have lauded the continuous improvement of service at Suvarnbhumi airport, adding that airport officials had followed up on arising problems and worked out solutions accordingly.

One of the positive changes is a permission for licensed taxis to offer service on the second floor of the passenger terminal, starting Oct. 1 to solve the problem of unauthorized taxis touting for passengers, Serirat said.

The ongoing improvement of the airport includes additional restrooms in October and more check-in counters for passengers soon.

Serirat said the CTX luggage scanner system has been fully operated after some technical problems earlier.

On the noise pollution which has triggered dissatisfaction among residents near the airport, Serirat said negotiations with affected homeowners would help find solutions that satisfy both sides.

The Airports of Thailand (AoT) will pay a combined compensation of 170 million baht to affected residents on Friday.

Asked about an extension of space for airline offices at Suvarnabhumi, the airport director said the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) would be in charge of drawing out an initial plan.

The ICAO will also conduct a feasibility study to determine if Don Mueang airport should be operated in compatible with Suvarnabhumi airport. All issues will be finalized in October, he said.



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