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Suvarnabhumi » International Pilots & Airlines reassure confidence for the new Bangkok airport, Suvarnabhumi

Sunday, July 20th, 2008

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Airline managers and pilots who operate flights through Bangkok’s new airport have spoken out to reassure the public in response to serious doubts that have arisen over the safety of the 125-billion-baht airport.

They said persistent allegations, particularly from Bannawit Kengrian, chairman of the National Legislative Assembly’s committee on Suvarnabhumi airport, were groundless and had been forwarded by uninformed individuals.

About 90 international airlines that operate more than 800 flights carrying around 120,000 passengers each day through the airport. They have reportedly never questioned the airport’s safety. But critics have seeded doubt in the public mind over landing and takeoff safety issues.

Thai Airways International, Japan Airlines International (JAL) and Bangkok Airways have all expressed a vote of confidence over the safety of Suvarnabhumi.

”We are confident about airport safety, and I am speaking from the perspective of a veteran pilot,” said Thai Airways president Apinan Sumanasen, who has been piloting commercial aircraft since 1972.

”From what I have seen so far, there is nothing to worry about (in the airport), although there are problems of passenger inconvenience such as crowded check-in areas and the long walk to boarding gates,” he said.

He ruled out scenarios such as the chance of the runway suddenly collapsing at the touchdown of an aircraft, as some people had suggested.

”That is impossible. The problems are ruts on the surfaces of the runways and taxiways, while the underground structure remains okay,” he explained.

He added that no THAI pilot had ever filed a report about potential dangers of using the runways and taxiways.

Seiichi Iwasaki, JAL’s Southeast Asian regional manager, also dispelled concerns about Suvarnabhumi’s safety.

”We have no worries. Our pilots have confirmed that it is all right to operate through Suvarnabhumi”. JAL’s Southeast Asian regional manager added.

The Japanese airline manager said the cracks at Suvarnabhumi were not unusual. ”Big airports in Japan such as Kansai (Osaka) and Haneda (Tokyo) also have similar problems” the Bangkok-based executive noted.

He said that JAL, which operates five daily flights to Japan with a combined seating capacity of 1,610 passengers, had its own experts conduct a safety check of the airport and found everything up to scratch.

”We have never been concerned about the safety of Suvarnabhumi” added Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth, senior executive vice-president of Bangkok Airways.

”In the aviation industry, we never compromise on safety. If there were any doubts from the agencies concerned, they would not hesitate to tell us” said Mr Puttipong, who has been a pilot since 1992.

”I think the doubts, which came from people who are not knowledgeable, should be put to rest now,” he said, adding that the public should stop paying attention to those kinds of comments and start listening to more authoritative sources.

New Bangkok Airport Exaggerated Crack Photo

He was referring to an airport investigating team led by engineer Tortrakul Yomnak, which recently concluded that damages caused by underground water seepage were not that serious and could be repaired in two weeks to one month.

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