Still huge delays at departure ?

[geisha]

Hi, has anyone been to Suvarnabhumi lately ? I’ve been warned that the delays after check in are terrible ?
Im flying with  Singapore Airlines  to Singapore  with the 12.15 flight on Sunday 2nd of April.  I was counting on checking in baggage at 9.15 am which is 3 hours before. A passenger told me that there were signs up saying for departures to be there 4 hrs before ???? Has passport control and security become that bad ??
Thanks for any feed back. I find this ridiculous.

[Ralf001]

Sound like it has reverted back to pre-covid times............... is that not what was wanted ?

[Haveasay]

It will depend on departures at peak times. I departed last Wednesday night delay was minimal, but there are more airlines using Suvarnabhumi. Not so many per carrier, but I saw air Asia flights. Meaning Don Muang must be busy with many local and international flights as well. May not be long before new terminal at Suvarnabhumi begins. I sat next to a guy on the bus from Pattaya who gave himself 3 hours till departure and probably missed his flight. Probably still not enough IO but they are allocating staff to 4 checkpoints. Jomtein to Suvarnabhumi is busy and had put a half hourly bus on when I left, and on arrival they were doing every 20 minutes. Good buses these days to previous when to air con stopped or ineffective 10 minutes into trip.

[Carmine6]

I left at midnight last Tuesday night/Wednesday morning and the security and immigration lines were the longest I've ever seen. The entire security screening cue area upstairs was full.  Then downstairs, both sides in immigration for foreign passports were full, and they had the lines for Thai passports going under the stairs in the center.  Those were fairly short.

 

But both areas kept moving fairly well.  Seemed to keep up with the people coming in.  I arrived early and got through in about 1 1/2 hours including the time had I gone straight to the gate.

 

They started check in 3 hours ahead of the departure time and I was near the front of that line since I had arrived over 3 1/2 hours before departure.   Based on time data on pictures I took of my boarding passes  and after getting into the airside area right after immigration, it took under 45 minutes to get through after getting my boarding pass.  So a bit over an hour total from my starting point at check in.  I had done online/mobile check in, which was a much shorter line.

 

If I had arrived later, probably would have gotten through in under 2 hours.  Though would have been stressful given there is also the distance to the gate.  

 

I did see several people running to their planes, which I don't recall seeing before.  One group heard final boarding for their flight and had to literally run instead of just hurrying.

[KhunBENQ]

No personal experience but the above report is in line with what you find on the net. I even avoided a domestic flight and after years did 570 km on the road by car.

 

A well known Pattaya figure uploaded a video with his observations at Suvarnabhumi two days ago.

New security screening system with too few devices and staff. Seems to be terrible. Not even half of immigration passport checks open etc.pp.

 

Edited March 23, 2023 by KhunBENQ

[samtam]

What are recent experiences of check in time before departure at Suvarnabhumi for an international flight?

 

Emirates are recommending arrival at check-in 3 hours before departure. I normally travel Business, but am travelling Economy, so will not have a quick check in experience or "Fast Track" at Immigration.

 

Flight is 14.05 on Sunday 3 September.

[samtam]

2 hours ago, samtam said:

What are recent experiences of check in time before departure at Suvarnabhumi for an international flight?

 

Emirates are recommending arrival at check-in 3 hours before departure. I normally travel Business, but am travelling Economy, so will not have a quick check in experience or "Fast Track" at Immigration.

 

Flight is 14.05 on Sunday 3 September.

Just seen this on X, so I guess it's still bad:

https://twitter.com/KhaosodEnglish/status/1695657515495944479?s=20

[Danderman123]

15 minutes wait time earlier this week (leaving Thailand).

 

Incoming wait is negligible.

[merijn]

Departed on Sunday 10 December 09:00 and the queue's where the longest I ever saw.

The queue before the escalator to security was about 25 meter and at security it was completely packed.

The queue for the immigration hall started straight after the security counter with a queue snake all the way to the escalator down.

They blocked the escalator to the immigration hall at a regular basis to avoid overloading the immigration hall which was also packed.

But i have to admit that the queue moved slowly at a regular basis and it took me about 1 h 15 mins from the security escalator to passing immigration. 

The immigration officers where working fast but unfortunately they removed several immigration booths to make space for the automatic immigration booths which should be used for the new automated immigration system for visa exempt people.

[treetops]

It was a Thailand holiday weekend.  Lots of staff on holiday perhaps?

 

The new booths are not only for visa exempt people from what I've read.

[merijn]

On 12/15/2023 at 6:04 PM, treetops said:

It was a Thailand holiday weekend.  Lots of staff on holiday perhaps?

 

The new booths are not only for visa exempt people from what I've read.

All security lanes and immigration desk where open, but was just the shear amunt of international departing people.

[still kicking]

I departed about 3 weeks ago and had no problems because I used the fast lane 

[josephbloggs]

24 minutes ago, still kicking said:

I departed about 3 weeks ago and had no problems because I used the fast lane 

Very helpful.

[still kicking]

15 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

Very helpful.

Yes considering my Thai wife is not old at all 

[still kicking]

37 minutes ago, still kicking said:

 

Fast lane is for people over 70 or disabled or pay more I guess.

[mstevens]

On 3/19/2023 at 7:45 PM, geisha said:

A passenger told me that there were signs up saying for departures to be there 4 hrs before ???? Has passport control and security become that bad ??
Thanks for any feed back. I find this ridiculous.

 

Just one thing to consider: Some airlines may not allow you to check in more than 3 hours before departure. A few months back I flew out on Cathay Pacific and tried to check in 3.5+ hours before departure and they told me to come back later as they only open for check in 3 hours before scheduled departure.

[Danderman123]

The new E-Gates have really sped up the process.