Airport capacity at Suvarnabhumi to increase with new terminal and tech upgrades

[webfact]

 

Influential airport operator, Airports of Thailand (AoT), is set to inaugurate a new satellite passenger terminal at the famed Suvarnabhumi Airport come this September.

 

This addition is expected to bolster the airport’s passenger handling capacity significantly, managing an impressive 15 million extra passengers annually, which effectively raises the total capacity to a staggering 60 million per annum, revealed AoT’s president.

 

The soon-to-be-launched, massive terminal – reported to cover an area of over 216,000 square metres boasts 28 contact gates and a playful zone exclusively for children. The only remaining responsibility is to undergo the installation of seating equipped with USB power outlets – a noteworthy modern convenience for today’s tech-savvy traveller.

 

Astonishingly, the airport has witnessed an exceptionally high surge in passenger footfall – the figures skyrocketing by 230.8%. This increase in numbers, observed from October through May, is in comparison to the count from the identical monthly span the previous year.

 

Contextualising the numbers reveals over 31.6 million passengers, with international visitors making for over 74% of this figure. The daily count hovers around somewhere between 140,000 and 150,000 passengers, as stated by the airport.

 

by Alex Morgan

Photo Courtesy of Arina Sofiah, humanresourcesonline.net

 

#news

Full story: https://thethaiger.com/news/business/suvarnabhumi-airport-to-boost-capacity-with-new-terminal-and-tech-upgrades

 

-- © Copyright Thaiger 2023-07-03

 

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[bubba]

So will these additional 15 million passengers annually arriving at the 28 new gates be dumped into the same immigration arrival area as the already overflowing one?

[Skipalongcassidy]

Oh... whoops... we didn't coordinate this with Immigration... that's their problem not ours.

[Chelseafan]

Astonishingly, the airport has witnessed an exceptionally high surge in passenger footfall – the figures skyrocketing by 230.8%. This increase in numbers, observed from October through May, is in comparison to the count from the identical monthly span the previous year.

 

I don't think ANYONE's astonished given that Covid was still prevalent. In fact, I would say the figures are dissapointing given they had 65m passengers in 2019.

 

 

Edited July 2, 2023 by Chelseafan

[ezzra]

If you ask me, the airport is already too big to reach from some gates to immigration and luggage collecting areas, they are not taking into considerations that many of the passengers will have difficulties in walking such distances.

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

This addition is expected to bolster the airport’s passenger handling capacity significantly, managing an impressive 15 million extra passengers annually, which effectively raises the total capacity to a staggering 60 million per annum, revealed AoT’s president

And the infrastructure around the terminal to handle these numbers increased proportionally.. roads, trains, buses etc..

thought not.

[Cake Monster]

Just needs   the Immigration Desks to keep pace, which is something they have not been able to do thus far

[khunjeff]

Pretty confusing, as press announcements from AOT usually are.

 

- This isn't a "terminal", it's a satellite passenger concourse. It adds two dozen gates, but no additional capacity for check-in, immigration, security, or baggage handling.

 

- I don't understand how this concourse can increase passenger capacity at BKK. Right now, flight numbers are limited by runway capacity, and passenger numbers primarily by the capacity of immigration, security, and baggage systems. The number of gates hasn't been a limiting factor, since bus gates are always available.

 

- Even if the new structure somehow increases passenger capacity to the "staggering" 60 million promised, that's still BELOW the number of flyers that passed through the airport annually in the years just before covid.

[khunjeff]

1 hour ago, ezzra said:

If you ask me, the airport is already too big to reach from some gates to immigration and luggage collecting areas, they are not taking into considerations that many of the passengers will have difficulties in walking such distances.

The new satellite is connected to the main terminal by an automated people mover (shuttle train) that terminates next to immigration, so actually the new gates will probably require less walking than the current distant ones at the ends of the E, F, and G concourses.

[Srikcir]

3 hours ago, ezzra said:

If you ask me, the airport is already too big to reach from some gates to immigration and luggage collecting areas, they are not taking into considerations that many of the passengers will have difficulties in walking such distances.

When the third runway is completed in 2024 the airport will receive 94 flights per hour from the current 68 flights per hour. (ref. 2/03/2023; www.nationthailand.com)

That's 34 flights more per hour than provided by the recent airport upgrades. Then what?

Edited July 3, 2023 by Srikcir
Edit

[Caldera]

It would be hard to find any news article - on any subject - that contains more terms of hyperbole. Great for a morning chuckle though. 

 

[Chelseafan]

4 hours ago, ezzra said:

If you ask me, the airport is already too big to reach from some gates to immigration and luggage collecting areas, they are not taking into considerations that many of the passengers will have difficulties in walking such distances.

 

True, but you can say the same about most large airports, O'Hare, Heathrow etc.

BKK does at least have moving walkways.

 

[bignok]

5 hours ago, ezzra said:

If you ask me, the airport is already too big to reach from some gates to immigration and luggage collecting areas, they are not taking into considerations that many of the passengers will have difficulties in walking such distances.

Singapore is bigger

[cracker1]

I hope  there will be some sort of internal transport to this new terminal as there are now some very long walks (about 1km) from check-in to some boarding gates.