New Airport -article

[cojones]

Posted: 16 November 2004 0921 hrs

Terminal tussles: Threat of the new Bangkok airport

By Tor Ching Li, TODAY

BANGKOK : While the fight for flights among airline companies - with or without frills - continues unabated in the air, competition on the airport tarmac is no less intense.

Since 1998, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Seoul have all opened new international airports, spending $24 billion in all.

On Sep 29 next year, Bangkok is slated to unveil yet another threat to Singapore's Changi Airport with the New Bangkok International Airport (NBIA) - a project 44 years in the making, 10 times the size of the current Don Muang Airport, boasting an initial capacity of 45 million passengers a year and 3.3 million tonnes of cargo, with a whopping budget of US$4 billion ($6.6 billion).

These specifications will put the Suvarnabhumi Airport - "Golden Land" in Thai - one notch ahead of Changi Airport in terms of capacity and nearly three times larger in total land area.

Indeed, at Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's most recent meeting with Singapore Airlines and its unions, Mr Lee cited Bangkok's and Dubai's new airports as up and coming threats to Singapore's air hub status.

"Looking back 10 years ago, Thailand was nowhere as strong competition as it is today," he said.

At 563,000 sq m, the NBIA's passenger terminal will also be the world's largest building, with a 132m high control tower, designed to be the tallest in the world. Changi's trademark tower stands at 80m.

Said Mr Saksit Suksumek, director of policy and planning at NBIA Company, the airport developer: "The aim of the airport is - to be the nation's premier gateway and the region's aviation hub."

Already, Bangkok has the world's 17th largest airport by passenger traffic and the second largest in Asia behind Tokyo's Haneda airport, with around 35.3 million in passenger traffic over 12 months ending July - a surge of 19 per cent from the same period last year.

The same report by the Airports Council International ranks Singapore 27th largest in the world and fifth in Asia, with some 29 million passengers marking a growth of 15.5 per cent year-on-year - though the Transport Ministry projects this will reach a record 30.2 million passengers this year and 1.74 million tonnes of cargo.

Changi is ahead of Bangkok in terms of cargo, ranking fourth in Asia as of July - but Bangkok, ranked seventh, is growing at a nearly similar rate of 11 per cent.

Commented OCBC Investment research manager Rohan Suppiah: "With no real difference in distance between stopping at Singapore or Bangkok, especially on long-haul flights, where airlines and passengers decide to stop over will depend on the infrastructure of the airport and its network of interconnecting flights. The attractiveness of the stopover country itself as a tourist destination is also a factor."

Faced with keen competition along the "Kangaroo Route" between the United Kingdom and Australia, Singapore has its own plans: Changi's Terminal One and Two are undergoing a $500-million makeover, with a third $1.5-billion terminal in the works. Upon completion in 2008, Terminal Three will add a capacity of 20 million passengers a year, bringing the airport's total capacity to 64 million.

Cost is a key consideration to maintain Changi's air hub status.In this respect, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore's (CAAS) decision to build a 25,000 sq m low-cost terminal by mid-2006 to cater to budget airlines as well as full-service carriers is a step in the right direction.

The CAAS is also drawing on a $210m Air Hub Development Fund to give airlines a 15 per cent discount on airport charges till the end of next year. In contrast, the Airports of Thailand organisation has proposed a 20 per cent hike on fees at Bangkok airport.

And while work on Changi's Terminal Three is progressing on schedule, there are doubts that Bangkok's airport will make its Sep 29 deadline, despite Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's assurance.

As Mr Lee said at a meeting with the SIA unions: "Thailand has problems to resolve. By the time they resolve this, we should be further up."

But Mr Gabriel Yap, senior vice president of Kim Eng Securities, said "over time, the NBIA will do very well too. Like businesses, airports take time to establish themselves."

In the meantime, a stall within the Don Muang terminal set up to display a model of the Suvarnabhumi airport lies vacant and dusty. A sign reads: "Under Construction". - TODAY

[lukamar]

I flew into Seoul Ichion just after it was finished and the only carrier was Korean Air. That airport is just great. Then i flew to Bangkok and it's like going to the third world. The new airport will be a very needed asset to Thailand and will show the rest of Asia that Thailand is in the running not only in Aviation but other areas as well.

There are more things that the AOT needs to do as well like extend the CM runway or better yet move the CM airport altogether. If it finishes on time or not it will be well worth the wait and the expenditure of money.

[cojones]

[ 10 times the size of the current Don Muang Airport, boasting an initial capacity of 45 million passengers a year and 3.3 million tonnes of cargo, with a whopping budget of US$4 billion ($6.6 billion).

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i wonder how the local roads/infrastructure are going to cope with the increase in cargo /pax ?

scary !!

[astral]

But only one runway to start with!!

A major blunder.

[honeyen]

All I'm worried about is how the traffic around that area (Bangna-Trad Road) is going to be like

[lukamar]

Infosite....

http://www.bangkokairport.org/demo/en/index.htm

Possibly they have revised their needs but the plan is for Two parallel runways (4,000 and 3,700 m. respectively, and 60 m. wide) with 2.2 km. separation. Two parallel taxiways to accommodate simultaneous departures and arrivals. Final Phase: 4 parallel runways, 2 on each side.

Any viable hub needs at least 2 runways so i hope they install both..