Low Cost Airlines And Domestic Flights To Move To Don Mueang Airport

[Nisa]

I very much doubt the AOT planners have done their homework when designing Swamy.

Surely they never heard about Atlanta Hartsfield new airport, opened September 1980: one terminal building, concourses A,B,C and D linked to the terminal by automatic train, 3 parallel runways, good for 55 million passengers/year, ON TIME and ON BUDGET. (no missing toilets neither)

They missed out on the smallish International arrivals/departures area which appeared too small in the first year of operation due to unexpected international airlines deciding commencing direct flights to ATL. Unlike Swampy they corrected their mistake.

Sure it's better/easier to re-open an old airport, TIT isn't.

ATL has become a hub, BKK will miss that objective and stay a smallish regional airport at max 45 million passengers/year capacity

Wasn't phase 2 due to have been completed by now?

No, I believe it was originally scheduled to be completed until 2017 and due to the fast increase of passengers they have pushed it up with a completion goal now of 2016. I think the second phase is only going to add another 20 million passengers but when fully completed there will be 5 runways and be able to handle 150 million passengers.

[Kripe]

Orient Thai fly from DMK from the 27th of June

[Nisa]

Commercial jets average more than 20 years of service. There is no real safety concerns of older aircraft as long as their maintained and they all have a certain safety life expectancy which really isn't related to age but more to do with flight hours and like a car if those miles are for short trips or long hauls.

I doubt there is any increase rate of accident in older commercial planes and would guess if there was a difference it would be more crashes with newer planes since the older plane models have been proven with much more flight time while it is not uncommon for parts or services on entire fleets of newer planes being recalled when a crash determines there was an engineering design flaw.

[Kripe]

Commercial jets average more than 20 years of service. There is no real safety concerns of older aircraft as long as their maintained and they all have a certain safety life expectancy which really isn't related to age but more to do with flight hours and like a car if those miles are for short trips or long hauls.

I doubt there is any increase rate of accident in older commercial planes and would guess if there was a difference it would be more crashes with newer planes since the older plane models have been proven with much more flight time while it is not uncommon for parts or services on entire fleets of newer planes being recalled when a crash determines there was an engineering design flaw.

I agree - and the reason 97% of accidents are caused by human error (mainly pilot and then mechanic error)

Design flaws are corrected before they cause accidents by SB's (Service Bulletins) issued by the manufacture - or if a major safety concern the SB is mandated by an AD issued by the authorities.

Airlines are only required to perform the AD's not the SB's

[ginjag]

Nisa fuel efficiency is the key to newer aircraft-NOT so much their age, although I said Thai were not re-newing like most other national ailines are doing. It is not rally the safety, updated passenger comforts and fuel savings bring in the passengers and profits. + brilliand CEO's

[metisdead]

Some posts of good intentions which drew the topic off topic have been removed as well as the replies.

[harada]

Sounds like a golden oportunity for Air Asia to restart their Singapore to Chiang Mai service, bypass Bangkok alltogether and fly direct to the best part ot Thailand

[h90]

I very much doubt the AOT planners have done their homework when designing Swamy.

Surely they never heard about Atlanta Hartsfield new airport, opened September 1980: one terminal building, concourses A,B,C and D linked to the terminal by automatic train, 3 parallel runways, good for 55 million passengers/year, ON TIME and ON BUDGET. (no missing toilets neither)

They missed out on the smallish International arrivals/departures area which appeared too small in the first year of operation due to unexpected international airlines deciding commencing direct flights to ATL. Unlike Swampy they corrected their mistake.

Sure it's better/easier to re-open an old airport, TIT isn't.

ATL has become a hub, BKK will miss that objective and stay a smallish regional airport at max 45 million passengers/year capacity

With that amount of corruption bigger and trains would have been impossible to finance.

[notmyself]

I very much doubt the AOT planners have done their homework when designing Swamy.

Surely they never heard about Atlanta Hartsfield new airport, opened September 1980: one terminal building, concourses A,B,C and D linked to the terminal by automatic train, 3 parallel runways, good for 55 million passengers/year, ON TIME and ON BUDGET. (no missing toilets neither)

They missed out on the smallish International arrivals/departures area which appeared too small in the first year of operation due to unexpected international airlines deciding commencing direct flights to ATL. Unlike Swampy they corrected their mistake.

Sure it's better/easier to re-open an old airport, TIT isn't.

ATL has become a hub, BKK will miss that objective and stay a smallish regional airport at max 45 million passengers/year capacity

Wasn't phase 2 due to have been completed by now?

No, I believe it was originally scheduled to be completed until 2017 and due to the fast increase of passengers they have pushed it up with a completion goal now of 2016. I think the second phase is only going to add another 20 million passengers but when fully completed there will be 5 runways and be able to handle 150 million passengers.

But that would mean 11 years to finish phase 2 because if memory serves me right, phase 2 was supposed to be started soon after phase 1 was completed.

[Nisa]

I very much doubt the AOT planners have done their homework when designing Swamy.

Surely they never heard about Atlanta Hartsfield new airport, opened September 1980: one terminal building, concourses A,B,C and D linked to the terminal by automatic train, 3 parallel runways, good for 55 million passengers/year, ON TIME and ON BUDGET. (no missing toilets neither)

They missed out on the smallish International arrivals/departures area which appeared too small in the first year of operation due to unexpected international airlines deciding commencing direct flights to ATL. Unlike Swampy they corrected their mistake.

Sure it's better/easier to re-open an old airport, TIT isn't.

ATL has become a hub, BKK will miss that objective and stay a smallish regional airport at max 45 million passengers/year capacity

Wasn't phase 2 due to have been completed by now?

No, I believe it was originally scheduled to be completed until 2017 and due to the fast increase of passengers they have pushed it up with a completion goal now of 2016. I think the second phase is only going to add another 20 million passengers but when fully completed there will be 5 runways and be able to handle 150 million passengers.

But that would mean 11 years to finish phase 2 because if memory serves me right, phase 2 was supposed to be started soon after phase 1 was completed.

Expansion

On 15 December 2011 Airports of Thailand (AOT) announced to speed up the second phase expansion of Suvarnabhumi Airport to 2016, one year ahead of its scheduled completion in 2017. An investment of 62.5 billion baht ($1.95 billion USD/€1.49 billion EURO) is being planned for the second phase, according to Transport Minister Sukampol Suwannathat. The plan is to strengthen Suvarnabhumi Airport’s position as a regional aviation hub. Phase 2 would raise the airport's capacity to 65 million passengers a year and should also be undertaken in parallel with the construction of the new domestic terminal.^[37] Earlier transport Minister ACM Sukampol Suwannathat gave the green light to Airports of Thailand (AoT)'s plan to carry out the expansion of Suvarnabhumi airport with the construction of a new domestic terminal. The new domestic terminal will be capable of handling 20 million passengers a year. Estimated cost is 9.2 billion Baht. The two expansion projects are part of the overall airport enlargement that would see Suvarnabhumi raise its annual passenger handling capacity to 103 million passengers, 73 million international and 30 million domestic passengers by 2024 at an estimated cost of 163 billion baht. The expansion includes the construction of one additional runway from two at the present, subsequent enlargement of domestic and international terminals and improvements to parking bays, car parks and other airport infrastructure.^[38][39]

An expansion plan to increase the passenger capacity of the airport to 60 million by building an additional satellite passenger terminal linked to the current main terminal via an undergroundautomated people mover (APM) system is set to be voted on by the AOT board during a 17 May 2012 meeting. If the plan gains endorsement by the board it will be able to proceed to appointing a project management consultant (PMC) which will bring it one step closer to commencing construction on the much needed expansion. If all goes to plan the expansion is set to be completed in 2018. The expansion also includes a plan to expand the airport parking garage as well as the expansion of the eastern end of the main passenger terminal by 135 meters along with the construction of a new airline office building. The expansion does not include plans to construct a third runway, however. According the Bangkok Post, the new satellite terminal will have a total of 28 gates, with 8 of them being able to service the Airbus A380 superjumbo jet.^[40]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suvarnabhumi_Airport#Expansion

[Kripe]

Expansion

passenger terminal linked to the current main terminal via an undergroundautomated people mover (APM) system is set to be voted on by the AOT board during a 17 May 2012 meeting. If the plan gains endorsement by the board it will be able to proceed to appointing a project management consultant (PMC) which will bring it one step closer to

Unable to find the outcome of the 17th May 2012 meeting

[rheinwiese]

Beside passenger inconveniences with a dual airport policy, what we all forget is the massive amount of freight and cargo transfer required between BKK and DMK.

[rheinwiese]

I very much doubt the AOT planners have done their homework when designing Swamy.

Surely they never heard about Atlanta Hartsfield new airport, opened September 1980: one terminal building, concourses A,B,C and D linked to the terminal by automatic train, 3 parallel runways, good for 55 million passengers/year, ON TIME and ON BUDGET. (no missing toilets neither)

They missed out on the smallish International arrivals/departures area which appeared too small in the first year of operation due to unexpected international airlines deciding commencing direct flights to ATL. Unlike Swampy they corrected their mistake.

Sure it's better/easier to re-open an old airport, TIT isn't.

ATL has become a hub, BKK will miss that objective and stay a smallish regional airport at max 45 million passengers/year capacity

Wasn't phase 2 due to have been completed by now?

http://www.mombergerairport.info/userfiles/files/860DEV.pdf

10. July 2009

THAILAND

The long-awaited expansion of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport has been set in motion now

that Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) has agreed to proceed with the THB 78 billion project.

About THB 33 billion of the estimated project cost would come from loans from the Japan Bank for

International Co-operation (JBIC), which was a major lender for the phase-one project that cost THB 155 billion.

The majority state-owned and SET-listed airport operator’s Board endorsed the Phase 2

development and will soon seek final consent from the Transport Ministry and the Cabinet.

The expansion, which was supposed to have begun shortly after the airport opened in September 2006, would

increase the passenger handling capacity of Thailand’s gateway airport by 33%, to 60 million in the next six years from 45 million currently.

According to Kulya Pakakrong, AoT’s Senior Executive Vice-President, the expansion would deal with the

crowding problem at the airport which is now operating close to its capacity.

The expansion involves building a midfield terminal and a third runway. The industry has warned that Suvarnabhumi was

losing out to rival airports in South-east Asia, namely Singapore-Changi Airport and Kuala Lumpur

International Airport (KLIA), as the region’s preferred air hubs due to its restricted capacity and high

service fees.

“Suvarnabhumi’s traffic is on course with projections for 6.5% annual growth in the near

term, 5.5% in the medium term, and 4% long-term,” said Mrs Kulya.

But according to AoT figures, passenger traffic through Suvarnabhumi grew just 1.94% year-on-year in the first half of 2009 to 21.21

million.

AoT aims to call a tender for the airport expansion work and hopes to be able to start

construction by the end of 2009. Mrs Kulya said AoT had already contracted a consulting company to

conduct an environmental impact study for the expansion project. It will hold public hearings to explain

plans to mitigate noise pollution resulting from the increased air traffic. – AoT has acquired land in the

north-eastern corner of the airport premises to set up an international-standard Airport Business Centre

between 2009 and 2025. #860.3

[notmyself]

Cheers for that. If phase 2 had been started as planned it would be in use now or at least very soon. TiT

[Sturbuc]

So when does the free, every 10 minutes shuttle bus start?

I don't understand why they don't connect the sky-train to both airports (or built a direct line - Luggage-Service might be included then)

Edited June 27, 2012 by Sturbuc

[redrus]

I flew Etihad from Manchester to Bkk last Christmas and, travelled by taxi to DM for a connecting Nok Air flight to CM, it really wasn't an issue. I planned for it, I expected it...! The issues with flooding are a separate matter but, travelling to another airport for an domestic flight is nothing new. I could have got a connection from Suvarnabhumi but, would have had to wait 3 hours for a more expensive flight...., nah...!!!

redrus

[Lakegeneve]

So when does the free, every 10 minutes shuttle bus start?

I don't understand why they don't connect the sky-train to both airports (or built a direct line - Luggage-Service might be included then)

The Skytrain (or BTS as it is more correctly known) doesn't go to either airport!

You might be thinking of the ARL (Airport Rail Link) operated by the SRT subsidiary SRTET. It was always intended to be extended to DMK.

The fact that there is now a 2 airport policy decision will mean that the extension will now be built sooner rather than later. it was going to be done by 2018-2020 but now expect it by 2016/17 even with some delays.

Remember, the ARL didn't open until 4 years (Aug 10) after the BKK airport (Sept 06) opened. That was partially due to the Taksin administration deferring the approval of it by 2 years, and partially due to delays in construction (a combo of land access issues (squatters) issues and delays by the main contractor) and the SRT being disorganised getting it operational on time.

[Lakegeneve]

The ARL is such a success that the trains are wearing out fast and more rolling stock will be ordered, 7 4car trains due in 2014.

The Cityline gets around 42-47K a day and express just bit under 3k a day.

Still loads of improvements to be made by the SRT though, http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/369458-airport-rail-link-again-sorry/page__st__225#entry5495513

[3SoiDogNight]

You all can still take domestic flights from BKK on Thai Airways. I've always found fares on them for less than what Air Asia charges.