Suvarnabhumi Airport Runway Crisis Deepens

[webfact]

Runway crisis deepens

Bamrung Amnatcharoenrit,

Watcharapong Thongrung

The Nation

The eastern runway of Suvarnabhumi Airport undergoes repairs. Passengers at the airport have complained of delays.

Sinkholes delay flights; govt, AOT urged to take prompt action to prevent loss of confidence

BANGKOK: -- Executives in the aviation and tourism industries have called on the government and Airports of Thailand (AOT) to work together more closely to maintain Suvarnabhumi Airport's safety standards after two sinkholes were found on the west runway on Thursday night, causing delays.

Sisdivachr Cheewarattanaporn, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents, said the problems at the airport would hurt foreign travellers' confidence if they were not solved.

"The government should have clear measures to take care of the airport and air traffic in cases where unexpected situations arise,'' he said, adding that news of problems at the airport circulates around the world quickly, hurting the country's image.

AOT closed the west runway from 8.30-9.30pm on Thursday night for repairs after two sinkholes were found. One was 60cm wide, 60cm long and 5cm deep. Eleven flights were affected, seven of them Thai Airways International (THAI) flights, which were forced to delay their landings. Four other flights were diverted to U-tapao, Don Mueang and Chiang Mai airports during the closure.

Suvarnabhumi Airport general manager Somchai Sawasdeepon said the sinkholes on the west runway were caused by water leaks. Although they were not in an area that could cause rutting, the airport immediately closed the runway for repairs.

"The west runway was closed for repairs 209 times last year, and has been closed 55 times since the beginning of 2012. The east runway has been closed 66 times. Every shutdown is for a different length of time. Mostly, repairs were needed to existing cracks," Somchai said.

He conceded that the latest incident had delayed flights and damaged the airport's image. However, he pointed out that maintaining safety is more important than preserving the airport's image.

Meanwhile, the east runway is still closed for repairs, which are scheduled to be complete on August 9.

On June 22, the airport's control tower was hit by a power outage, affecting the takeoffs or landings of nearly 50 flights. Suvarnabhumi is also struggling with a passenger load of 51 million passengers a year, compared to its official capacity of 45 million.

Airlines have reported only a marginal impact, and that the problems are largely under control.

Yongyut Lujintanon, sales and marketing manager for Thailand and Myanmar of Cathay Pacific Airways, said only one Cathay flight was affected on Thursday night. The Hong Kong-Colombo flight was on a stopover in Bangkok. The aircraft was required to circle for half an hour before landing. Yongyut said the airline was able to speed up its ground procedures to delay its departure to Colombo by only 20 minutes.

"Fortunately, the problem was minor," he said. However, he urged the agencies involved to keep the airport's operations to a high standard.

AirAsia's public relations department confirmed that about four of its flights were hit between 8 and 9pm. They circled above the airport before landing. Cabin crew communicated with passengers regularly to ensure they understood the situation and the passengers had no problem with it, the firm said.

Woranate Laprabang, managing director of THAI Smile, a business unit of national carrier THAI, said the airport's runway problems are routine if fixed in time. Imagine 100- to 200-tonne aeroplanes taking off and landing continually every day; the runway is sure to sustain damage, Woranate said. At present, runways at international airports in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore are also closed for repairs, the THAI Smile executive said.

He confirmed that THAI Smile's maiden flight to Macau today would proceed. TG750 departs from Suvarnabhumi at 7.45am and arrives in Macau at 11.30am.

-- The Nation 2012-07-07

[Dibbler]

Are we surprised it took 40 years to build Suwannaphum Airport, and now we find out contractors pocketed millions and used substandard materials to build the runway?? With the massive cost blowouts and maintenance issues at Swampy, AoT must be one of the lowest returning infrastructure investments in Asia!

[siampolee]

This is a result of building an airport on a swamp amongst a myriad of other matters..The flooding last year may not have covered the surface at the airport,however the picture underground was indeed a different matter.

I don't think that the designers nor the builders envisaged any problems when the costings were estimated having taken into consideration the measures needed to ensure a 300 ton iron bird hitting the tarmac would be landing and would indeed be in no danger from the runway breaking up.

However enter the, ''commission agents,'' the construction materials budget was severely depleted and public safety greatly endangered due to the endemic corruption that was involved in the construction of the airport.

How long before there is a disaster of epic proportions at this airport ?

We've seen the radar system go down and no back up available, now we see the ongoing breakup and the need for constant ongoing repair of the runways,

We are all well aware of who and what family received the greater part of ,''the commissions,'' Perhaps if the funds which I presume are still held in official trust were released to help finance the current ongoing fiasco at this self claimed leading international airport that would indeed be an exercise in money well spent.

Or do we have to wait until there is a horrendous disaster before the airport is closed to be brought up to international operating standards both in construction and aviation safety standards and its assorted logistics handling systems ?

Edited July 7, 2012 by siampolee

[KKvampire]

It will slowly live up to its "swampy" name as it sinks into the wetlands of eastern Bangkok

[Yunla]

Its obviously not easy with the type of ground and flooding too.

But I suspect that fund mismanagement and corruption by Thaksin is the reason we have these problems in such frequency and severity. Its sort of ironic and also a sad indictment of anti-DP rhetoric, that people are so quick to talk-up the short 'airport seige' by PAD as being a huge blow to the airport functioning as a profitable entity, and the siege's impact on tourist confidence, when in fact the protesters were there for eight days, insignificant compared to all the closure and delays for reparations caused by mismanagement during construction, and PAD were protesting to remove Thaksin's corrupt regime, the very same regime who had robbed money from the construction of the same airport and led to it being an ongoing safety concern years later.

Dangerous runways discourages tourism far worse than eight days peaceful sit-down protest does. It also had over 60 structural faults when it was first opened over a year late, coupled with the flawed runways it doesn't inspire confidence at all.

If it is true that nepotism rather than construction safety-standards determined who Thaksin gave the contracts to, and the money was indeed spent on things other than the airport, then this should be investigated by the current PM, his sister.

Edited July 7, 2012 by Yunla

[Lifer]

If you notice, the agencies responsible,other than the identifying agency, are blaming the problem on exterior problems and not accepting the responsibility for the problem. It was this....it was that......the problems was caused by .........

It doesn't make one comfortable with flying out the that airport. It only takes one plane hitting a sink hole to cause a crash and lives.

It never seems to end here.

Edited July 7, 2012 by Lifer

[mistitikimikis]

When I remember good there showed-up "cracking"-issues even before the airport was in use.............

Well, after planning the project since the sixties...............

[Skywalker69]

Its obviously not easy with the type of ground and flooding too.

But I suspect that fund mismanagement and corruption by Thaksin is the reason we have these problems in such frequency and severity. Its sort of ironic and also a sad indictment of anti-DP rhetoric, that people are so quick to talk-up the short 'airport seige' by PAD as being a huge blow to the airport functioning as a profitable entity, and the siege's impact on tourist confidence, when in fact the protesters were there for eight days, insignificant compared to all the closure and delays for reparations caused by mismanagement during construction, and PAD were protesting to remove Thaksin's corrupt regime, the very same regime who had robbed money from the construction of the same airport and led to it being an ongoing safety concern years later.

Dangerous runways discourages tourism far worse than eight days peaceful sit-down protest does. It also had over 60 structural faults when it was first opened over a year late, coupled with the flawed runways it doesn't inspire confidence at all.

If it is true that nepotism rather than construction safety-standards determined who Thaksin gave the contracts to, and the money was indeed spent on things other than the airport, then this should be investigated by the current PM, his sister.

Agreed. What will happen if "Swampy" looses the standard of an International Airport. Back to DM then?

[belg]

that is what you get when you build an airport on a swamp... i live near it and i can see the damages to houses here also... the ground seem to lower a few cm per year so in some cases, you start to see the fundation of houses (rising), roads that start to crack as the ground is sinking due to the massive weight.... flood plaines it should have been and stayed

[KeyserSoze01]

This is a result of building an airport on a swamp amongst a myriad of other matters..The flooding last year may not have covered the surface at the airport,however the picture underground was indeed a different matter.

I don't think that the designers nor the builders envisaged any problems when the costings were estimated having taken into consideration the measures needed to ensure a 300 ton iron bird hitting the tarmac would be landing and would indeed be in no danger from the runway breaking up.

Can you say, soil liquefaction.

[siampolee]

Soil liquefaction

Splendid term KeyserSoze,

Brings to mind the technical term ''slurry.''

Slurry is what we used to fertilize our farmland many a moon back, most of the slurry then came from our pig pens and cow stalls, here slurry emanates from the politicians and their families.

''Where's there's muck there's money.''

Edited July 7, 2012 by siampolee

[ratcatcher]

IF in a few years Swampy does succumb to sinking and flooding, all is not lost.

With old fashioned technology being used, we might once again see this form of travel on a larger scale.

[siamjimi]

This is a result of building an airport on a swamp amongst a myriad of other matters..The flooding last year may not have covered the surface at the airport,however the picture underground was indeed a different matter.

I don't think that the designers nor the builders envisaged any problems when the costings were estimated having taken into consideration the measures needed to ensure a 300 ton iron bird hitting the tarmac would be landing and would indeed be in no danger from the runway breaking up.

However enter the, ''commission agents,'' the construction materials budget was severely depleted and public safety greatly endangered due to the endemic corruption that was involved in the construction of the airport.

How long before there is a disaster of epic proportions at this airport ?

We've seen the radar system go down and no back up available, now we see the ongoing breakup and the need for constant ongoing repair of the runways,

We are all well aware of who and what family received the greater part of ,''the commissions,'' Perhaps if the funds which I presume are still held in official trust were released to help finance the current ongoing fiasco at this self claimed leading international airport that would indeed be an exercise in money well spent.

Or do we have to wait until there is a horrendous disaster before the airport is closed to be brought up to international operating standards both in construction and aviation safety standards and its assorted logistics handling systems ?

I agree entirely - the contractors used no means to test ground compaction -nor- did they use any methods to improve those conditions in a swamp area. It’s all about circumventing costly construction methods to pocket the money.

They have built an airport on the most unstable of ground conditions - there will be more costly and dangerous events to come.

One simplified example: Look at the design and engineering for a non-complicated roads systems across Thailand - not one level road surface - this is due to poor construction practices and materials that were supposed to be used - but were not - they just bulldoze and cover - without ever considering the compaction or underlying substrate of the soil.

Shame on all the people that were responsible for their part for ensuring the airport was built to established standards - because they did not use much engineering if any to get the job done.

These runways and failures can cause damage if not accidents for the large aircraft and it endangers people’s safety.

Shame on these people for pocketing the money dedicated to ensure the safe construction of this airport.

Now big money is being spent in increments to maintain what was never engineered correctly.

I do not blame the airlines from across the world being worried their aircraft will be damaged every time they land at Swampy Airport.

[laurentbkk]

So much for what was suppose to be THE hub of South east Asia.

[somtumlion]

Surprised that a project built and supervised during the Thaksin I and II government is build in a substandard way. Oh, wait, no I'm not...

[JoePai]

Any chance of a few sink holes being found next Monday afternoon please ? Would like to be diverted to U-tapao

[MEL1]

"Mostly, repairs were needed to existing cracks," Somchai said.

Well that's just the problem isn't it Somchai, 'cracks'.

Fill the cracks, and it's all gone away. Don't bother to even consider what's causing all these cracks!

What do the Thais do? Get a few cheap Burmese, at 100 Baht/Hr, wearing their soft sun blocking hats and wellingtons, throw them a pick axe and a shovel, a bag of sand and cement, tell 'em to fill it in, and paint it grey so it matches the rest. .........

Nostradamus is present in post #2, as he mentioned 'blowouts', unwittingly in another context.

One day an Airbus might just implode on landing as it drops 10ft into the ground upon touchdown. I dread to think.

Thailand is falling apart at the seams, but the authorities just get the sewing machines out and stitch the cover back up, albeit overlocked.

We can all see the possibilities ahead, and I can only hope we all pray that a disaster doesn't happen before enough is revealed to show that the runways need to be rebuilt, one by one, and by professionals and not people who wouldn't know an airpocket if it slapped them in the face!

-mel.

[cigar7]

Here is what can happen when the apron can't accommodate the load

EvaAir.doc

Edited July 7, 2012 by cigar7

[ratcatcher]

"Mostly, repairs were needed to existing cracks," Somchai said.

Well that's just the problem isn't it Somchai, 'cracks'.

Fill the cracks, and it's all gone away. Don't bother to even consider what's causing all these cracks!

What do the Thais do? Get a few cheap Burmese, at 100 Baht/Hr, wearing their soft sun blocking hats and wellingtons, throw them a pick axe and a shovel, a bag of sand and cement, tell 'em to fill it in, and paint it grey so it matches the rest. .........

Nostradamus is present in post #2, as he mentioned 'blowouts', unwittingly in another context.

One day an Airbus might just implode on landing as it drops 10ft into the ground upon touchdown. I dread to think.

Thailand is falling apart at the seams, but the authorities just get the sewing machines out and stitch the cover back up, albeit overlocked.

We can all see the possibilities ahead, and I can only hope we all pray that a disaster doesn't happen before enough is revealed to show that the runways need to be rebuilt, one by one, and by professionals and not people who wouldn't know an airpocket if it slapped them in the face!

-mel.

No doubt we will get another "Don't be critical of Thailand' poster on here.

It is hard to argue with the facts you state, when nearly every week/month something major crops up.

It seems Swampy is always in the news.

If the subject wasn't so serious, it would be hilarious.

[grantbkk]

Its obviously not easy with the type of ground and flooding too.

But I suspect that fund mismanagement and corruption by Thaksin is the reason we have these problems in such frequency and severity. Its sort of ironic and also a sad indictment of anti-DP rhetoric, that people are so quick to talk-up the short 'airport seige' by PAD as being a huge blow to the airport functioning as a profitable entity, and the siege's impact on tourist confidence, when in fact the protesters were there for eight days, insignificant compared to all the closure and delays for reparations caused by mismanagement during construction, and PAD were protesting to remove Thaksin's corrupt regime, the very same regime who had robbed money from the construction of the same airport and led to it being an ongoing safety concern years later.

Dangerous runways discourages tourism far worse than eight days peaceful sit-down protest does. It also had over 60 structural faults when it was first opened over a year late, coupled with the flawed runways it doesn't inspire confidence at all.

If it is true that nepotism rather than construction safety-standards determined who Thaksin gave the contracts to, and the money was indeed spent on things other than the airport, then this should be investigated by the current PM, his sister.

Agreed. What will happen if "Swampy" looses the standard of an International Airport. Back to DM then?

The airport has never been certified except for a six month temporary certificate that was issued be the local aviation ministry for testing back in 2006. The airport, especially the electronics, backups and safety, will never meet international standards and will never receive international certification. The official Thai attitude is if you do not want to use the airport, don't. It is an economic reality for the airlines and everyone is hoping for the best. Everyone just assumes that the airport has proper certification. In reality no one is working towards getting it officially certified.

It is probably time to stop blaming Thaksin and inquire as to why the many subsequent governments did not fix the problems.

[cigar7]

It seems Thais wait until things break, like airport runways with sink holes, instead of testing and doing preventative maintenance. Here is how to test runways, take preventative action, before aircraft are damaged. Could someone forward this to AOT?

RunwayMaintenance.pdf

Edited July 7, 2012 by cigar7

[jalansanitwong]

They say that there are 2 Sydney Opera Houses. One that was actually built and the other that was pilfered bit by bit over the years to renovate site workers and unionists homes.

In Bangkok its likely the condo boom was energized by money taken from the 3 billion dollar Swampy budget. An architect told me the seepage was around 30% of the entire budget.

Successful bidders made up for their loses by ordering crappy concrete and other building materials.

Presumably the flight control computers are state of the art?

[IMA_FARANG]

Everybody knows why it took so long to build Suvarnabhumi....becaue every time that there was av new "government"....really only a mix of the same old political crooks repackaged in a new "party"....the first thing they wanted to so was to start another expensive "fact finding study" of the "question" of building a new airport. Those fact finding studies made a lot of money for many "politicians" over those years.

Suvarnabhumi was eventually designed and built as a giant shopping mall where customers would be FLOWN in and would then leave by ground traffic. The term these customers for the shopping mall/airport were known back then was "tourists".

Suvarnabhumi was designed for the primary purpose of being that giant shopping mall and the airport concept was a secondary consideration.

Suvarnabhumi...also known as Swampy.....was just that before it was built.....a swampy area that had to be drained and filled before they could begin to build the required runways. But landfill and draining weren't glamerous, exciting, and more importantly for the politicos in charge.....didn't provide the financial benefits they recieved for helping to "arrange" things for those who wanted the best space in the giant shopping mall for their shops.

That's precisely what the unglamerous and not-so-profitable business of building, testing, and certifying the runways to international standards was less important than the giant shopping mall in Suvarnabhumi.

And now, it's time to pay the fiddler for the music they all danced to at the party.

A lot of people tried to tell them that, but the party was going on then, and no one wanted to listen to them back then.

Edited July 7, 2012 by IMA_FARANG

[whybother]

Here is what can happen when the apron can't accommodate the load

That was actually a nose wheel collapse.

http://aviation-safety.net/photos/displayphoto.php?id=20040523-I-0&vnr=1&kind=I

[OzMick]

KUL looks better every day and in every way.

[marshall stanley]

It seems Thais wait until things break, like airport runways with sink holes, instead of testing and doing preventative maintenance. Here is how to test runways, take preventative action, before aircraft are damaged. Could someone forward this to AOT?

Preventive maintenance? Are you kidding? That concept has yet to enter the minds in Thailand.

[joecos]

The airport should be closed now, & a team of overseas specialists should be brought in to thoroughly investigate the true extent of the the problem.

If not all the major airlines should boycott the airport .

[SOTIRIOS]

........duh....what do you expect if you build on swampland.............

"....government should have clear measures...."

......how about 'denial'.........then if that doesn't work....'coverup'

[pauljones]

20 years ago, in the Bangkok Post was a story about the overpriced, truckloads of sand being brought in to fill the swamp.

3 years ago, the Bangkok Post reported 3 mafias divided up the airport.

The games continue.

[spindle]

Its obviously not easy with the type of ground and flooding too.

But I suspect that fund mismanagement and corruption by Thaksin is the reason we have these problems in such frequency and severity. Its sort of ironic and also a sad indictment of anti-DP rhetoric, that people are so quick to talk-up the short 'airport seige' by PAD as being a huge blow to the airport functioning as a profitable entity, and the siege's impact on tourist confidence, when in fact the protesters were there for eight days, insignificant compared to all the closure and delays for reparations caused by mismanagement during construction, and PAD were protesting to remove Thaksin's corrupt regime, the very same regime who had robbed money from the construction of the same airport and led to it being an ongoing safety concern years later.

Dangerous runways discourages tourism far worse than eight days peaceful sit-down protest does. It also had over 60 structural faults when it was first opened over a year late, coupled with the flawed runways it doesn't inspire confidence at all.

If it is true that nepotism rather than construction safety-standards determined who Thaksin gave the contracts to, and the money was indeed spent on things other than the airport, then this should be investigated by the current PM, his sister.

Agreed. What will happen if "Swampy" looses the standard of an International Airport. Back to DM then?

The airport has never been certified except for a six month temporary certificate that was issued be the local aviation ministry for testing back in 2006. The airport, especially the electronics, backups and safety, will never meet international standards and will never receive international certification. The official Thai attitude is if you do not want to use the airport, don't. It is an economic reality for the airlines and everyone is hoping for the best. Everyone just assumes that the airport has proper certification. In reality no one is working towards getting it officially certified.

It is probably time to stop blaming Thaksin and inquire as to why the many subsequent governments did not fix the problems.

Explain please. What do you mean by certification? And who is this "local aviation ministry"?

Have you ever heard of ICAO? If I understand correctly you are saying that airlines are operating illegally!

also what do you mean by electronics not meeting international standards/ What electronics exactly?

I'm not sure what you are talking about and i suspect that you don't either.

However I totally agree that the whole airport reflects corruption on a massive scale.