Suvarnabhumi Airport sets sight to become the world's No.1 airport

[mrtoad]

Number One in Bangkok would be a start. The place is a dump considering it is only 6 years old, and the design is significantly inferior to Hong Kong, Changi and KL which were all built before. As for operations, poor service, inadequate facilities, taxi scams, poor language skills of staff, long queues at immigration, bused out to planes etc etc....

Another idiotic statement from an overpaid , incompetent.

[EricBerg]

Number one in what? Number of passengers per year? Tons of cargo? Passenger satisfaction? Efficiency? Still a looooooong way to go to the top.

[baboon]

I have been in far worse airports in my time. To me, Suvarnabhumi is not too bad at all. Is it something to write home about? No, but it is really not this hell on earth some portray it as.

That said, I do miss Don Muang. It just worked, despite it not being the most attractive place on the planet.

[kuiburi]

I mis Don Muang , remember the smell , the red carpets , the dirt , mmmmmmmmm , Then u really knew that u arrived in a third world country .

Swampy is to HiSo for me but I like the fast track tho .and the clean toilets . Something hard to find outside the doors of Swampy

[noitom]

I dont know why so many posters complain about the taxi.

Because they are whinging cantankereous old ba*tards ?

Swampy is neither the best or the worst airport, taxi's and all in region, but still has a long way to go to catch up with the likes of Changi/HK etc

To me one of the key componets thats missing is sincere customer service

When arriving at the Thailand airport, a foreigner instantly gets a brief feeling that they made a mistake to be here. It's the pervasive negative attitude and karma that permeates and fairly reflects the way that Thais feel about foreigners. You always hear a little voice saying "get me outta here." During a stay in Thailand, foreigners will feel that attitude often, and hear that voice again and again.

[noitom]

Whatever happened to the Thai airport official who expected security privileges whe going through the detectors and slapped the security worker in the face? Realizing that he may have paid off the security worker to keep quiet, but that doesn't excuse away the security breach at the Thai airport.

In addition have the Thais cleared up all that rip off news about duty free hustlers and con men? What precautions have the Thais taken to assure that the airport will never be closed down again by a political group:? What is Aiports of Thailand's official statement on the closing and commandeering of the airport by yellow shirts?

[Skywalker69]

Those all-important words - 'number one'

HUBris time.

[wooloomooloo]

You always hear a little voice saying "get me outta here." During a stay in Thailand, foreigners will feel that attitude often, and hear that voice again and again.

I haven't heard any voices recently other than my wife's.

[Jay Sata]

It's going to be number one for the world's most overpriced expensive shopping mall with a long walk to the gates for the passengers

[David Mault]

Oh what a JOKE.

[LuckyLew]

Are they talking about being #1 in passenger number? or #1 in customer satisfaction?

When AEC arrives and SEA opens more I feel Bkk will lose out, they are stuck in the past and prefer to do things over and over again. With a new airport being built in Myanmar I think numbers will drop in Bkk as more people have easier access to a new country to explore. If Myanmar play their cards right they can be the big winner

As for customer satisfaction and customer service ... well Thais are not familiar with those terms and they will probably always lag behind in that territory.

[Tatsujin]

Poor deluded fools.

[hellodolly]

wow 6 years, i must be getting old !

They forgot to mention that they are counting on all other airports to do nothing to improve themselves and maintain the existing terminals like the Thai Government maintains their existing rail system.

[jackr]

Why does it have to be number freakin' one? Who cares <deleted>! How about focusing on the passenger for their comfort and safety... you can start by kicking out all the <deleted> taxi touts!

[jalansanitwong]

....(suvarnabumi) .....so you wonna boom boom airport No 1 if you compare it to Sydney or Charles De gaulle but thats about it.

It does have a unique entertainment element though. Where else can you watch bar hookers kiss their latest farang b/f bon voyage and after he shuffles through immigration

she swings over to the arrivals hall to try and meet a new farang prospect straight of the latest plane.

[FarangTalk]

The only airport in the world I still have to take a bus to and from many flights.

The only airport in the world that I have been subjected to fake officials going through my bags in the arrivals lounge when I was heading out to take a taxi.

It's far more efficient these days than it was when it opened, but they should be aiming for top twenty. Number one is way beyond their means.

Changi is the clear leader by a mile.

[laurentbkk]

you have to admit , a lot of improvements have been done but very far to be No 1 .... I am not talking about the never ending corridor which bring you to the immigration , the long queue at the same immigration , the crazy prices at the duty free , so far the only one I know where you cannot find Marlboro cigarettes , the parking lot , the taxi mafia etc ...etc .... Very far from the standard of Singapore or Seoul and Hong kong. So dream on a bit more ..... that's free of charge

[laurentbkk]

Paris Charles de gaulle wanted to be No 1 also .... but they are so realistic that they stopped to dream about this a long time ago. its one of the worse airport I have seen ..what a shame in the No 1 tourism country in the world....

[FarangTalk]

you have to admit , a lot of improvements have been done but very far to be No 1 .... I am not talking about the never ending corridor which bring you to the immigration , the long queue at the same immigration , the crazy prices at the duty free , so far the only one I know where you cannot find Marlboro cigarettes , the parking lot , the taxi mafia etc ...etc .... Very far from the standard of Singapore or Seoul and Hong kong. So dream on a bit more ..... that's free of charge

There are two large immigration halls.

Last night on arrival at 6pm hall #1 was crowded with people.

I checked then walked past to hall #2 and it was empty. So I was through in minutes at the cost of a slightly longer walk.

Second time in a week I have had the same experience.

That's one of the problems right there. Instead of directing people to the other empty immigration area they will just allow the queue to grow and grow so frustration mounts and one area is much busier than another.

[realfunster]

Even price of water is stupid.

Word of advice to everyone on this point- try Boots pharmacy- they sell water/soft drinks at normal (i.e 7-11) prices !

[ezzra]

This, unlike death and taxes, will never happened...

[trainman34014]

'To be Number One' is the great Thai dream about everything because of their own arrogance in all things. Swampy is a lot better than some airports but as with most things in this country it is poorly managed.

Becoming a 'manager' in this land does not mean actually managing anything; it means everyone on your staff is afraid of you, will never be allowed to ask you a question, or make a suggestion about how to improve anything, while you swan around with one piece of paper in your hand making it look as if you are busy, slapping junior staff around the face if they dare challenge you in any way, spend several days every week away from your supposed workplace while you try to run another business on the side, and generally act like you are some kind of superior being whilst all those who work for you and around you are brainless morons.

All the above i have witnessed in my wife's profession in the world of National Thai health services. Can you imagine that the 'managers' at Swampy are any different ?

[johnlandy]

Dream on!

Suvarnabhumi Airport will never 'in a million years' be #1

Incheon, Ataturk, Dubai are already way ahead of 'swampy' and you can forget Suvarnabhumi ever being mentioned in the same breath as Changi.

Even airlines Thai, etc., will never ever be rated ranked in the same category as SIA.

[pomchop]

^{It seems that every city that builds a new airport thinks it is essential to allow their local architects to do big buck design works and hire all kinds of various consultants etc....it also seems that nearly ALL Of them aspire to be like Changi in Singapore......which of course begs the question why don't they just COPY everything that Singapore Airport has done??}

^{Of course that might mean a loss of face and certainly a loss of money to the local connected bunch....and I am not talking only Thailand as there are certainly MANY airports around the world with the exact same situation.}

^{The genius bunch that built Honolulu airport has many of the baggage claim belts set so that your luggage MIGHT be on carousel one or it MIGHT be on carousel two...so you get to run back and forth between the two trying to spot your luggage...one bag might be on one and one on the other...and the belts of course are not connected. How many millions did some Honolulu team get for that design?}

Edited September 28, 2013 by pomchop

[Cuban]

...only after they redesign the series of elevators, escalators and moving walkways that link the levels together - it feels that the connections were put in place before any thought was given to what is located where.

Navigation trough an airport should be about clear direction not a multilevel maze like a Vulcan Chess set.

[DocN]

...and I want a pony for Christmas....

[phanu]

They could start by pricing gate access for airlines so that I don't have to take a bus from the plane to the terminal mid-day when there are over 10 open gates. Nothing creates a worse image than being stuffed on a crowded bus with hand luggage and taking a tour of the airport rampside.

I stand to be corrected, but you should be blaming the specific airline for this, I believe this is case of the specific airline not wanting to pay for the jet way/gate, nothing to do with the airport, hence you get to ride the bus...

Really ???

I have often this problem... more than 10 times per month.... and I fly only with TG !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dogeatdog]

Having re read all the posts again just now. (Had a few beers when I read last night)

I think we can sum the mood of suwanabumbibibi's international travelers up quite easy.

There not impressed with the experience of arriving or departing from here.

Considering that most international flights for us is normally 9h+ I think it should be better experience for sure.

However considering that their main customers are not international westerners, but mainly chinese then maybe the airport is sufficient for them?

Other main passenger group would appear to be mainly domestic only.

Personally I feel the biggest shame of all is the fact that the government had a clean sheet here "a blank canvas" if you like.

They could have designed anything they wanted here, absolutely anything. They had much reference to gain infomation from around the world looking at the "pros and cons" of all opetations world wide.

For one the airport layout.

2 parallel runways. How many airports utilise this system?? Ans. Many many and what has history shown us here?

Yes its the most efficient layout for maximum taxi off and landings, it gives so much more options than the older war time criss cross layouts or the lone single 2km paved runway.

However lets look around the world now..I find that nearly all commercial international airports operating twin parallel runways all have something in common.

They are nearly all running out of slots available within this system.

I fact most airports have either built or building or planing to build a 3rd lazy runway for more capacity.

Ok suwanaphum is under utilized for now, but its only 6 years old and they now want to now build a 3rd runway just because one runway was compromised for 3 days due to a disabled aircraft.

Did they not research this "con" at the beginning? ?

They (thai government) are so lucky to have the land to build this "new" airport in the first place. Most countries still having to modernise war time airfields to try and make the best out of 80 year old areas.

Following on, a new airport stuck in the middle of nowhere is not unique to the world.

In fact most airports that have been built in the last 30 years are placed way way way outside of the main cities they serve. They have to be built this way for the land space, saftey, noise restrictions etc.....

So its no big supprise you need infractstructure to get you passengers from A to B.

Common methods are either by rail or by road.

Well traffic in bkk is getting worse and worse. That should be no great shock there. So decent rail system and dedicated road/expressway is the only way forward.

Look around the worlds main cities all their airports are served with a rapid rail link to and from.

Why suwanaphum not get its rail link up and running untill nearly 5 years after the opening? History shows that good efficient transportation links is required.

As for the traffic, I will leave the state of the roads for anothet thread.

Lets compare it to lets say Athens.

The Greek government spent millions of euros building new airport some 50 km from the city centre just for the oylimpic games 2004.

It opened new roads which were a complete mess.

The new train extension did not even reach the airport at the time. Infact journey times from airport to the city centre by taxi was getting to be around 1.30 hours..... crazy.

I would say this was a recent event on how NOT to build a new airport that the government here could have learnt from. Athens opened I think in 2003 so plenty of time to address these issues.

Ok on to the terminal layout. 3 storey buliding is the basic minimum here. Arrival, departures and office space.

Make it simple give passengers automatic flow through an airport. The more levels there are the more changes of direction a passenger has to make. This just leads to the passenger having to think and make his/her own decisions. This is not what you want in an airport. You need flow and control over your passengers.

Give them no options for decision on where to go just lead them through then you have a very efficent airport.

Anyone who has been to a main internation hub with 4 terminals, multiple story buildings, inter terminal transport systems will know how many confused passengers there are in thease places. And for the most, these type of airports have a low efficiency level and the most delays.

How many levels are open to public use in suwanaphum? Is it 5?

Again so many models to compare from on not how to do things but none if them used.

Signs in suwanaphum are dreadfull, although much better than in 2006 when it first opened.

A passenger does not need to bombarded with signage. Its too confusing for most.

Yes we here at tv are the international jet set brigade. However I know its hard to beleave but there are still many ppl that have never flown before in the world so the airport should cater for these people to. After all this passenger type give the airport the greatest chance of failiure in efficiency.

So we need big signs outside showing us and taxi drivers which door number to enter the terminal at so passenger can get to the check in counter with minimum travel.

We need big board showing us which counter number we should check in at. And please do not place these boards directly in front of the entrance. This just blocks the door way as people stop to read. Place them a little further inside and either to the left or right.

After check in just need big sign that says departures this way at the end of each checkin row.

Then as passengers enter the departure area tell them if its security 1st or passport 1st. Let the passengers get prepared for the next events.

Once airside its simple. Just want many clocks showing the time. Signs for gateway number with aprrox walking times to gates.

Other signs we need are toilets, lounges and smoking area (if any) all that other <deleted> hanging from ceilings should be ripped down. Too confusing.

Thats why you should have service info counters and trained airport staff looking for passengers with confused looks to help them with there needs.

Arrivals you just need baggage reclaims transtit zone and passport control/visa area. Then after that way out, taxi, buses and train signs. Quite simple.

As for services, people want to drink and snack/eat with a choice both airside and land side.

We all except that it will be more expensive inside airport than outside but please lets not make it robbery. 40thb for a tiny bottle of non brand water??? Wow thats oslo prices.

Last of all people want to be entertained while they wait. Wifi for sure is a must these days but shopping too. Ok apart from cigs perfume and booze most people dont buy, but they like to walk and browse for entertainment it passes the time.

Take a look at changi airport you could quite happily live in that place for a few days and still find something to look at. As a side note. I do like changi's outside areas. Ok its has smoking zones too but it is nice to be outside if you been stuck in the airport all day because of delay etc.

So lets summarize this.

They had unlimited amount of examples on how not to build a new airport and none were taken on board. They had a "clean canvas that they never used a brush on. Instead it would seem that they just threw paint at it.

Its a mess when it opened and its a mess now and after just 6 years they want to change it?????????

Best they just out source the contract of improvements. I understand the Germans seem to be a leader in new airports.

Just on last point for the people who insist the airport is okay. I agree with you the airport is ok if it was 20 years old or it is a modernisation of an older airport. But its not and on that basis as a "new" 6 year old structure it is a disgrace.

[kurnell]

Unfortunately the method for rating the airport can't be easily manipulated (the standard for Thai business)

[rumbo1]

What is it about all expats living in LOS ? Do they have to much spare time because all they ever do is whinge about Thais and Thailand on any forum I look at .If its so bad why not leave ?

As for the airport , no its not perfect but it's a lot better than most uk airports , no it probably will never be number 1 but as far as I'm concerned that's not a bad thing.

I know about the corruption everywhere but it would still be good to find some positive comments for a change !