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

[tracklayer]

OK my pennies worth.

1 The architects mess at arrivals has caused the stupid escalator/lift problem. Meeting and greeting is a nightmare.It was worse before the present rearrangement. It has changed from stupid to confusing.The signs do now not reflect the restricted access.

2 Car Park floor numbers are not matched to terminal floor numbers. Stupid .

3 Touts in the arrivals meeting area.

4 The departures drop of area is iffy! But that is more down to thai driving than the access.

Immigration seems to have improved even at the expense of the dual floor set up. Again an architectural balls up

It needs some engineers in to sort out the mess ;-)

[Frank James]

Now consider Phuket's Airport. Got to be in the Top Five, World Wide!

[finnomick]

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.

Interesting that you raise the event of being stopped by ' customs officials ' in the arrivals lounge. This has happened to me on the one occasion, and on this occasion I had left buying my duty free allowance until I arrived in Thailand thereby not having to carry it about with me during flight transfers etc. A group of about 10 men who looked as though they may have arrived from India or somewhere similar were also stopped. These ' officials ' were looking for excess duty free items. Interestingly, we had ALL been in Kingpower duty free shop at the airport so one could surmise that there is some kind of link between Kingpower and these ' officials ', bogus or otherwise. After about 14 hours of travel, I wasn't quite in the right frame of mind or I would have insisted they escort me back to the customs area where any or all searches should take place, not the arrivals lounge. Whether or not their actions were legal remains to be answered, but for me it just puts another nail in the coffin about arriving at Swampy.

I think Thailand should forget this ludicrous NUMBER ONE thing, number one away from the traffic lights, number one in any queue forgetting others already waiting etc., etc.

[Blindside]

Changi in Singapore for the win.

+1

HK is pretty good too. The first time I went to the HK airport I did not realise how big it was. Had a map given to us on the plane before we landed. So I knew where I was going, but did not perceive the distance. I paused briefly to look at the map, maybe 5 or 6 seconds. A Chinese gent comes running along in his jacket and tie asking me if he can help. Airport liason type. Guided us to the transit lounge. Amazing service. BKK long way to go to get to that point.

[Beng]

I've been to many airports, BKK has the worst smoking rooms ever seen.

[MarkCyr]

The only way on earth that Suvarnabhumi could get number 1 is if they bribe anybody involved in the voting process. The departure area is congested with high-end retail shops so the airport authority can charge the high rents...then there are a few restaurants --- Burger King, Coffee World...Suvarnabhumi is pretty lame.

In Asia, give me Changi or HK International any day of the week. At least in Asia they would have a chance for the top 3, as most of the other countries (Philippines, Malaysia, Japan) have even more lame airports. But No. 1 in the world, not a chance!

[Mudcrab]

Ladies and Gentlemen, please calm down. it is an airport nothing more nothing less. If you want a cheap shopping mall experience - go to a shopping mall. An airport is a place where you go to get on an aeroplane, nothing more. Its a bus station that has busses that fly. Immigration will do what immigration does in the rest of the world. If multiple aircraft land in a short time frame then you will have to wait your turn given the available resources . Most likely you have just come from a long flight, or about to depart on a long flight and would have been at the airport the international standard 2 hours prior to departure. Lets face it you are going to spend a long time on a plane. Deal with it instead of whining how hard you are done by. It's only a place where you go to to use your preferred method of travel.

[Minpin]

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...

Only partially true. If it was the airline for example every identical flight would be either bus or gate. Where as my flight, same departure city is sometimes gate sometimes bus from same carrier.

The problem mostly is aircraft positioning for the next flight. For example the domestic flight arriving has to fly international next. A major problem with Thai

In a service dominated culture the aircraft would arrive at domestic off load passengers, then they would hook up the tug and move the plane to the international gate. Costs money and time.

It is easier to dump the plane in the parkway and bus arriving and departing passengers thereby inconviencing two groups of passengers.

Not a Swampy problem but if the design had been thought through perhaps this problem could have been foreseen.

Would love to see the original design submitted compared to what we have now.

Did you know it was designed to allow the maximum penetration of daylight.ie the sun. <deleted> this is Thailand. No wonder the staff stay under umberellas inside.

[umbanda]

No way Thailand will have the #1 airport...no way..just because will be plenty of "smart" Thai personnel..And I need to tell this..

In the Songklha airport last seek checking into Departures Room...We had in our hand luggage 2 small and sealed water bottles we bought outside minutes before. We were not allowed to have it on the plane, and they said that will be FREE water on the departure room. Well..FREE water was inside the water fount, a small bottle the same brand we had with us was for sale for 20thb. I do not deal well with not common sense, I come back to complaint and to ask for my water back..They said that only had one..they drank the other. They gave me the other one after opening it saying that I had to drink it before getting on the plane...

[Commander Tamson]

Everyone's allowed to have a dream. Why not Pongsak? AoT?

[Squigy]

Singapore is soooooooooooooooooo boring as an airport.. It's greart to have an airport that try's not to be number one and really who gives a damn about being no 1. The Singapore Govt because that is all they have.

[YeaBiGgiEs]

Its a good start to want to thrive to be better and for excellence and I won't knock Thailand for wanting to do so. They realize they are in it for a long haul and will do their best. Yet they must realize that the image of the airport far exceeds the glamor and shine of their neon blue lights. A first impression can be a tourists last impression and that being the TAXIS and transport.

[kkerry]

The Suvarnabhumi Airport I use regularly must be in a parallel universe going by some of the comments in this and other threads. For anyone who has used it from the start then it's hard to see how anyone cannot notice how it has now mostly got it's act together. The taxi touts hassling everyone and the no meter drivers have virtually disappeared. Taxi drivers are always quick to take my bags to their taxi and stow them for me but then I greet them in a friendly manner rather than treating them like crap the way I've sometimes seen other passengers do. Sure I still get the odd grumpy driver but most are pretty good considering they might be driving 12 hours a day. Taxis themselves, some good, some not so good but that's everywhere in Bangkok, not just the airport so I wouldn't blame the airport if you get a rickety cab unless you want the airport to check every cab in which case there's another 50 baht service fee they will wanting to add on.

Immigration is consistently quicker than it once was and the snake line is a good thing. Any regular airport user should be aware if one arrival hall is full then walking 200 metres to the next hall will probably see you in an almost empty one but why they never direct people to the empty one I've never understood. The other thing I don't get is why immigration staff rarely acknowledge you with even an hello. They were supposed to have customer service training one time but maybe they missed the meet and greet module...

Food and drink prices in almost any airport are higher than downtown. If this really bothers you use the Family Marts for a low budget snack or the food court in the basement.

Air conditioning seems better than it used to and most of the check-in desks for the airlines are pretty efficient. Believe it or not my last few trips through Sydney Airport have been a lot slower than Bangkok. Suva won't be the world's number one airport anytime soon but making it out to be the world's worst airport like some people here seem to suggest only demonstrates you don't travel much imo.

Edited September 28, 2013 by kkerry

[smoochy]

The place is a barn.

[phantomfiddler]

So that is where the 2 Trillion is headed for ! Not enough, as in my humble opinion this has to be the worst modern airport out there. The last time I was there people were sitting on the floor due to totally inadequate seating, and what there was resembled something that had been ripped out of a WW2 Tank !

Number one in Thailand maybe, but the region or the World, no way. To many other airports that no how to operate better.

[dogeatdog]

@kkerry.

I totally agree with pretty much everything you say. It has improved from its early days. I first flew in from hat yai december 2006 air asia.

I was expecting something state of the art and super super efficient, I got a big shock.

However 6 nearly 7 years on it has improved dramatically. I think the real problem is with us westerners who in general hold the country way above its status as a developing country/market so at this level I guess it does not live up to our expectations.

However I here many thai ppl complain about the same things as we do. In general they hate the english spelling of the name and they think the building is ugly.

Anyhow you are correct in what you say and I would add that there are worse airports to fly in and out of including capital cities.

The thread is about AOT setting its sights as No 1 Airport in the future.

Thus really the only posts to read are the ones based upon experience's ppl have had at other airports within asia.

You cant and should not compare LHR for instance with BKK.

Posts just complaining for the sake of it try to ignore. Suwanaphum is not the worst in the region by a long shot. Its good to average.

AOT insistance to make it number 1 has been running since around 2010 and they still have a long way to go.

But as in my other posts they had a blank canvas from the start. They had the chance then to make it no 1 from the begining and failed.

Instead they concentrated on minor triumphs like the worlds tallest ATC tower (freestanding) and the largest open span terminal and the worlds largest maintenance engine run up area....

All these records are no or will be by year end dead and overtaken.

Lets see what the 2nd phase brings in 2016???

N°1 or not, I can think of worse places to be stuck in.

I flew into "LHR termal 5" 3 weeks after it opened. I might as well been arriving in DEL at 3am..... suwanaphum has never been that bad.

[rafish]

Swampy is apiece of crap! Just landing there yesterday and the walk, escalator trip took 15 minutes to get to baggage. Not pretty, not effecient and certainly over rated. World number 1, hardly.

Signage is horrible. Must have been done by Thai's for Thai's. No Chinese, Russian, or German lanugae used in signs for directions. Time to grow up if you want to join the rest of the world.

[ppmacready]

As soon as they bring in western management.

'Bite the bullet' and import polite, smart staff from Fillys.( Especially into the education system)

Thailand could be capable of achieving anything.

Its a shame Thais have to learn EVERYTHING the hard way!

[dogeatdog]

Really guys. Suwanaphum is not number 1 it just says it aspires to be number 1.

Was working in frankfurt about 18 months ago. Had to fly to brussels return.

Yes brussells the home if the EU now that is a crap airport infact it reminds me of suwanaphum in many many ways.

Nearly same lay out upstairs down stairs long long long walks to get to gate. No shops open till 10.30 am, underutilised and controlled by the government.

Thailand I can except this, but the home of the EU???

Then frankfurt airport well what a mess that is. Flight time BRU to FRA 35mins land on the new 3rd runway (3rd runway my arse it might as well be another airport) then i kid you not 20mins taxi time and in to a satalite parking position then bus to gate then 10 min walk to arrivals.

So all in all 35 min flight time and 45mins from landing to baggage reclaim.

Western management my arse they are just as inept as everywhere else. Just that they are better at hidding it.

[RubbaJohnny]

Oh and in case you think I am prejudiced or from the Somalia tourist office etc here's another couple of sorces from the bbc ewebsite.source below or just google swampys scams

Another scam at Bangkok Airport is when the Thai customs meet passengers off airplanes from Dubai/Qatar where there is cheap duty free. The customs tell passengers to put duty free items inside their check-in luggage when they take it off the carousel - or they will be prosecuted for smuggling. They then tell people that it will be OK not to show or declare any duty free items. When the passengers reach the arrivals area, the customs pounce and you are arrested and taken to customs head office at BANG NA and told to pay four times the duty or go straight to jail. There is an ATM machine next door to the customs office. Your goods are kept by the officers and they then pocket the money you have paid them and you are free to go without any criminal record.
Paul Grant, London, UK

Same happened to me in April this year. The police arrested me and charged me approx £400. There were 5 of us in our group, we purchased 1000 cigarettes at Heathrow, but on leaving the plane at Bangkok the police approached me and told me to keep them in one bag. I did as I was told, and that was the set up, so when I got through customs with the other four people they arrested me and would not accept what we told them. They took copies of my passport and made me sign at least six documents, all in Thai. They would not give me copies so at this moment I don't know what I signed. They escorted me to an ATM. I have been in touch with the British consulate who asked me if I want to make a complaint but I don't want to go to another country and find they have done something to my passport. I will never return to Thailand again, it was the scariest time of my life.
Lynn Ward, UK

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8154497.stm

This would on balance for a new expensive facilty with aims to be ahub not just the worst airport in Bangkok.I vote for itas the worst in the world,sure,Teheran and Lilongwe are vile Mackhalachka and Leeds Bradford have their faults but this place is criminal,from the price of parking ,water,wifi and touts who roam unmolested.

[micksterbs]

What, no hubs?

[MyFriend You]

Those all-important words - 'number one'

I am a world treveller, over a million miles in thirty five years - Suvarnabhumi has my Vote only for the Arrival portion..........exiting is another story all together.

Addis Abba, Luanda Angola and Miami USA has my vote for the absolute worst.

[MyFriend You]

^{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?}

I am a Hawaiian resident and fly into Honolulu frequently, there is no substance to your claim as it has never happened to me............yss, long walks to the terminals and not many resturants there, but Aloha spirit abounds in both Int'l and Domsetic sides................

[MyFriend You]

I have to agree with most posters, the taxi situation is a big black mark on the overall airports.

I come off a 19hr international flight and herded out the doors to the taxi stand. First I am blasted with hot humid air. I start to perspire. Now I stand in line sucking in exhaust fumes for 10 minutes. Then the little mafia mama finally accepts me at her desk. No kind words, usually no words at all. I speak my address in Thai. She rips a piece of paper and hands it to me. Now I follow the badly dressed driver with even worse body odor to his dilapidated taxi all the while toting my entire family's baggage. He removes the bungee cord holding the lid of his trunk closed. To proudly show that 30% of the baggage space is occupied with a CNG tank. I ram bags in while he stands watching. Finally I give up and ask for a bigger cab. Suddenly he grows 2 arms and can lift bags. He rams 2 in the front passenger seat and 2 in the trunk and the remainder are allocated to our laps. And now the trip begins. He asks where we're going... just a minute what exactly did that little mafia mama write on his piece of paper? So we tell him again. The car is scraping bottom cos the shocks are shot. The radio plays something that sounds like the wailing of a sick cat, and the stench has us all breathing through our mouths. He gets on the motorway, is the car going to make it? He accelerates and a hub-hub noise emanates from the rear wheels. It feels fast, it can't be can it? This old car can't go that fast can it? I glance at the speedo... ah good it tells be beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are travelling at exactly 0 km/hr. We're safe. We speed past every other vehicle within 2 to 3 cm of their bumper all the while the hub-hub noise competes with the wailing cat and odors abound.

Arrive home. What a pleasant drive. I pay the fare and the 50 thb and an extra 100 hoping it goes to new shocks.

Is this world class service? Apparently to some posters there's nothing wrong with it. But I can say without hesitation that the whole taxi experience from the airport could stand a lot of improvement.

I can say I have never had an episode like yours, by the way it is crafted, no doubt it happened, looking forward to this myself as every taxi I have taken from the airport has been fairly new. I also speak Thai to the "mafia mama" tell her where I am going and always get a smile - maybe I am more handsome and cheery than you, even after flying in from Washington DC. Oh, BTW, you could have taken the Bus or the Train, they at least ar airconditioned.

[ableguy]

more stupid talk without any thought, but as is known this statement will be forgotten in six

Years so these idiots can spout any head lining statements they feel like.

[Goshawk]

......or the food court in the basement.

+1

Magic Food Point... level 1, bottom left hand corner.

Edited September 28, 2013 by Goshawk

[sms747]

why is there no 7/11 at the airport selling products the same price as on the street? There is one in HK airport doing just this, they also have a cinema. Bangkok does have king power and a muslim prayer room though!

[kkerry]

 

why is there no 7/11 at the airport selling products the same price as on the street? There is one in HK airport doing just this, they also have a cinema. Bangkok does have king power and a muslim prayer room though!

 

There are Family Marts on the third and fourth floor levels. If the prices are more expensive than downtown then it's not by much. Still cheaper than any normal 7/11 you find in Australia or even Singapore.

[EricBerg]

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.

... "and you can forget Suvarnabhumi ever being mentioned in the same breath as Changi."

oh dear

[EricBerg]

Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow is way much worse than Suvarnabhumi. One risks instant depression when getting there, same as with Charles de Gaulle.