New strict baggage screening at Don Mueang called off after long delays

[webfact]

DON MUEANG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
New strict baggage screening called off after long delays
The Nation


Long queues form at airline check-in counters inside Don Mueang International Airport yesterday due to stricter security measures that drew many complaints.

BANGKOK: -- AIRPORTS OF Thailand yesterday hastily called off its strict screening measures at Don Mueang International Airport, which it had just imposed on Friday, after they caused mayhem, with passengers languishing behind long queues and many almost missing their flights.

The revised rules required not only checked-in luggage but also carry-ons to be X-rayed before entering the departure area.

The aim was to prevent "unlawful interference action that may cause the delay of process" and to comply with the International Civil Aviation Organisation's demand for Thailand to tighten up safety regulations or face bans on international flights.

Before, only loaded luggage was required to pass pre-check-in screening while carry-ons were scanned after passengers got their boarding passes.

The new rule was posted without prior notice on AOT's website on Friday, along with an apology for "any inconvenience that may occur", and was immediate implemented.

The airlines operating there complained that they did not have enough time to inform their passengers.

Some passengers did not know about the new rule and put only their check-in luggage on the conveyor belt, so they had to walk back and pass their carry-on bags through the screening machine. This slowed down the process, as there were only a limited number of X-ray machines.

AOT's statement issued yesterday after an urgent meeting said the new procedures had caused passenger inconvenience and congestion.

It said it would assign more staff to inspect passengers' luggage. It asked for cooperation from passengers in not opening X-rayed baggage, otherwise the baggage would have to be rescanned.

It also emphasised that airline staff had to be strict in checking luggage to make sure that all pieces are X-rayed before loading into aircraft.

Earlier, the airlines, including Nok Air, Thai Lion Air and AirAsia, used Facebook to recommend that passengers arrive at the airport at least two or three hours prior to boarding time.

Worante Laprabang, a passenger, posted on Thai Smile's Facebook page: "I've been there today, and the queue was very long."

Two Nok Scoot passengers offered words of advice.

"For departure, it is crucial to spare some time. The arrival side has only one scanning machine, making the crowd extremely dense," Koomtinee Boonprasert said.

"Spare some time, now the checking process for luggage is very slow." Kakkanang Supasiripenpong said.

Before the rules were revoked, Charoen Wangananont, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents, urged AOT to end the congestion at Don Mueang as soon as possible in order to reduce passengers' worries and prevent any possibility of them not catching their flights.

AOT should have realised that such problems could occur, since passenger traffic has been surging for months, he said.

"Scanning luggage is not the big problem. The problem is due to the poor management of AOT. It should have prepared more measures to deal with this overload, but it didn't," he said.

AOT should learn from the Don Mueang case and be aware of similar problems that could arise at other airports such as Phuket and Chiang Mai, he said.

However, once the renovation of the second terminal at Don Mueang is completed and it is open for service, the congestion problem should ease, he said.

Pramookpisitt Achariyachai, president of Kata Group Resorts in Phuket, said all airports in the country should improve passenger facilitation and management, especially during the peak season, to avoid chaos.

Congestion always happens at Phuket International Airport in the high season.

However, this should not be problem any longer when the new terminal opens.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/New-strict-baggage-screening-called-off-after-long-30264856.html

-- The Nation 2015-07-21

[Mango Bob]

They do things here without thinking. Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.

[arfurcrown]

Now wait until we witness a plane hijack or an exploding plane due to bombs or other various terrorist delights or even a 9-11 action replay in Bangkok and then let us listen to the pearls of wisdom that will come from the mouths of the assorted government officials.

Hey ISIS members come to Thailand and get on a plane at Don Muang no problems with security any weaponry can be carried security is no stronger than a tissue in water.

International Civil Aviation Organisation's demand for Thailand to tighten up safety regulations or face bans on international flights.

Certainly this latest move by AOT is doing wonders for travelers safety ''is it not.''

[Somtamnication]

Now wait until we witness a plane hijack or an exploding plane due to bombs or other various terrorist delights or even a 9-11 action replay in Bangkok and then let us listen to the pearls of wisdom that will come from the mouths of the assorted government officials.

Hey ISIS members come to Thailand and get on a plane at Don Muang no problems with security any weaponry can be carried security is no stronger than a tissue in water.

International Civil Aviation Organisation's demand for Thailand to tighten up safety regulations or face bans on international flights.

Certainly this latest move by AOT is doing wonders for travelers safety ''is it not.''

Fair comment, but don't call the new system a procedure to "reduce a delay in the process".

[NongKhaiKid]

They do things here without thinking. Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.

They never learn do they and still persist in the belief that the theatrical ' all right on the night ' doctrine works.

[BudRight]

"The arrival side has only one scanning machine, making the crowd extremely dense"

What?

[NongKhaiKid]

Maybe the long queues, delays etc were caused by all the VIPs being made to go through the normal security checks.

[Bluespunk]

"For departure, it is crucial to spare some time. The arrival side has only one scanning machine, making the crowd extremely dense," Koomtinee Boonprasert said."

I think the authorities are the dense ones.

[jlwilliamsjr18]

All this because one cop, was allowed to bring a gun on board to Japan, arrested, let go and back in Thailand...he's having a great laugh. Corruption is rampant...

[NovaBlue05]

Airports are already screening at levels higher than anything pre-911. At the end of the day, flying....like life... is a crap shoot. You have to hope you aren't that poor bastard on a flight with a bomb....or a pilot with a death wish

[phuketandsee]

Now wait until we witness a plane hijack or an exploding plane due to bombs or other various terrorist delights or even a 9-11 action replay in Bangkok and then let us listen to the pearls of wisdom that will come from the mouths of the assorted government officials.

Hey ISIS members come to Thailand and get on a plane at Don Muang no problems with security any weaponry can be carried security is no stronger than a tissue in water.

International Civil Aviation Organisation's demand for Thailand to tighten up safety regulations or face bans on international flights.

Certainly this latest move by AOT is doing wonders for travelers safety ''is it not.''

They have not removed the security check before boarding.

Anyway, why is this a problem? We have to do this at Phuket airport and it doesn't seem to cause any extra delays.

Edited July 21, 2015 by phuketandsee

[HiSoLowSoNoSo]

Isn't an x-ray scanning system of carry-ons one of the first thing you plan when you open an airport?

[Bluespunk]

Isn't an x-ray scanning system of carry-ons one of the first thing you plan when you open an airport?

They are still scanning.

[Lupatria]

...and to comply with the International Civil Aviation Organisation's demand

Is this something they became aware of a day before (Thursday) they implemented the new rule?

The only thing they (AOT) are good at is: not knowing how to do- same as the TAT.

[jimmysjo]

What's the fuss? They have been doing this at CNX for years.

Going in to meet a friend arriving. Through the metal detector. Even if you have NO bag with you.

[Mavrix]

Failure to Plan is a Planning to Fail.

[jimmysjo]

Ahh....

Edited July 21, 2015 by jimmysjo

[monty1412]

Once again a good indication of the lack of critical " causality" thinking by management.... if we do X then Y will happen which will result in Z..... but instead its we have problem here is solution without any consideration of downstream ramifications........too much "ready, fire, aim" approaches here with management

There is a dearth of data available around the world from airports and their PAX : X ray scan facilities ratios.... surely the first step might have been to obtain historical and forward estimate PAX numbers, determine based on flight schedules the peak times and redo date to get an indication on max PAX loadings.. then compare with other airports and look at equivalency of ratio's...... then take these ratios and apply back to DMG situation....

Hmm so the conclusion is that there are too few scanners at present to do this effectively ..... Ok we have new terminal coming on in a few months and Utapo has 2 spare scanners which they dont need till December **..... so critical pathway is

i) interim to new terminal obtain Utapo scanners for a period of 4 months, install and have operational by August 21st....do we need extra staff hired/ trained ?

ii) early August announce new procedure to airlines and make sure they train staff on this so it can be communicated correctly to PAX

iii) implement sub team late July to check internal Airport signage and change redo as needed.. sub team to co-ordinate with scanner installation teams to ensure correct timing of new internal signage....

Its really not that hard to do this.....

** not known if there are spare scanners at Utapo just given as example

Knee jerk, ready, fire, aim solutions rarely work and just a modicum of critical thinking and analysis of " who is our customer and what is our role" would serve them much better......

[captspectre]

Now wait until we witness a plane hijack or an exploding plane due to bombs or other various terrorist delights or even a 9-11 action replay in Bangkok and then let us listen to the pearls of wisdom that will come from the mouths of the assorted government officials.

Hey ISIS members come to Thailand and get on a plane at Don Muang no problems with security any weaponry can be carried security is no stronger than a tissue in water.

International Civil Aviation Organisation's demand for Thailand to tighten up safety regulations or face bans on international flights.

Certainly this latest move by AOT is doing wonders for travelers safety ''is it not.''

arfurcrown what are you smoking? that was an assinine statement! the large bags are now and have always been scanned! the tie up was when they required ALL baggage including carry on's to be screened and carry on to be re screened again when presenting boarding pass! you want isis to come to thailand? you are a bonified NUT! if they do come here I hope they get you right by the ass!

[Lupatria]

What's the fuss? They have been doing this at CNX for years.

Going in to meet a friend arriving. Through the metal detector. Even if you have NO bag with you.

What's the fuss?

Reads like you were involved or in charge to implement a stupid idea without prior planning

They have been doing this at CNX for years.

Yeah, but they're probably capable to do it right...

[jossthaifarang]

Should get more x-ray machines if you want to scan everyone..

[Michael8511]

They still x-Ray the hand luggage after you check in as they always done. Not many airports in the world X-Ray luggage before check in.

[luk AJ]

I never understood this pre-scanning, it doesn't exist in Suvarnabhumi...carry-on lugage is scanned prior entering the departure gates and check-in lugage goes normally through a scanner after check-in so why this pre-scanning? I fly every week to Phuket and only carry handlugage, I never go through these pre scanning points...

[Alwyn]

Don't get it. Before you can enter Phuket airport everything gets scanned. Why is this such a problem in the capital? Drama queens

[godden]

Should be scanning some thai officials for some common sense

[willyumiii]

Safety is a great idea...unless it is inconvenient!

Maybe they should have had enough scanners on hand to handle that number of passengers in a timely fashion before starting and failing?

Planning ahead in Thailand?

Oops! Sorry!

[luk AJ]

Don't get it. Before you can enter Phuket airport everything gets scanned. Why is this such a problem in the capital? Drama queens

yes it does, but why?

[rosst]

Isn't an x-ray scanning system of carry-ons one of the first thing you plan when you open an airport?

Only if you planned before you opened, then it would.

If you just opened it and see what happens ? Then no.

[masuk]

Now wait until we witness a plane hijack or an exploding plane due to bombs or other various terrorist delights or even a 9-11 action replay in Bangkok and then let us listen to the pearls of wisdom that will come from the mouths of the assorted government officials.

Hey ISIS members come to Thailand and get on a plane at Don Muang no problems with security any weaponry can be carried security is no stronger than a tissue in water.

International Civil Aviation Organisation's demand for Thailand to tighten up safety regulations or face bans on international flights.

Certainly this latest move by AOT is doing wonders for travelers safety ''is it not.''

Fair comment, but don't call the new system a procedure to "reduce a delay in the process".

I've given up trying to figure what that's supposed to mean.

[gyrosman]

Good news for terrorist, didn't know my life is worth zero baht here.