New Airport Up And Running, Computer Glitches And Delayed Bags

[Jai Dee]

Mr. Wanchai called units to assess the problems in Suvarnabhumi

The Permanent Secretary to the Transport Ministry, Mr. Wanchai Sarathulthat (วันชัย ศารทูลทัต), called certain units to evaluate the operation problems of Suvarnabhumi Airport, following its official opening this morning.

Mr. Wanchai admitted that Suvarnabhumi Airport will face some difficulties on the first day of its official opening. However, officials are working on the problems and providing convenience to the passengers. He also said the transfer of equipments to the new airport is successful.

Mr. Wanchai will reveal the causes of the problems in Suvarnabhumi to the media, following his discussion with the operating officials.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 28 September 2006

[chatters]

I wonder how well the air conditioning is working inside the terminals. On Thai tv just now there were scenes with many long passenger lines and people in line (mainly Thai) fanning themselves. Last week people were saying it was too hot there and airport management said they didn't have it all switched on yet so as to save money. Let's hope someone remembered to turn it all on now it's up and running for real.

congratulations for the opening everybody has done a agreat job, we did expect a few glitches.

The other problems will be the prices charged by KING POWER left from the old airport last week, and was amazed at the HIGH prices for alchol even dearer than buying it at a small thai supermarket? They need to take the word duty free off I bought 100 pipers at my little shop last week and price been the same for some 8 months 315 baht, at the airport the same they wanted 445? so where does the duty free come in. I hope Dr. Valerie McKenzie (australian) who holds a very high position with the company can get her act together to check these prices out. much much cheaper to buy duty free out of thailand.

[kalaminsa]

We want to add our congratulations to the Airport authority for doing what many deemed impossible.

Two questions:

1) Now that the Snake Pit has become operational, has it assumed the airport code "BKK" and is Don Muang now and forevermore designated "DBK"?

2) Until today, Don Muang held the record for the international airport in longest continuous operation in the same location. Which airport now inherits that record?

Seems that Schiphol already had the record !

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is the world's oldest international airport still situated at its original location.

http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/060919/81/gmi0m.html

[terry57]

the thais have done a brilliant job getting this airport up and running and i had total faith they would.

now i wonder what the doom sayers are going to say. ?

you remember punters dont you.?

all the people that slagged off the thais saying that it would never happen, there where threads of that garbage on here.

where are they now ?

hiding somewhere i suspect.

maybe under a very large rock holding hands together.

well done thailand and i love you more everyday.

[Artisi]

flew in last night at 9pm - no problems - from landing and into a taxi (no baggage) 15 minutes.

Just stepped off the flight from Bkk 10 minutes ago, yep delays due to computor by the look of it - but no problems our plane departed on time with everyone on board.

So can't see the need for all the critical comments - especially if you were not there

[grtaylor]

How pleasant, for a change, to see some positive comments on here. I cannot imagine the complexities involved in opening a new airport, in a situation where you cannot close the old one until less than three hours beforehand! An absolute nightmare for all concerned.

All the faults so far mentioned are minor, IMHO, and will be cured quickly. People are very quick to forget the problems that HK and KL had when they did the same!

Give them a week, and I'm sure all will be well.

G

[bino]

"The delay was caused by the delay of moving Thai Airways ground handling equipment from the old airport to the new one," said Chotisak Asapaviriya, president of Airports of Thailand, which operates the facility.

I can attest to that- I was driving on Ram Indra road this morning, and there were a steady stream of 18 wheelers headed for the Ram Indra expressway loaded with the ground equipment.

Gotta be a huge logistical nightmare.... hope it gets sorted quickly and easily.

[DrDweeb]

We want to add our congratulations to the Airport authority for doing what many deemed impossible.

Two questions:

1) Now that the Snake Pit has become operational, has it assumed the airport code "BKK" and is Don Muang now and forevermore designated "DBK"?

2) Until today, Don Muang held the record for the international airport in longest continuous operation in the same location. Which airport now inherits that record?

Seems that Schiphol already had the record !

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is the world's oldest international airport still situated at its original location.

http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/060919/81/gmi0m.html

Well, it rather depends upon definition. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingsford_Smi...ational_Airport suggests 4 years younger than Schipol, but the question is when Schipol became a "commercial" airfield, which as you will see here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schipol_Airport was at the very end of 1920 (I suggest after Sydney) when it changed from being military.

So, as usual, it depends on which "facts" one wishes to use and how one wishes to define the question.

I guess Suvarnabhumi has the record as the youngest commercial airport

[kalaminsa]

the thais have done a brilliant job getting this airport up and running and i had total faith they would.

now i wonder what the doom sayers are going to say. ?

you remember punters dont you.?

all the people that slagged off the thais saying that it would never happen, there where threads of that garbage on here.

where are they now ?

hiding somewhere i suspect.

maybe under a very large rock holding hands together.

well done thailand and i love you more everyday.

Have they started installing the portable toilets already ? or will we just have to plan ahead and hope for the best ??

[Thai-Spy]

We want to add our congratulations to the Airport authority for doing what many deemed impossible.

Two questions:

1) Now that the Snake Pit has become operational, has it assumed the airport code "BKK" and is Don Muang now and forevermore designated "DBK"?

2) Until today, Don Muang held the record for the international airport in longest continuous operation in the same location. Which airport now inherits that record?

Seems that Schiphol already had the record !

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is the world's oldest international airport still situated at its original location.

http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/060919/81/gmi0m.html

Indeed Schiphol is the oldest but not in continuous operation as that article indicates.

[bkkandrew]

the thais have done a brilliant job getting this airport up and running and i had total faith they would.

now i wonder what the doom sayers are going to say. ?

you remember punters dont you.?

all the people that slagged off the thais saying that it would never happen, there where threads of that garbage on here.

where are they now ?

hiding somewhere i suspect.

maybe under a very large rock holding hands together.

well done thailand and i love you more everyday.

Agreed. I will reserve judgement until the day I actually use it. In a week. Fingers crossed until then everything OK.

On this leaking roof - where is it exactly leaking to? Has anybody actually seen the effects??

[paulmw]

The leakages on the roof of Suvarnabhumi Airport’s terminal building to be completely repared by next week

The Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited (AOT) has accelerated the repair of the terminal building’s roof in Suvarnabhumi Airport as the leakages on the roof are causing rainwater to enter the building. AOT President Chotisak Asapaviriya (โชติศักดิ์ อาสภวิริยะ) has insisted that the repair of the roof is the first priority, while anticipating that the task will be fully completed within next week.

Suvarnabhumi Airport has officially opened for commercial services early this morning at 3 AM. Mr. Chotisak said he is satisfied with the overall operation in the new airport, notwithstanding the minor problem of the baggage conveyor system. The problem and the heavy downpour last night caused the first commercial flight of Suvarnabhumi Airport to delay for over 40 minutes. Nevertheless, the AOT will issue a document to clarify the problems. As for the problems of insufficient restrooms in the airport, the AOT is preparing to build more restrooms near the parking lot and in two terminal buildings.

As for the ground services, the AOT President said all equipments from Don Muang Airport have been transferred to Suvarnabhumi Airport, adding that the AOT is ready to provide the best services for all passengers.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 28 September 2006

Good service for people using the BKK busses but i think the guys that repaired the airport roof need to go to the new bus station because I think they for got to put a roof on it rain pouring in there.

But a very good bus service has to be said

Paul

[reddevil_06510]

So far I am impressed with the news, I never thought that they could pull it off as it was such as CF (pardon my French) to get to this point.

Kudo's to those who can not be named for finishing this project.

However, I hope that in the future projects of this nature will not take 40+ years and countless billions in Baht to complete.

You want to eleminate poverty in Thailand, find all the tea money that went to build this monument to modern Thailand.

Cheers

[เพลง]

2) Until today, Don Muang held the record for the international airport in longest continuous operation in the same location. Which airport now inherits that record?

Well unless that record was specifically for an airport that's still running, I guess the record would stay with Don Muang

[Artisan]

Despite the setbacks, I think that the entire project is great and all of us should be excited about it, I know that I am. The entire conception is awesome and the architecture is spectacular. Thailand should be congratulated in bringing this undertaking to fruition.

[annie_33]

I've got to fly home to Samui proong-nee ...

ANYBODY got an idea how long approximately it's going to take to get there (new airport) from Sukumvit Soi 3 in a taxi ???

probably 1 hour ,

[veteran]

:Congrat. with new airport.:

[A. BOOZER]

I think that in this instance Thailand has done a great job! Maybe some of the organisers of this project could be employed in the U.K. to sort out our larger airports.

[mcfester]

I'm off to the new airport in a couple of weeks to pick my Mum up. I'm looking forward to seeing how it looks.

It's another hour from Don Muang though coming from Kan, a real pain in the asre!

Ifs its still the same as it was 2 days ago you wont be impressed, building going on everywhere, leaking toilets, hardly any monitors showing you where to go, direction signs laying around on the floor, buckets scattered everywhere catching the leaking water and everything is grey grey grey, from the wall panels to the ceilings, to the flooring to the bare unpainted concrete. If your lucky by then you might be able to get a drink or a bite to eat.

As for adding more restrooms at a later date, did they forget that planes carry passengers?

I cant understand how you all think job well done, have you been and had a look yourself? Just by watching Thai news and interviews with passengers shows it was nowhere near ready for opening.

They should have let Don Muang stay open till its 100th year, maybe then they'd have it ready.

[mitrapaap]

I've got to fly home to Samui proong-nee ...

ANYBODY got an idea how long approximately it's going to take to get there (new airport) from Sukumvit Soi 3 in a taxi ???

A map might give you an idea... And a bit experience in Bangkok might tell you that it basically depends on the traffic jam, which is not really predictable but depending on daytime variable. In other words "tomorrow" is useless as indication.

Just a hint: as a taxi driver

[Flow]

Ifs its still the same as it was 2 days ago you wont be impressed, building going on everywhere, leaking toilets, hardly any monitors showing you where to go, direction signs laying around on the floor, buckets scattered everywhere catching the leaking water and everything is grey grey grey, from the wall panels to the ceilings, to the flooring to the bare unpainted concrete. If your lucky by then you might be able to get a drink or a bite to eat.

As for adding more restrooms at a later date, did they forget that planes carry passengers?

Very true what you're saying here, just visited today. Direction signs confusing and almost non-existant and everything is painted... grey. Ugh, not a nice color methinks.

[tangoll]

I had a flight out of Suvarnabhumi today the 28th Sept. Took a taxi from Suk Soi 15 at 7 am, was at airport by 7:30 am. Cost baht 400 negotiated price with taxi, plus 65 baht for toll fees.

Lots of people in check in area, looked like the place had been running for quite some time. Check for Gulf Air flight took about 45 minutes, due to many passengers with oversized bags, cartons, etc, but computers seemed to be working well, punching out luggage tags, and boarding passes. Signage I thought was quite good, but it's a long long walk from one end to other, Concourse A to Concourse F. Shops and cafes, restaurants, etc were all up and running. I found the Priority Pass Lounge without too much trouble, but it wasn't clear that the airline lounges are one level below the check in level.

Toilets were plentiful and easy to spot. Some of the auto faucets were not working, but the floors beneath them were wet.

The floors and ramps to the departure gates are metal and sloped, so could be slippery.

I didn't check in bags, so don't know about luggage delays.

Otherall, very impressed with terminal building, and that initial day teething problems seemed to be minimal. Of course, AOT was able to learn from openings at KL and HK, plus Thailand is blessed with lots of labour that can be thrown at any problem.

The flight was delayed from Bahrain, but once it arrived, moving gates worked, luggage and pax got offloaded, plane got serviced, and we were out within one hour. So everything worked as well as at Don Muang. What more could one ask or hope for?

And to all the naysayers back several months ago when 28th September was first announced, what say you now? This may be Thailand, but somehow they made it happen and pulled it off quite OK.

[nostrel]

whats the catering like in departures? still expensive plastic sandwiches ?

and please let us know the state of the taxi service ASAP. waiting times ,booth siting etc ,long queues ?

photos of booths and where.

what is the signage like ?

and are the taxis new or the usual clapped out old jalopies ?

[Tingnongnoi]

Went to meet a friend this afternoon and it took 2 hours for him to finally walk out through customs from when he landed, he mentioned big queue's at passport control and then the baggage took forever, but hopefully this was just a first day glitch as ive got to go again on Sat morning. Also car park was a bit of a nightmare to get into as they havent got the automatic ticket machines in yet and were writing tickets by hand.

[britmaveric]

Well I'm pleasantly surprised - just hope everything was completed properly - last thing new airport needs is a disaster. Guess I'll find out for myself soon enough.

[devilockz]

congrate to the new airport !!! i will pay a visit to the new airport next year when i'm going to thailand again !!

[george]

Update:

SUVARNABHUMI AIRPORT OPENS

Touch down...into chaos

Lost baggage, crashed computer check-in systems, shouting passengers - AOT calls opening day a '75% success'

SUVARNABHUMI: -- It took the Korean visitors three hours to get their luggage, and they left no one in doubt as to their displeasure. A computer system crash forced staff into the unfamiliar role of manually checking-in passengers. Then more bags were lost and a scrum formed around the "Lost and Found" office. Flights were delayed time and again. Snafu was the order of the day.

Utter chaos for Suvarnabhumi's opening? Definitely not, say the airport's spin doctors.

Officials and system consultants shrugged off the teething problems and expressed complete confidence that Suvarnabhumi Airport would soon be free of "hiccups".

"We are 75 per cent satisfied," Chotisak Asapaviriya, president of Airports of Thailand Plc, said yesterday. "There were some minor problems that have upset us."

At 11am, the centralised check-in system crashed, first paralysing 11 counters of Thai Airways International and later spreading to 13 counters of Nok Air and some international airlines.

Ground staff resorted to using computer notebooks and filling out boarding passes by hand.

According to reports, many passengers on a variety of flights waited for at least two hours to get their luggage. Over 100 visitors from Incheon, arriving on flight OX301, vented their anger at Thai Airways International's counters. They shouted at THAI ground agents when three hours passed and still their luggage had not appeared.

Passengers on other flights encountered similar problems. Those on TG343 from Jakarta also waited for three hours. TG 917 from London landed at 3pm and the designated carousel was empty until 5pm. To the dismay of first-class passengers, they retrieved their belongings at the same time as economy-class travellers.

"The Lost and Found counter was flooded with complaints," said a ground officer who asked not to be named.

"Passengers of airlines including THAI and Aerosvit Airlines faced the same problem," said one AOT official.

Air Chief Marshall Chalit Pukbhasuk, chairman of the Council for Democratic Reform's committee in charge of the airport opening, visited the facility at 7am. He acknowledged the foul ups but said all units were attacking the mishaps one by one.

"Problems are common for the first operating hour of a new airport. We should know better later on," he told a swarm of reporters.

AOT's Chotisak said it took time for ground crews to transfer bags from planes to conveyer belts due to the delay in the relocation of baggage handling equipment from Don Muang to Suvarnabhumi. THAI supplies the AOT with the baggage-handling equipment.

A fierce overnight storm had thrown THAI's schedule for its migration programme completely out of whack. As of 7am, only 80 per cent of the removal was complete.

"The conveyor system functioned well, but there was a problem transferring luggage from the aircraft to the conveyor belts because baggage lorries had not arrived [from Don Muang]," Chotisak said. "This is a minor problem and will not happen again once the transition period is over."

About 200 suitcases were also found left behind at the airport after some THAI flights took off for domestic and international destinations.

THAI president Apinan Sumanaseni was sure that his airline's system functioned well, but the problem could lie with the baggage handling system, which is under AOT's supervision.

"We are contacting the bag owners to send them their belongings. This is a big blunder happening at THAI," he said.

Somchai Swasdipol, director of Suvarnabhumi Airport, said AOT is investigating the matter. The bungling could have arisen from the slow transfer of luggage rather than any trouble with the actual baggage handling system, he said.

The botched baggage handling was partially attributable to flights arriving late. About 17 flights were overdue, 45 minutes in the worst case. Most departing passengers anticipated the delay and arrived at the airport well in advance.

The first commercial flight to alight at Suvarnabhumi was also 20 minutes behind schedule. Flying from Kiev, the Aerosvit Airlines plane landed at 4.30am, instead of the original time of 4.10am. It landed at the same time as an EVA Airways flight from Amsterdam.

"Aerosvit's flight was delayed at the originating port, not because of technical problems at Suvarnabhumi," the AOT official said.

Upon arrival, the first passengers received commemorative souvenirs from AOT chairman Srisook Chandrangsu and his management team, who waited in front of Gate E4. One of the passengers was a local from Udon Thani who was unaware that his plane would put down at the new airport.

"I'm confused. Don Muang is more familiar to me as I don't know the traffic network of Suvarnabhumi," he said.

Aerosvit Airlines also operated the first flight from Suvarnabhumi. Bound for Kiev, it left at 5.40am. It took four minutes for each passenger to check in, instead of the normal two minutes at Don Muang, as staff needed time to get used to the new IT system.

Cathay Pacific also operated a flight from Hong Kong, but with only a 55-per-cent load factor rather than the usual 80 per cent.

"Passengers were worried about convenience on the first day of operations," said Yongyut Lujintanont, marketing manager for Thailand and Burma. The cabin factor should return to normal today, he said.

The chaotic environment on the first day also dulled the appetite for shopping among passengers. Most of the visitors concentrated on checking out the airport's amenities. Some of the duty free shops were still being fitted out and were not open yet.

A manager for King Power Duty Free Shop said total sales on the first day were only Bt3,000-Bt4,000, less than 10 per cent of what the company used to ring up at Don Muang. However, she was optimistic that more customers would come later.

-- The Nation 2006-09-29

[sjaak327]

A manager for King Power Duty Free Shop said total sales on the first day were only Bt3,000-Bt4,000, less than 10 per cent of what the company used to ring up at Don Muang. However, she was optimistic that more customers would come later.

-- The Nation 2006-09-29

I guess this manager is not talking about total sales for the king group, but about a single shop ?

[sbk]

Interesting the "blame game" has already started.

Accoring to the AOT the lost bags are THAI's fault, according to THAI they are AOT's fault.

According to the passengers whose bags have been lost, it doesn't matter whose fault it is, they just want their bags

[mcfester]

the thais have done a brilliant job getting this airport up and running and i had total faith they would.

now i wonder what the doom sayers are going to say. ?

you remember punters dont you.?

all the people that slagged off the thais saying that it would never happen, there where threads of that garbage on here.

where are they now ?

hiding somewhere i suspect.

maybe under a very large rock holding hands together.

well done thailand and i love you more everyday.

Read the post's mate instead of slagging off what is true facts, I expect there will be more gloom and doom in the next few days, unfortunate for those having to suffer it but what we want here is facts, not BS I told you so 2 yr old talk.