Bangkok airport safety issues 'must be addressed'

The airline industry has called on the Thai government to address problems at the country's main airport in Bangkok.

The International Air Transport Association (Iata) says Suvarnabhumi airport has inadequate capacity and substandard taxiways.

The criticism follows safety warnings last year from another air industry organisation about Thailand's regulation and inspection of airlines.

The government has set up two bodies to oversee airports and airlines.

Full story: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-35613792

-- BBC 2016-01-20

The same old.."don't fix it 'till it's broken" syndrome here......and the Thais can only blame themselves.....!!

To extend/build new the terminals, would be a further nightmare, again mired in corruption and cheap materials and the usual Thai managed over-runs!

AOT should be disbanded and the entire airport management system privatised.

Sub-standard taxiways! Cracks are reappearing like a decade ago?

Memo to Aviation Safety Authorities; move files from urgent in-tray to very urgent in-tray.

Then the EU will stop bothering you.

Didnt we just pay an additional tax for airport safety

Typical -

Are there not people paid to check and rectify these situations? In other countries they are proactive and fix the problems before they become impossible, here they wait to be told they are massive and then they just shrug their shoulders and continue to sit on their hands, collect their salaries and do nothing, well that is what it seems. There seems to be little idea of developing maintenance plans or future proof planning, it is all about today and forget about the future until it is too late, then we worry about it.

This goes back to the Thaksin administration. The government then was told that the whole airport was built using substandard materials. Reporters were put in jail for printing the accusations. Before construction started there were recommendations not to build the airport in a flood plain.When the airport was being certified ICAO and IATA told the government problems had to be completed before the airport would be certified. Representatives from The Netherlands recommended an Dutch patented osmosis system to help control the amount of underground water, they were told not necessary. work was done and the airport was certified,

Now we can see that TATs bogus forecasts are false as they dont have the safe capacity, unless the tourists are coming in through Don M and Nakhon Sawan International airports, yes that must be it, sorry .

It is a bit worrying though when aircraft sink into soft tarmac, sub standard repairs at the airport though, that problem should be sorted out in less than a week, immediate check of all taxiways and runways, if it were deemed important to the authorities. I mean either you want to be an International HUB or you dont, the world will decide that not whoever is in power here.

Without a 3rd runway no tourist increase seems to be the general view then.

Also being covered in this thread yesterday ...

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/896196-bangkoks-suvarnabhumi-airport-must-resolve-safety-and-capacity-issues-iata/

Well , all over BBC World News , which makes great publicity for Thailand, also very off putting for tourists!!!!

So it begins the talk, the promises, the media releases, the request for extensions to deadlines, the assurances that it will be done by the xxx date, the set up of committees.

The culture of avoidance.

It would appear that the dream has now turned into a nightmare, the damage was done on day one when Thaskin Shinawatra virtually demanded against all advise that it be built on swamp land , now that it is done , these continued safety issues are becoming a issue that unless addressed will possibly have international carriers refusing to land at Swampy, the ball is entirely in the Thailand's Governments court , how they manage this safety problem will dictate if swampy continues as an international airport of standing........................................ .

Sub-standard taxiways! Cracks are reappearing like a decade ago?

I believe what is substandard is that the airport has been (among other problems) temporaily fixing taxiway surfacing with aspalt patches instead of permanent conrete resurfacing. Asphalt cannot bear the loads of airport aircraft and ground vehicles and quickly crumbles and divots.

runway had big cracks even before the airport was operational .... Thais need to start hiring and listening to foreign contractors

runway had big cracks even before the airport was operational .... Thais need to start hiring and listening to foreign contractors

Foreign contractors usually do not do kickbacks...

Just another way to put tourists off from visiting.

Sub-standard taxiways! Cracks are reappearing like a decade ago?

Cracks are not necessarily an indication of a safety issue, nor sub standard taxiways. Airport runways and taxiways in much of Canada and northern Europe are cracked. It's cosmetic and weather related.

Runways subject to high traffic and heavy equipment loads need repair and.or repair work on a regular basis.

At JFK, it took US $380 million and a 5 month shut down in 2010 to fix runway 13R back in 2010.

BKK will have been in operation for 10 years as of September. Airports in hot & humid locations require longer runways, so there is often more infrastructure to maintain. It is fun to criticize BKK, but when one takes into consideration where the airport was built because of land use and available space concerns, the construction consortium did an excellent job. It's going to take Brisbane close to a decade to build its new airport facilities and it will not have anywhere near the volume that BKK has.

Now, if you wish to question ongoing maintenance and planning, I would certainly understand. IMO, the AoT is another parking ground for people in good standing with the military. Here are three of the key people you need to speak too.

Wing Commander Suthirawat Suwanawat

Senior Executive Vice President

(Engineering and Construction)

Major Kamol Wongsomboon

Executive Vice President

(Engineering and Construction)

Flying Office Sumpan Kutranoon

Senior Specialist 9

Acting Vice President Office of Suvarnabhumi Airport

Construction Management

A word of caution. be restrained lest you be sent for an attitude adjustment.

runway had big cracks even before the airport was operational .... Thais need to start hiring and listening to foreign contractors

Yes, so when something horrendous happens they can blame the foreigners. Malaysia is great for this. Hardly a month goes by when something doesn't collapse, and after lengthy investigation it is judged that poor quality foreign manufacturing or contracting is the cause. These things usually don't make the international news. Sometimes it's funny, like when they opened a new gov't office building and soon after the sewage pipes in the ceiling of the main lobby burst and resulted in, literally, a doo-doo storm. After months of intense investigation it was concluded the problem was poor quality PVC pipes from the US. And then there was the time a new sports stadium collapsed within weeks of opening -- this was the fault of the South Korean contractors. But sometimes the consequences are truly tragic.

This goes back to the Thaksin administration. The government then was told that the whole airport was built using substandard materials. Reporters were put in jail for printing the accusations. Before construction started there were recommendations not to build the airport in a flood plain.When the airport was being certified ICAO and IATA told the government problems had to be completed before the airport would be certified. Representatives from The Netherlands recommended an Dutch patented osmosis system to help control the amount of underground water, they were told not necessary. work was done and the airport was certified,

the whole airport was built using substandard materials.

All because a lot of bribe money had to be paid to get the building contract.

Corruption and greed have ruined many countries.

The reputation of being corrupt lasts for years, and they all have a very hard time

to rise above the old corrupt days, if they ever do.

Good Luck Thailand, you will need a lot of time and much

improvements before these days of corruption and greed will be

forgotten.

I still enjoy my visits there but will never go and live in Thailand.

The taxiway surface has some issues for sure. It can be a challenge to get the aircraft moving initially, particularly when heavy. The crew therefore need to be mindful on the effects of jet blast.

It's a fairly straightforward airport to operate in and out of, however communication can be challenging and birds (feathered) are a constant threat there.

Here's hoping they spend the money and repair it properly.

The taxiway surface has some issues for sure. It can be a challenge to get the aircraft moving initially, particularly when heavy. The crew therefore need to be mindful on the effects of jet blast.

It's a fairly straightforward airport to operate in and out of, however communication can be challenging and birds (feathered) are a constant threat there.

Here's hoping they spend the money and repair it properly.

Easier to rip the taxiways out, install pile foundations, and rebuild those concrete surfaces.

The initial substandard work was the rush to consolidate the soft earth strata of that swamp, and they now cannot repair this defect.

Unfortunately here ' must be ' and ' will be ' can be world's apart.

Does anyone else recall a certain former-PM, who explained that Swampy didn't need to be constructed to the more-exacting standards of the West, because the climate here was milder ?

It's an old story, pay for a top-rate project, then whittle away at the specifications once the contract & price have been agreed, and hope the cracks don't show too soon.

There have been many allegations about corruption & sub-standard construction on the project, dating from decades ago, but little has ever been proven.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_in_the_Suvarnabhumi_Airport_project

runway had big cracks even before the airport was operational .... Thais need to start hiring and listening to foreign contractors

Foreign contractors usually do not do kickbacks...

How about milking the cream off the top.

If they can't fix the roads properly what chance has an apron or taxiway got!