Suvarnabhumi Airport to increase service capacity during Songkran festival

BANGKOK, 6 April 2016 (NNT) - Suvarnabhumi Airport is establishing a coordination center to facilitate passengers traveling during the annual Songkran festival between April 8 and 18, as the average number of passengers is expected to rise to 166,760 people per day.

Director of Airports of Thailand (AOT) Sirote Duangrat said the number will mark a 7 percent increase from the same period last year.

The number of passengers during the festival will consist of over 1.5 million international passengers and over 295,000 domestic passengers. There will be a total of 10,296 flights throughout the period, a 5.77 percent increase from the same period last year. The number consists of 8,064 international flights and 2,232 domestic flights.

The AoT director said the new “Passenger Facilitation Center” to be set up during the festival will serve to ensure safety and provide convenience for passengers. The center will be located on the 4th floor lobby behind the R line ticketing booth. The center will collect traffic data to be used for adjusting manpower and service capacity to suit actual conditions while allocating adequate personnel for checkins, baggage inspections and passport checking.

He also revealed that the AoT has increased the number of security officers by increasing its own number and by contracting third party security agencies. The AoT has also coordinated with law enforcement agencies to provide additional personnel and increase the frequency of inspections at various points such as in and outbound vehicles and luggage inspections.

Mr Sirote added that passengers should take advantage of the airports' available automated services such as the Common Use Self Service: CUSS for checkins and the Auto Channel for automatic passport inspections.

-- NNT 2016-04-06

I think the real reason is the massive exodus of people who are fed up with this pointless, juvenile tourist bunfight.