Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport, despite a well-publicised so-called first landing in September, may finally open in June 2006. But several question marks still hang over the development and IATA has a number of misgivings
As public relations events go, the one just outside Bangkok on 29 September 2005 at which the first aircraft touched down at the new Suvarnabhumi airport was a big one. It almost looked like a new airport was being opened, with senior government officials and hundreds of invited guests present. Almost.
The massive event was, in fact, a face-saving exercise for those involved in the multi-billion-dollar project that has suffered repeated delays over so many years. In particular, it was intended to make Thailand’s tough-talking prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, look like he got his way.
For years Thaksin had publicly insisted the airport would be ready for full operations by the end of September 2005, despite the fact that almost anyone with an understanding of airport operations kept telling the Thai government it would be impossible. When the country’s leaders admitted what most already knew, that the opening target was unrealistic, the goalposts were moved and 29 September became the date for which flight testing would officially begin. June 2006 would be the new month of opening, Thaksin announced at the ceremonial event in September, qualifying it by saying it could be October “at the latest”.
The airport is badly needed, as Bangkok’s Don Muang airport, in the eyes of many regular travellers, is well past its retirement age. Those behind Suvarnabhumi will have reason to be proud of their belated achievement, as it is aesthetically pleasing and will be far more comfortable for travellers than Don Muang. The existing airport was officially opened in 1914 and claims to be the oldest international airport still in operation.
But what a long journey it has been to get to this stage. The new airport project was first mooted around 1960, but was put on hold for many years until the early 1970s when 3,240Ha (8,000 acres) of land was purchased for the site around 27km (16.7 miles) east of central Bangkok. In 1973 it was shelved again when the country’s then-military government was overthrown, only to be revived again in the 1990s. After more delays caused by the two-year Asian economic downturn that began in 1997, construction finally began on 19 January 2002 when King Bhumibol Adulyadej laid the ceremonial first foundation stone.
Golden land
The area, formerly known as Nong Ngu Hao, or “Cobra Swamp” because of its swamp-like conditions, was renamed Suvarnabhumi, meaning “Golden Land”, by the King. The new airport is now commonly referred to as Suvarnabhumi airport, although it is also known as New Bangkok International airport. It was built in a marshy area, with land preparation and drainage improvement work taking five years to complete.
The project has at times been a bit of a farce, overshadowed by allegations of corruption, budget problems and terminal building redesigns, to name but a few issues. At one point, in September 2004, Thaksin and several of his cabinet ministers even spent the night in tents at the construction site in a move aimed at embarrassing construction crews into speeding up their work.
The continuing delays to its opening are not the only problems facing New Bangkok International airport. There is lingering uncertainty over the future of the city’s existing airport, which is likely to remain open to handle domestic services by low-cost airlines and potentially having an impact on traffic flows at Suvarnabhumi. Construction of a direct high-speed train line to the city has begun, but that project too is suffering major delays and is unlikely to be completed until late this decade. IATA has a long list of other concerns, meanwhile, which, it claims, are not being adequately addressed.
Recently appointed Suvarnabhumi airport general manager Somchai Sawasdeepon says he believes the new airport will help Bangkok retain its status as the main hub for South-East Asia over Singapore and Kuala Lumpur (see table). He said in a recent interview at the dusty new airport site that, regardless of which opening date is ultimately settled upon, the facility will be ready for full commercial operations soon.
“The opening date will be set by the government, but we hope that this airport will open in the middle of the year, maybe June,” says Somchai, who has been involved in the project for a decade. “This is our expectation,” he says.
Somchai says nearly all the construction contracts for the new airport have been completed and “there is no problem” to meet a June opening. Only minor modification work is taking place now, he says, and testing and commissioning of key facilities has begun. Passenger flow trials have been taking place in a far corner of the main passenger terminal, while workers hammer away in areas nearby that are not yet completed.
Two runways
The new airport will on opening have a single passenger terminal and two runways 2.2km (1.4 miles) apart, enabling simultaneous take-offs and landings and greatly increasing capacity over the congested Don Muang facility, 25km north of Bangkok, which handled 38 million passengers in 2004. Don Muang has long been the busiest airport in South-East Asia, followed by Singapore’s Changi, which handled just over 30 million passengers in 2004. Unlike Bangkok, however, Singapore’s airport only handles international traffic. Suvarnabhumi will, at opening, be able to handle up to 45 million passengers annually, while its cargo terminal will be able to handle 3 million tonnes of freight a year.
“At Don Muang airport we have 84 airlines. Because we have limited parking bays for aircraft we have lost opportunity a lot in the past. Here we can accommodate the airlines much better than at Don Muang,” says Somchai.
Somchai says he expects a formal announcement shortly from the government on the future of Don Muang. Vice-minister for transport Mahidol Chantrangkurn recently said a proposal to keep the old airport open for use by low-cost airlines would be submitted to transport minister Pongsak Raktapongpaisal for formal approval. It is widely expected that the facility will be kept open, in no small part for political reasons given that so many make a living out of the existing airport and related businesses.
In addition to continuing to serve low-cost carriers, the proposal is for Don Muang to remain open for maintenance, general aviation and exhibition activities. Don Muang’s supporters have also said that keeping low-cost carriers there will help ease concerns over future congestion at Suvarnabhumi, given that domestic low-cost operators are recording 10% annual growth in passenger traffic. Three such carriers have started operating within Thailand over the past two years, namely Nok Air, One-Two-Go and Thai AirAsia (majority owned by a company controlled by prime minister Thaksin), and together they carried several million passengers last year.
The expected announcement that Don Muang will remain open may impact expansion plans for the new airport. A new airport project committee group met recently and decided not to fast-track the expansion of Suvarnabhumi, which would have seen work beginning immediately after the opening on the second-phase expansion. This was because Thaksin himself decided more time was needed to study the impact of keeping Don Muang and Suvarnabhumi operational. A future utilisation plan study for Don Muang is expected to be released in February.
Somchai says whatever decisions are made over the future of Don Muang, he expects work on the second-phase expansion to begin in the near future. He says a design firm should be selected soon for the planned first “midfield satellite” concourse, which will add more than two dozen “contact gates”.
Around a year after the opening of the airport, construction should begin on the midfield satellite and a third runway, says Somchai, with all the work completed by 2009 or 2010. This will increase annual passenger handling capacity to 54 million from 45 million. Ground improvement work is nearly completed for the third runway and midfield satellite.
Checking in
The airport will have 51 contact gates and 69 remote parking stands, with the total area of the glass-roofed terminal and concourse amounting to 563,000m2 (6 million ft2). There will be 360 check-in counters on 10 check-in islands, all with connected baggage belts, and another 100 check-in counters not connected to the baggage belt system.
Somchai says the third phase of the airport project should take place between 2010 and 2015, when the first passenger terminal will be expanded and a second midfield satellite built, increasing capacity to 73 million passengers annually.
Between 2015 and 2020 a second passenger terminal and fourth runway is expected to be built, lifting capacity to 95 million passengers, followed thereafter by an expansion of the second passenger terminal to allow the airport to reach a maximum capacity of 100 million passengers a year.
IATA has a long list of immediate concerns about the new airport, however. On the list are its fears that Suvarnabhumi will not have enough X-ray machines which could lead to security queues. It is also concerned that there will initially only be five gates for the ultra-large Airbus A380, which it believes is too few and may slow passenger flow.
But Somchai says Suvarnabhumi will have enough X-ray machines and demand forecasts show that five A380-capable gates are adequate for the first few years of operation – in addition to there being many more A380-ready gates in the midfield satellite concourse. He also says talks are taking place between IATA and the airport authorities.
IATA says it is positive that the two sides are now talking, but it is not convinced that action is being taken to address its many concerns, many of which relate to the airport’s readiness.
“The issues highlighted by IATA and airlines regarding Suvarnabhumi airport have yet to be addressed,” says IATA’s Asia-Pacific office. “Increased communication and consultation between airlines and AOT [Airports of Thailand] are critical to the success of Suvarnabhumi airport.”
IATA wants to see many more CTX [computed tomography] baggage X-ray machines installed at the airport. It says there are now only 26 machines and “given the throughput for each CTX machine, there is a need to have another 20 more CTX machines in order for the bags to be processed on time”. It also wants passenger security screening to be centralised at one or two locations, rather than at multiple locations as currently planned.
IATA is, meanwhile, in favour of expansion plans being brought forward, as it believes that, based on current traffic growth, the airport will be short of gates by 2007. It has concerns about the retail concession layout, noting that the airport’s terminal is slightly larger than that of Hong Kong International Airport’s (HKIA), but that the area allocated for retail is only half that of HKIA’s.
“More space could be allocated for retail at Suvarnabhumi so that it can derive more revenue from non-aeronautical sources,” says IATA.
Airport charges
The now-familiar airport fees issue is another cause for concern for IATA. In October Thailand’s government convened a meeting of its Airport Services Efficiency Consultative Committee, chaired by the Ministry of Transport, at which the Department of Aviation was instructed to oversee the establishment of several working groups including one on the airport charges structure.
“The working group has yet to meet,” says IATA, noting that it is meant to be a member. “We urge the Thai authorities to quickly convene the groups and set timelines to complete their work.”
Related to the airport charges issue are concerns about the future of Don Muang, which IATA is against keeping open. It fears that if it is kept open as most now expect, aeronautical revenue from Suvarnabhumi will be used to subsidise the operation of the old facility.
IATA says of Don Muang remaining open that “we do not believe that this is the most efficient solution, but if it is a political reality then certainly key principles must be followed – the most important of which is cost allocation”.
“Airlines operating at Suvarnabhumi should not be subsidising the cost of operations at Don Muang,” believes IATA. “Bangkok needs an operationally effective and cost-efficient hub. Regional and global benchmarking should be taken into account in charges discussions at both Don Muang and Suvarnabhumi.”
Suvarnabhumi general manager Somchai acknowledges IATA’s issues, but is relaxed about the airport. He says teething troubles are common for new airports, but once it is in airline use, concerns will fade away.
More than four decades of delays will be put behind Suvarnabhumi overnight when it opens, but most doubt that all the controversy surrounding the project will disappear as quickly. ■
NICHOLAS IONIDES / BANGKOK
Source: Airline Business
