AoT increasing airport services

[reader]

From The Thaiger

Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Bangkok’s global gateway, plans to increase services to deal with the influx of arriving passengers. Thailand saw a swift surge in travellers after China’s recent decision to reopen its borders.

The Airports of Thailand (AoT) announced Friday that the measures will help tackle delays in passenger servicing time, particularly during peak hours. They say they have already begun to improve service flow.

The airport’s director said Suvarnabhumi received complaints about luggage claim delays from around 30 flights per day last month. It seems bad, but in December roughly 50 flights per day received delayed baggage complaints. This month continued the trend with delays reported in just 7% of daily flights, which is equivalent to approximately 15 to 20 flights per day.

Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob ordered the Immigration Bureau to increase its capacity to handle incoming passengers on February 8. The AoT has responded to the minister’s order by developing a range of plans to reduce delays and ease passenger congestion. These measures have been divided into short-term and long-term problem-solving solutions.

For short-term problem-solving, the airport’s ground handling operators, THAI Ground (TG) and Bangkok Flight Services (BFS), are recruiting additional staff and acquiring more equipment to manage the spike in passenger numbers. In the longer term, AoT is looking to add a third ground handling operator. Any addition would have to be approved by the Cabinet first.

Suvarnabhumi Airport will add more automatic passport checkpoints and pre-immigration kiosks. It will temporarily expand the period for carriers to provide self-handling services as well. The new priority zone and VOA checking area at the Satellite 1 building will also be expanded and are set to open in September.

To help reduce congestion at passport-checking areas, the AoT plans to install auto passport checkpoint channels. The move to help outbound travellers with e-passports would be completed in November.

The AoT has also addressed the shortage of taxi services at the airport by registering 3,909 taxis for service. The number of taxis will soon be increased to 4,500, according to Suvarnabhumi Airport’s director.

The airport authorities also plan to develop the space between the passenger terminal and the Concourse D building. A reception hall for arriving passengers and those with visas on arrival (VOAs) will be constructed. They expect to provide the service for 2,000 inbound passengers and 400 people with VOAs every hour.

The AoT says the second phase of the airport’s long-term solution to congestion problems is still being created. Construction is set to begin in November, though.

[TMax]

I believe they still need to do something with immigration counters at the airport as quickly as possible. There was a post on a Thai Facebook page today with a photo of the queue at immigration, it stretched a long way back and I do mean a long way, the poster said their mistake was being on a flight that landed during the peak time. 

[vinapu]

5 hours ago, TMax said:

 There was a post on a Thai Facebook page today with a photo of the queue at immigration, it stretched a long way back and I do mean a long way, 

to get to heaven people can wait a bit longer, no? 

But on serious note , yes sometimes one may have bad luck of arriving at time when 4-5 big planes land one right after another. I could see it when arrived from Phnom Penh when realatvely quiet corridors all of the sudden started swelling from few corners. Departure procedure could be simplified to get away with all that picture and  fingers scan taking. USA , Canada and I believe Mexico don't have any immigration on departure, one just checks-in, goes through  security and is free to board outbound plane. It means if one checks in at home and has carry-on only , security is only step to take.    

[PeterRS]

I arrived back yesterday afternoon around 4:30 pm. The airport was far busier than I have seen it in 3 years with long waits for luggage. Yet at Taipei, the advance baggage check in line for two flights was all but empty, even though my flight to BKK was virtually full and the security checks upstairs had very long lines.

I have an expensive Tumi suitcase. On arrival back yesterday one of the wheels had broken off. This is the second consecutive flight from Taipei in 3 months when a wheel has broken. All four were perfectly fine in Taipei and so the break happened between departure from Taipei and arrival at BKK. I noticed the speed at which baggage comes off the belt onto the carousels at BKK is faster than at most other airports. Also the bags hit a sold metal surround rather than the usual rubberised surround. I can well imagine that if a bag hits wheel first, some are going to end up with those wheels broken.

[vinapu]

2 hours ago, PeterRS said:

 

I have an expensive Tumi suitcase. On arrival back yesterday one of the wheels had broken off. 

several years ago I got expensive suitcase as a gift from employer on my 20 anniversary with them.

Did not last that long, wheels and zippers did gave up.

Lesson learned that it not worth to spent much on the luggage unless one travels only by own car and ever since I buy cheap suitcases . If they break at least I don't feel sorry. And broken ones still make great storage boxes in the basement

[bkkmfj2648]

and now you have a new suitcase after the Cambodian mystery trip :>))

[vinapu]

19 hours ago, bkkmfj2648 said:

and now you have a new suitcase after the Cambodian mystery trip :>))

sure , you can admire her in pics from Furama Sathorn I just posted

[PeterRS]

21 hours ago, vinapu said:

several years ago I got expensive suitcase as a gift from employer on my 20 anniversary with them.

Did not last that long, wheels and zippers did gave up.

Much probably depends on how often one travels. A few years ago I used to travel far more regularly than now - at least 50 flights a year. After an old Samsonite hard shell case which had given me many years of service finally died, I bought a new Samsonite medium sized soft shell case. It's first outing was a long trip with stops in Hong Kong, Moscow, London, Edinburgh and than all again for a second visit on the return. Wiping the case down after my return, I noticed the shell had been punctured twice and had a longish tear. I took it to Central Chidlom where I had purchased it and asked for a new one. They refused and said i had to take it to a Samsonite repair shop. After accusing them of selling defective goods, I insisted they refund the purchase price and left the case with them. That obviously left them in a quandary. End result, though, was I got my cash back.

I then went to Emporium and noticed they had a 40% off sale on certain Tumi hard shell cases. So I purchased one. It did sterling service until it got badly dented after about 4 1/2 years. Since Tumi had a 5 year warranty, I had my pick of a new case at no cost! It is this free replacement case that has the new wheels that extend out from the case shell and clearly take the brunt of any force when hitting a hard object at some speed. I'll get the broken wheel replaced after I return from the UK in late March. If thereafter another wheel breaks, I'll take @vinapu's advice and just get a cheaper one with more recessed wheels.

[alvnv]

I usually get Samsonites from Costco and return/replace if damaged

[TMax]

I bought a knock off Samsonite soft shell case in MBK many years ago and it's still going strong, this one has just the 2 wheels that I prefer but a couple of the tags on the zips have broken off but not the main zipper. I have been looking in the shops here in Australia for cases with 2 wheels and have found none, it seems they are all just selling those with the wheels that just love to come off when bumped, maybe on a future trip I'll get another knock off in Bangkok. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[reader]

Although most of the new roller bags have four "spinner" wheels. they are (as Peter points out above) more vulnerable to impact damage than cases with two recessed wheels. A flight attendant makes some interesting observations--including a medical one--on the pros and cons o this website:

https://www.afar.com/magazine/two-wheel-vs-four-wheel-luggage-why-roller-bags-are-better

[PeterRS]

13 hours ago, reader said:

Although most of the new roller bags have four "spinner" wheels. they are (as Peter points out above) more vulnerable to impact damage than cases with two recessed wheels. A flight attendant makes some interesting observations--including a medical one--on the pros and cons o this website:

https://www.afar.com/magazine/two-wheel-vs-four-wheel-luggage-why-roller-bags-are-better

Interesting! I'll definitely try to return to a 2-wheeler once the present case dies.

[TMax]

I remember an online article written some time ago where they asked baggage handlers what the most common item that was left on the luggage conveyors was, the answer was the spinner wheels 😂