Baggage Delays Mar Suvarnabhumi Takeoff

[Gaybutton]

BANGKOK, Sept 29 (TNA)

 

Long delays in collecting passenger baggage appeared as a big problem needing urgent solution on the first day of regular operations for Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi Airport on Thursday.

 

The troubles were evidenced in a protest staged by around 200 Korean passengers of One-Two-Go by Orient Thai Airlines, who waited for up to four hours for their baggage but found they were missing.

 

The baggage collection process is part of ground service provided by Thai Airways International Public Company Limited.

 

The company apologized to passengers for the delay in collecting their personal belongings, stating that it would quickly solve the problem and deliver the baggage to their local addresses.

 

The delays in supplying passenger baggage were in part due to a container carrying passenger baggage from the aircraft to the passenger terminal being too big to be moved through the underground transit to the conveyor service spot.

 

Chotisak Asapaviriya, President of Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited (AoT), said the delays were caused by a shortage of trailers for baggage transport provided by THAI.

 

However, THAI executives ruled out the blame, saying up to 800 trailers had been in the airport since Thursday morning.

 

(TNA)-E005

____________________

 

And this, from the BANGKOK POST:

_____

 

First-Day Fliers Left Irked

 

Baggage and Check-in Delays at New Airport

 

AMORNRAT MAHITTHIROOK

 

Frustration and confusion were among the sentiments of many passengers using Suvarnabhumi airport, which opened for full operations yesterday. The new airport, which took over duties from Don Muang at 3am, encountered several problems. The most serious was the luggage handling system run by Thai Airways International (THAI).

 

Other problems, less serious, were the failure of the check-in system run by Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) and the dearth of signs inside the terminal.

 

Complaints from 400 South Korean passengers highlighted the dissatisfaction. ''I lost my baggage,'' one told TV crews last night after waiting for five hours after Orient Air flight OX301 from Seoul landed at 2.30pm with no sign of the luggage.

 

In fact, the problems began early yesterday morning. Some passengers on delayed flights, including THAI flights TG951 from Copenhagen, TG326 from Bangalore, TG945 from Rome, and Etihad Airways flight EY403 from Abu Dhabi, ran out of patience and complained when they had to wait for more than an hour to get their bags, with not an official in sight to help them out.

 

The opening was low-key, without an official ceremony. Only senior officials from AoT, the Transport Ministry, THAI and the Council for Democratic Reform (CDR) attended.

 

The atmosphere may well have been different had Thaksin Shinawatra still been in power. The launch date was set by the ousted prime minister, despite warnings from airlines and some officials, when he was head of the government before the coup on Sept 19.

 

Mr Thaksin, now in London after the CDR's takeover, hoped to use the airport to boost the popularity of his Thai Rak Thai party ahead of a general election.

 

''Had Mr Thaksin been here, the airport would have had an extravagant opening ceremony that would have been remembered for a long time,'' said an AoT official who insisted she was not pro-Thaksin.

 

Suvarnabhumi, located in Samut Prakan's Bang Phli district, hosted 813 flights on its first day of operations.

 

The airport commissioned THAI and Bangkok Airways for the ground handling services. Most airlines, including Orient Thai, hired the national flag carrier.

 

But THAI could not provide services for everyone. It struggled to handle luggage even for its own passengers as it did not provide enough luggage lorries.

 

AoT said the conveyor system functioned properly but the problem was caused because luggage lorries had not reached Suvarnabhumi from Don Muang.

 

THAI president Apinan Sumanaseni said all 880 lorries were moved from Don Muang to Suvarnabhumi by 2pm yesterday, but the airline later apologised for the problem.

 

AoT president Chotisak Asapaviriya had to solve the luggage problem by urgently hiring Thai Airports Ground Service (TAGS) to work at the new airport until this morning. . TAGS was a ground service firm at Don Muang but it lost out in its bid to work at Suvarnabhumi.

 

The check-in system run by AoT did not work properly from the morning-scheduled flights, causing delays for 17 out of 19 flights operated by THAI. About 200 pieces of luggage did not accompany planes carrying passengers out of the airport. The delays were between 15 and 45 minutes, the THAI president said.

 

THAI staff had to issue boarding passes and luggage tags by hand. The problem was due to an information overload in the system, transport permanent secretary Wanchai Sarathulthat said.

 

Mr Wanchai admitted that signs inside the terminal were inadequate, causing several passengers to struggle to find their way once they disembarked from aircraft.

 

The official ordered AoT to relocate a duty free shop and its advertising signs operated by King Power out of the arrival zone, saying they blocked the passage of passengers from airplanes to the immigration area.

 

King Power chief executive officer Vichai Raksriaksorn said the problem was not serious and added that the firm, which runs commercial areas at the airport, was still ready for negotiations.

 

AoT and Transport Ministry executives had said before the opening that the problems were not beyond their expectations for the first day of a new airport's operations. ''This is a minor problem and will not happen again once the transition period is over,'' Mr Chotisak said.