Suvarnabhumi still dogged with troubles

August 29th, 2007 by admin

When asked what grade she would give Suvarnabhumi Airport in its first year of operations, Sopin Daengteth hesitates.

Finally the chairwoman of the Airport Operations Committee (AOC), which represents 68 international airline managers stationed at Bangkok’s new airport, says: ”On a scale of 10, eight, perhaps.”

She quickly added that it would be very difficult to advance beyond eight as the airport still must address many deficiencies.

Other airline executives, who asked to remain anonymous, would simply give Suvarnabhumi a passing grade, suggesting that it is nowhere near competitors including Hong Kong International Airport, Singapore Changi Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Ms Sopin, who is also the station manager for Swiss International Air Lines, recognises that Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT), which operates Suvarnabhumi, has been correcting flaws at the airport and addressing dozens of complaints lodged by airlines and passengers alike.

”Unfortunately, correcting problems is painfully slow,” she said, as AoT officials fear being dragged into the ongoing investigation of alleged corruption and irregularities involving construction, procurement and concessions.

”Senior AoT officials are not making decisions as they should and are choosing to delay decisions,” she pointed out. Bureacracy is also slowing things down, she said, as AoT is rather inefficient.

”We believe what we (carriers) have been advising them to correct [deficiencies], they (AoT) already know about and have the solutions available, but these plans are not executed.”

Problems also arose because AoT lacked sufficient management skills to run a large and complex airport such as Suvarnabhumi in the first place, she pointed out.

Although AoT was partially privatised some years ago, it remains very much an old-style state enterprise without the structure and independence to effectively manage a big business.

Ms Sopin said the company lacked a service mind and professional discipline among those whose job is to serve carriers and passengers. These internal problems have given rise to bad publicity.

Frustrations such as long immigration queues, which sometimes require more than an hour of waiting, still exist.

Timelines to solve these problems are nowhere to be found.

Some airlines and passengers have also complained that value for money at the airport is poor.

Landing and parking fees rose by 15% in April and passenger service charges (PSC), more commonly known as an airport tax, increased to 700 baht per person from 500 baht for international flights, while the fee for domestic flights doubled to 100 baht.

That made airline costs at Suvarnabhumi more expensive than at rival Singapore Changi and Kuala Lumpur airports, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The Board of Airlines’ Representatives in Thailand (BAR), an industry group representing 64 international carriers, says Suvarnabhumi’s fees are uncompetitive and have deterred airlines from adding flights. In some cases, airlines have even diverted to other airports due to the costs.

Brian Sinclair-Thompson, the head of BAR, warned that airlines are shifting capacity to other countries such as China, India and Vietnam.

For Suvarnabhumi to become one the world’s best airports, AoT, subcontractors and concessionaires must all make a collective effort to solve the airport’s problems, Ms Sopin concluded.