AOT wants Suvarnabhumi to be No 1 among large airports
Airports of Thailand (AOT) plans to make Suvarnabhumi the world's best large airport by 2019.
Launched seven years ago, Suvarnabhumi is now ranked sixth on the Airports Council International (ACI) list of airports handling 40 million to 50 million passengers annually.
“We will improve the airport staff’s language proficiency, boost commercial revenue-raising capacity, and improve the airport’s internal management,” AOT vice chairman Pongsak Semson said while discussing how to raise Suvarnabhumi Airport’s ranking.
The airport’s executive vice president, Rawewan Netrakavesna, said Suvarnabhumi had generated greater revenue for passenger service charges during the past year.
It is estimated that Suvarnabhumi Airport serviced about 51 million passengers in the 12 months from last October until this month. This is in spite of AirAsia shifting its flights from Suvarnabhumi to Don Mueang since October 1, 2012.
“Since that move, the number of domestic passengers at Suvarnabhumi Airport has dropped by 30 per cent,” Rawewan said, “but the number of international passengers has risen by 13 per cent.”
In its first phase, Suvarnabhumi Airport has the capacity to service 45 million passengers each year.
The AOT is now urgently working on the development of Suvarnabhumi Airport’s second phase. The development project is expected to be completed in late 2016. With its completion, the airport will have the capacity to serve 60 million passengers a year.
Rawewan said the number of passengers passing through Suvarnabhumi Airport was expected to soar to 53.7 million in fiscal year 2014, which would start next month.
“So we are now urgently improving the transfer-baggage terminal, too, to ease baggage overcrowding. Once this part of the work is completed, the time needed for baggage transfer for flight connection should be reduced from 75 minutes to just 60 minutes,” she said.
She added that the improvement at the transfer-baggage terminal should be completed by next May.
Pongsak said the AOT was looking at the possibility of offering airport-management services to neighbouring countries under the Asean Economic Community.
