fountainhall
February 20th, 2016, 10:14
As if the country's aviation industry did not have enough problems on its plate as it struggles to upgrade safety facilities to comply with US and European regulations and promised deadlines continue to be missed, now there is another voice claiming there are even more problems. With BKK again struggling with overcrowding and nearly 20% more passengers than the maximum for which it was designed, the head of the International Air Transport Association Tony Tyler has condemned the airport management by calling the airport a "safety risk". In particular he has called for an end to the fixing of holes opening on the taxiways, apron and gate areas using "unnacceptable" asphalt instead of concrete -
(Tyler) urged the Thai authorities to fix the problem of 'soft spots' in poor quality tarmac at Suvarnabhumi airport, where airliners sometimes got stuck and had to be pulled out. Mr Tyler said a permanent solution was needed. "There seems to be a constant resurfacing with a temporary patchwork of asphalt reinforcements. Frankly, that is not good enough.
"The runway and gate downtime that results from constantly fixing (and re-fixing) them is unacceptable.
"Moreover the situation is a safety risk. The extraordinary power that aircraft need to use around soft spots and extra-towing expose ground personnel, ground equipment and the aircraft to safety risks.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-35613792
As one who flies frequently in and out of BKK in A380s, I feel lucky that I have not yet been in one that got stuck. Thankfully, Tyler's comments do not concern the runways themselves. Prior to the IATA job, Tyler was the CEO of Cathay Pacific and knows what he is talking about. He does so with a frankness missing from most of the utterances of the Thai airport management authorities.
With passenger numbers growing at an annual 10%, Tyler adds "Overcrowding is a serious issue that will become critical quickly." He claims the Thai government's priority of expanding Don Mueang and Phuket is erroneous and BKK must be upgraded first including the addition of the 3rd runway, promised years ago but still not approved.
When I met my niece from an Emirates flight arriving around 12:30 midday last year, it took her 1 hour and 40 minutes to clear Immigration. That lunchtime period probably continues to be one of the worst for Immigration, if only because there are 3 A380s - 2 from Emirates and 1 from Qatar - arriving within a 30 minute period, and that's in addition to a host of smaller planes. As these page shots from the last few days show, it just needs on or more flights to be behind schedule and two A380s arrive at virtually the same time. There is even one showing the two Emirates flights landing together on both runways.
http://i1125.photobucket.com/albums/l597/fountainhall/2_EK_A380s_arrive.jpg (http://s1125.photobucket.com/user/fountainhall/media/2_EK_A380s_arrive.jpg.html)
http://i1125.photobucket.com/albums/l597/fountainhall/EK_QR_Arrive.jpg (http://s1125.photobucket.com/user/fountainhall/media/EK_QR_Arrive.jpg.html)
I will always avoid arriving around this time. It would be preferable to spend another couple of hours or so at Dubai or Doha airports than fight the queues at BKK.
Taken from the Plane Finder app.
(Tyler) urged the Thai authorities to fix the problem of 'soft spots' in poor quality tarmac at Suvarnabhumi airport, where airliners sometimes got stuck and had to be pulled out. Mr Tyler said a permanent solution was needed. "There seems to be a constant resurfacing with a temporary patchwork of asphalt reinforcements. Frankly, that is not good enough.
"The runway and gate downtime that results from constantly fixing (and re-fixing) them is unacceptable.
"Moreover the situation is a safety risk. The extraordinary power that aircraft need to use around soft spots and extra-towing expose ground personnel, ground equipment and the aircraft to safety risks.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-35613792
As one who flies frequently in and out of BKK in A380s, I feel lucky that I have not yet been in one that got stuck. Thankfully, Tyler's comments do not concern the runways themselves. Prior to the IATA job, Tyler was the CEO of Cathay Pacific and knows what he is talking about. He does so with a frankness missing from most of the utterances of the Thai airport management authorities.
With passenger numbers growing at an annual 10%, Tyler adds "Overcrowding is a serious issue that will become critical quickly." He claims the Thai government's priority of expanding Don Mueang and Phuket is erroneous and BKK must be upgraded first including the addition of the 3rd runway, promised years ago but still not approved.
When I met my niece from an Emirates flight arriving around 12:30 midday last year, it took her 1 hour and 40 minutes to clear Immigration. That lunchtime period probably continues to be one of the worst for Immigration, if only because there are 3 A380s - 2 from Emirates and 1 from Qatar - arriving within a 30 minute period, and that's in addition to a host of smaller planes. As these page shots from the last few days show, it just needs on or more flights to be behind schedule and two A380s arrive at virtually the same time. There is even one showing the two Emirates flights landing together on both runways.
http://i1125.photobucket.com/albums/l597/fountainhall/2_EK_A380s_arrive.jpg (http://s1125.photobucket.com/user/fountainhall/media/2_EK_A380s_arrive.jpg.html)
http://i1125.photobucket.com/albums/l597/fountainhall/EK_QR_Arrive.jpg (http://s1125.photobucket.com/user/fountainhall/media/EK_QR_Arrive.jpg.html)
I will always avoid arriving around this time. It would be preferable to spend another couple of hours or so at Dubai or Doha airports than fight the queues at BKK.
Taken from the Plane Finder app.