Yep the airport again

It's not just you selfish passengers, you know (although here's one guy's opinion from FlyerTalk, the Frequent Flyer forum)

Just went through Suvarnambumi today... can't say my experience has been good... just a couple of comments for now:

1. The lights used were also very harsh, and all in one place on the third level and gave the whole place a hospital feel... but there were very few lights on the gates level, which made the whole gate area very dark, especially nighttime
2. The split level design of the airport is not user friendly.. you go up and down on the escalators for no reason at all... go up for departure areas, then go down for lounge, then go back up for shops and then through security and then go down again for gate area...
3. Gate areas too small and not enough seating... was at gate C2, and there were maybe a less than 100 seats in the whole departure gate area.. tons of people were standing around with nowhere to sit.. this was only for a 333.. can't imagine how many people there will be with a 744..
4. The whole airport just looks so sterile, and others have mentioned it, the floor and tiles were already stained and dirty looking..
5. boarding process is horrible... reminds me of FRA where after anouncing boarding for premium passengers only.. everyone just crowds around the doors while people in business class are trying to get through.. not because the people wanted to be in the way, but there's not actually enough space for the people to move to!
6. took forever for the plane to taxi as the airport is so big it takes a while to get to the runway...

overall, while its newer and glitzier, I personally think its a step down from Don Muang..

from http://www.flyertalk.com/forums/showthr ... 732&page=3 (if you want the reference)

It's also us poor importers and exporters (my family company trades out of Thailand)

Traders: Air freights stuck in slow lane

Fresh food halted in fear of delay and loss

ARANEE JAIIMSIN

While the focus at the new Suvarnabhumi Airport has been on reducing inconvenience for passengers, air-freight specialists say their problems are even worse and demand more urgent attention.

Air exports of fresh agricultural products were currently at 80% of normal quantities because logistics procedures at Suvarnabhumi had been poorly prepared, said Waiyawut Nisapakultorn, secretary-general of the Thai Fruit and Vegetable Producers Association.

On the airport's first day of operations last Thursday, no fresh produce shipments were delivered to Hong Kong or Beijing, while some shipments to Dubai faced problems, he said.

"The loss derived from the fact that the government was in a hurry to open the airport and paid less attention to providing proper facilities for air-freight forwarders," said Mr Waiyawut.

Agricultural products _ plants, fruit, vegetables and ornamental fish _ account for about 40% of air export volume from Thailand and were worth about 11 billion baht last year.

Many fruit and vegetable exporters suspended their shipments over the weekend because they were afraid that clients would be upset about delayed or even lost shipments due to poor logistics procedures at the airport, said Mr Waiyawut.

"Exporters must be responsible for clients' [damage] claims without any assistance from airlines."

The rest of the story is at http://www.bangkokpost.com/Business/02Oct2006_biz01.php

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Well, I arrived yesterday. I can confirm what others have said: I did get home in reasonable time but I also think that traffic was reduced more than it would be at rush hour time save for it just being after a coup.

So arrivals work, but you will (or at least I did) miss the spaciousness of Don Muang and I think the "arrival lounge", which does not really exist, was a serious design flaw done for a city like Los Angeles, not Bangkok. In LA you get out the door and into a private vehicle. In Bangkok, travellers generally DO NOT drive and not everyone owns 1 or 2 cars, thank god.

Just MY opinion.

Well, I arrived yesterday. I can confirm what others have said: I did get home in reasonable time but I also think that traffic was reduced more than it would be at rush hour time save for it just being after a coup.

The story is about cargo movements, dear boy. As is the next one

But still not a success story

IT glitches blamed for cargo delays

Staff problems also cited for troubles

WICHIT CHANTANUSORNSIRI & BOONSONG KOSITCHOTETHANA

IT problems and inexperienced staff have resulted in losses for private shippers at the recently opened Suvarnabhumi Airport, Customs Department officials acknowledged yesterday. The customs-free zone at the new airport has been a scene of chaos since the 125 billion baht airport formally opened last month, with shippers reporting lengthy paperwork delays, missing shipments and communication problems. Customs officials said the problems stemmed from failures in the Air Cargo Communication System (ACCS), set up by Airports of Thailand to manage shipments moving through the airport. ACCS has proved a complete failure to date, said Suriya Sukanand, director of the Suvarnabhumi office of the Customs Department.

Officials also blame the disarray on the inexperience of cargo handling newcomer Bangkok Flight Services (BFS), a 50:50 joint venture between French-owned Worldwide Flight Services and Bangkok Airways. Some shippers are reportedly planning to take legal action against BFS for the delays. BFS and Thai Airways International are the main cargo handlers at the airport. ACCS comprises eight sub-systems that electronically control all cargo handling in and out of the customs-free zone. AOT has vowed to address the problems within the ACCS within the next three months.

In the meantime, the AOT has requested that the Customs Department use its existing EDI (electronic data interchange) platform, a system that has been used for the past decade at Don Muang Airport. But this also led to problems, as BFS encountered difficulties in linking up with the EDI system, resulting in lost cargo, delayed deliveries and improper accounting, Mr Suriya said. Customs officials then decided to use manual processing to get around the difficulties in the computer networks, but BFS staff had trouble handling the system. "BFS staff have also had difficulties in keying in invoice data for transmission to the Customs Department, resulting in further delays for exporters and importers," Mr Suriya said.

Responding to the allegations, Prasert Prasarttong-Osoth, the founder and chief executive of Bangkok Airways, acknowledged that problems had occurred due to inexperienced staff. BFS staff had been trained to operate using the ACCS system, not manual processing, he said. Dr Prasert insisted that the company was making progress in addressing the issues, with new staff brought in to help with the workload. Operations are expected to turn to normal within the next several weeks, he added.

"I've been personally monitoring the situation everyday and all of us have been proactive to resolve problems," he said in a phone interview from Japan. BFS had also paid full compensation to all affected parties in accordance with international practice, Dr Prasert said.

BFS managing director Stewart Sinclair said the decision by AOT to downgrade from the ACCS to the EDI system had forced the company to rewrite its interfaces linking the company's own cargo management systems with those of the Customs Department. Delays have occurred due to the fact that BFS now must input a much greater amount of information than originally anticipated under the ACCS, he said. Infrastructure problems, coupled with the lack of sufficient warehouses for freight forwarders, had also complicated cargo management within the customs free zone. "We have met with the freight forwarder community on several occasions and also met with various other stakeholders to find suitable workable solutions to this problem which has resulted in the forwarders being allowed to move into the second row warehouses on a temporary basis for two months," Mr Sinclair said. "If this current arrangement remains in place, BFS will be well placed to dramatically improve our service to customers as this more closely represents the original operating procedures for the customs-free zone."

BFS is a newcomer to the cargo handling field, and won the contract at Suvarnabhumi after Thai Airport Ground Services, which had operated at Don Muang, failed to pass screening. Sources said the troubles encountered at BFS had led many shippers to switch to Thai Airways services instead, resulting in further logjams at the airport. Since Suvarnabhumi Airport opened on Sept 28, a total of 27,587 outbound manifests have been processed for an average of 4,600 per day, well over the 4,000 per day average recorded at Don Muang. Inbound traffic, however, has been lighter, with Suvarnabhumi handling a total number of 21,249 import manifests since opening, or 3,558 per day, compared with an average of 4,000 at Don Muang.