The Ministry of Transport has instructed Suvarnabhumi Airport to urgently address the issue of long immigration queues and wait times at baggage carousels in order to better facilitate the entry of international travelers amid Thailand’s tourism rebound.
Serving as the country’s main port of international arrivals, Suvarnabhumi Airport last month saw a total of 4.3 million passengers at an average of 138,287 daily passengers, representing 317% year-on-year growth.
The airport in January 2023 served 25,690 flights at a daily average of 829 flights. Some 2,000 of the flights that month – or around 80 flights per day – were from China, bringing in a total of 255,000 arrivals, or around 11,000 passengers a day.
The surge in arriving passengers has caused some issues at the airport, particularly congestion at passport control and long processing periods for baggage. Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob said that while these issues have already been addressed, more work needs to be carried out to ensure the airport’s capacity for future growth.
The Ministry of Transport has ordered Airports of Thailand (AOT) to add 60 additional immigration counters at the airport’s passport control areas. This expansion, which is in the process of selecting contractors, is expected to expand the processing capacity at passport control to 3,000 people per hour.
On the baggage handling front, AOT has instructed the two ground-handling companies to increase the number of staff members and equipment in order to accommodate more flights. Some airlines have received temporary authorization to manage their own ground-handling at the airport, in an effort to help reduce delays.
The AOT is also in the process of selecting a third ground-handling company to serve flights at the airport, as this would enable the airport to more sustainably increase its growth capacity for flights and passengers. (NNT)
