BANGKOK, Oct 26 – Thailand’s national Airports of Thailand (AoT) authority is confident that Suvarnabhumi Airport, the main airport serving the capital, will be spared inundation, AoT Chairman ACM Sumet Phomanee said on Wednesday.
The water situation around Suvarnabhumi Airport is not worrisome and the water level outside the 3.50-metre high earthen dyke around the airport is at its normal level of 0.70 metres.
He said the airport is still operating normally and does not have a problem with crowded space in the passenger terminal despite several commercial airlines shifting their service base from Don Mueang to Suvarnabhumi.
However, parking spaces may be insufficient as AoT allows the public to park their cars at designated premises at no charge to avoid flood damage, he added.
Wing Commander Sook Puengtham, deputy director of Suvarnabhumi Airport, said the water level outside the dyke has dropped from 70cm to 40cm after the airport cooperated with the Royal Irrigation Department to use eight water pumps to drain about one million cubic metres of water out of the area surrounding the airport per day.
Suvarnabhumi Airport can operate services for 76 flights per hour at full capacity.
Currently, only 800 flights per day use the facilities with an average load of 100,000 passengers, said Wilaiwan Natwilai, Suvarnabhumi Airport spokesperson.
Regarding parking space, Ms Wilaiwan advised passengers to use public transportation such as the Airport Rail Link for convenient travel to the airport.
