Suvarnabhumi Airport in 2023: A year of take-offs – and turbulence

But first, a quick introduction to Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Suvarnabhumi (“golden land” in Thai), is also known unofficially as Bangkok International Airport. But Thailand’s main international airport is actually located in neighbouring Samut Prakan province, from where it connects with downtown Bangkok via the Airport Rail Link train.

Opened in September 2006, the 32.4-square-kilometre (3,240 hectares) Suvarnabhumi is the country’s largest airport and among the biggest in Southeast Asia, serving as a regional hub for aviation.

The airport is also a major global hub for air freight (20th busiest in 2019), with a designated cargo Airport Free Zone and road links to the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), Thailand’s biggest economic zone across three provinces on the eastern seaboard.

Marking 17 years with vow to restore golden status

Suvarnabhumi Airport reached its 17th year in 2023 with operator Airports of Thailand (AOT) vowing to restore its status as one of the world’s top airports after it slipped sharply in the global rankings in recent years.

Suvarnabhumi held 10th position in the Skytrax World Airport Awards 2010 but nosedived to 77th in 2022 before pulling up to 68th this year.

In May, AOT director Kirati Kitmanawat set a goal of making Suvarnabhumi one of the world’s best airports for travellers again. The target is to break into the top 50 within two years and the top 30 in four years, he said.

To meet that goal, AOT needs to tackle the long queues at check-in, passenger screening and immigration counters, especially during rush hour, which have plagued the airport for years. The authority said it will set up around 200 self-check-in and self-service bag drop points to cut the queues.

AOT has also earmarked 9 billion baht for terminal expansion to the east of the airport, with construction expected to begin at the start of next year.

New SAT-1 terminal a game-changer

After years of construction, the new satellite terminal at Suvarnabhumi was opened in September this year, with incoming Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin cutting the ribbon.

Satellite Terminal 1 (SAT-1) cost 35 billion baht (US$1 billion) and will boost Suvarnabhumi’s capacity by 33% from 45 million to 60 million passengers per year.

SAT-1 is connected to the main airport terminal by an automated people mover (APM) train system. The terminal has six storeys, two of them underground, with a total floor area of 251,400 square metres.

AOT advises passengers flying from the new terminal to have at least 20 minutes in hand, since the APM trip from the main terminal to SAT-1 takes around 18 minutes, with services leaving every five minutes.

Passengers are also urged to check their flight information carefully, as entering SAT-1 by mistake may require them to restart the whole check-in process again, resulting in missed flights.

Visa-free policy breathes new life

In a bid to attract foreign arrivals and boost tourism, the government in September granted visa exemption for visitors from China and Kazakhstan for five months, or until February 2024, with Russia, India and Taiwan later covered by the same policy.

The visa-free policy means more foreign arrivals touching down at Suvarnabhumi Airport. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) in November reported average Chinese arrivals at around 10,000 per day, expected to increase to about 15,000 per day by the end of the year.

The introduction of visa-exemption coupled with other tourism stimulus campaigns has resulted in AOT, which operates Suvarnabhumi and five other major Thai airports, recording a profit of 8.79 billion baht for the first nine months of 2023, reversing losses of 11.09 billion baht in the same period of last year.
AOT reported increased aviation revenue of 22.26 billion baht, or a hike of 205.43% year on year, due to the surge in flights and passengers.

Animal smuggling still rampant

Smuggling of live animals and carcasses both in and out of Thailand through airport security has long been a problem at Suvarnabhumi Airport, prompting officials to increase efforts and screening technology.

On April 3, customs officials at the airport discovered some 25 live rare birds packed into the luggage of a Maldivian tourist who was leaving Bangkok for Malé. The birds were protected species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and estimated to be worth around 100,000 baht on the black market.

Luckily, they were discovered before being smuggled on board.

On October 4, however, full planeload passengers were shocked when a baby mouse and a baby otter slipped out of the luggage of two foreign passengers on board a flight heading to Taiwan’s Taoyuan International Airport. A search discovered more live animals in the luggage, including a pet snake.

The airport suspended a security screening officer the next day.

Airport representatives chalked the incident up to human error, as the officer manning the X-ray machine had asked for the luggage to be checked after spotting suspicious objects inside, but the bag-checker apparently ignored that call.

Despite the errors, Suvarnabhumi insists it runs a tight ship when it comes to detecting smuggled animal carcasses, citing the troop of 14 “Inspector Beagles” that expertly sniffed out hidden meat in luggage.

The airport security canines foiled 17 attempts to smuggle meat into the country last year, leading to the seizure of 64.8 kilos of illegal meat, according to the Livestock Development Department.

Debuted in 2012, the sniffer beagles are vital for preventing the spread of disease and to demonstrate to the world that Thailand can control animal diseases, said the department.

Watch out for crazed fans!

Passengers should be aware that airports can be packed during rush hours and therefore try to arrive as early as possible. Sometimes delays can be made worse by unforeseeable situations at the airport, such as crowds of fans flocking to welcome or send off their favourite artists.

Suvarnabhumi is no stranger to such situations. On the night of July 18, a commotion broke out between fans of Chinese superstar Jackson Wang and immigration police who were trying to prevent the crowd from getting too close to their idol.

The incident resulted in heavy congestion in the arrivals terminal and long lines at immigration counters, leaving passengers fuming.

The incident resulted in nine immigration officers being transferred to inactive posts at Royal Thai Police headquarters pending an investigation

Shocking scenes at Bangkok’s other airport

Bangkok’s second airport, Don Mueang International, had its fair share of bad news that grabbed both local and international headlines in 2023.

On June 29, the country was horrified by graphic images circulated on local media and Facebook. The images showed a young woman in agonising pain struggling to free her leg from a travelator at the airport’s Domestic Terminal 2.

The Thai woman, who was about to board a flight to Nakhon Si Thammarat province, underwent an emergency amputation of her left leg conducted by the medical team at the airport. The ensuing investigation found that the accident was caused when the travelator’s plate, installed in 2015, slipped off its frame due to missing screws.

Investigators reportedly found three loose screws in the pit beneath the travelator.

The gruesome incident led to Don Mueang Airport’s director and other senior officers being transferred to other positions by the AOT.

Don Mueang found itself in the national spotlight again on August 10 after a video clip surfaced showing a Chinese tourist causing a commotion in the international terminal.

The man was seen shouting at officials after being barred from boarding a flight home, then hitting them with a skateboard as they approached him. The incident sparked widespread criticism of perceived leniency shown by the airport police during a breach in security.

Some netizens said police officers should have immediately charged at the man and restrained him to prevent other passengers from being hurt. Others slammed Don Mueang’s security protocols as lax compared with other airports of international standard.