Thailand: Flawed new airport needs €35m

The taxiways are cracked, the terminal has leaks and some airlines even wonder whether it is safe to fly into Thailand’s new international airport.

Bangkok’s sleek and modern Suvarnabhumi Airport, which opened to great fanfare in September, was supposed to transform the Thai capital into south-east Asia’s leading air hub. To say it has had a rocky start would be an understatement.

Critics at home have derided the new airport as a national embarrassment and a monument to the alleged corruption of deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thaksin, whose administration handed out most of the airport’s building contracts, was ousted in a coup just days before Suvarnabhumi opened on September 28.

“There is so much bad news about this airport – and so much that needs to be fixed,” said Yodiam Teptaranon, a board member of Airports of Thailand, or AOT, the national airport authority. “Everything seems to be happening all at once. It makes everyone concerned.”

Transport Minister Thira Haocharoen recommended today that Bangkok’s old and now shuttered Don Muang airport be reopened for domestic flights that do not connect to international routes. The reopening, which is expected to get Cabinet approval next week, would help ease congestion while repairs are made at Suvarnabhumi and could be permanent, he said.

Ll told, there are 61 glitches, problems and design flaws that need to be repaired at an estimated cost of €35m, according to a study conducted by the board of AOT, which hopes to fix the problems within six months and sees no need to close the airport during repairs.

The most urgent problem is cracks on the tarmac. Early last week, airport authorities said that more than 100 cracks were detected in taxiways leading to Suvarnabhumi’s two runways. The cracks first emerged about two weeks after the airport opened and have spread to 25 separate locations, said Somchai Sawasdeepon, the airport’s general manager.

As a result, planes are unable to use 11 out of 51 air bridges for boarding aircraft, causing inconvenience to passengers who are shuttled by bus to and from their planes.

Suvarnabhumi is the gateway for millions of tourists who flock to Thailand every year for its white-sand beaches. So far, tour agencies say they have seen no fallout and officials report that despite last year’s political instability Thailand recorded its highest number of tourists ever – 13.8 million, up nearly 20% from 2005.