THAILAND - High five for Suvarnabhumi

Sep 22-28, 2006 TTG asia

BANGKOK – With less than a week to go before the official opening of Bangkok’s new international airport, five major airlines have confirmed their operational readiness – while tour operators hope a number of problems will be rectified before the big day.

Emirates, Air France KLM, British Airways, Lufthansa and Thai Airways International (THAI) told TTG Asia their offices, ticketing counters and lounges at Suvarnabhumi Airport would be ready in time for the September 28 opening.

Emirates area manager, Mr Soonthorn Suree, said the carrier would deploy an additional team in the first few days of operations to ensure its passengers would be well looked after.

Alternative arrangements would be provided if there were unexpected delays, he said.

Mr Soonthorn said he was confident Airports of Thailand (AoT), operator of the kingdom’s international airports, had tried and tested all facilities to ensure airlines would not be confronted with any major problems.

However, he added: “We must remember that this is a massive new airport, and as with everything that is new and big, there could be some teething problems.”

Air France KLM general manager, Mr Francis Richard, said all the airline’s electronic systems would be working on September 28 and a manual check-in system would be available as a back-up.

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