Industry group calls Bangkok airport a safety risk
Print Edition
THE International Air Transport Association has warned that Bangkok’s main Suvarnabhumi Airport is a safety risk, with “serious” overcrowding soon to become a critical issue, and urgent expansion needed, the Nation daily said yesterday.
Thailand is under pressure to improve its aviation standards after the United States Federal Aviation Administration downgraded the country’s safety ratings in December.
“There are also safety concerns on the airport’s tarmac, taxiways and apron area because of soft spots,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s director-general and chief executive officer.
“Aircraft get stuck in the soft surface due to substandard materials,” he told the newspaper in an interview in Bangkok.
Thailand’s aviation industry is under scrutiny after the United Nation’s International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO) downgraded the country last June, giving it a red flag for missing a deadline to tackle safety concerns.
This week, the Thai civil aviation authority said a review by ICAO was likely to be delayed until early next year as it needed more time to improve the qualification of Thai auditors.
Tyler said the airport, which handles 52 million passengers a year, had a significant regional and global role but needed urgent expansion of its terminal capacity, the Nation said.
“It was designed to handle 45 million passengers annually, but it exceeds that today and traffic is still growing at an annual 10 percent rate,” Tyler said.
“Overcrowding is a serious issue that will become critical quickly,” he said.
The IATA represents almost 260 airlines, accounting for 83 percent of global air traffic.
Thai airport operator Airports of Thailand said it was aware of the problems flagged by IATA and has readied several measures to improve runways using concrete and expand capacity, which are awaiting government approval.
“We have prepared short to medium and long-term plans to solve the problems,” said Sirote Duangratana, general manager of Suvarnabhumi Airport.
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