March 19--BANGKOK (THE NATION/ANN) -- Bangkok's "single" airport controversy has returned to haunt all participants in the travel sector, especially air passengers who are most likely to suffer from rising congestion at Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Should the government opt for a single or dual international airports (with a second at Don Mueang), and who would benefit the most from each of these approaches? These are now the big questions facing the government.
The heavy passenger congestion at Suvarnabhumi was the talk of the town last week as passengers took more than three hours to get through the departure procedure. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said the government would move all low-cost flight services from Suvarnabhumi to Don Mueang, citing Deputy Prime Minister and Tourism and Sports Minister Chumpol Silapa-archa.
Yingluck and Transport Minister Chatchart Sithipan both want to move all low-cost flight services to Don Mueang in a bid to ease the load at Suvarnabhumi, which now handles 47 million or 48 million passengers a year, surpassing its capacity of 45 million. To achieve the goal, the government will offer tax incentives on landing, parking bay and other fees.
If we want to become an aviation hub by sticking to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA)'s suggestion that we maintain a single airport policy, we might suffer more than ever from congestion, market watchers said. If the Airports of Thailand (AOT) cannot build a domestic terminal and a third runway in Suvarnabhumi's second phase, due to be complete in 2016, congestion will get more intense.
The second phase, with an estimated cost of 62 billion baht, is set for a five-year period of construction ending in 2016. Following the plan, the airport will be able to handle 15 million more passengers a year, totalling 60 million, and 28 more parking bays, of which some would be for A380 aircraft, for a total of 148.
A single airport would facilitate connecting flight services, but it would take five more years to complete terminal and runway expansion to handle the additional passengers.
It is possible that the long queue of passengers at the immigration gate at Suvarnabhumi being used as a pretext for moving low-cost flight services to Don Mueang. Why doesn't the government solve the core problem, which is mismanagement by airport operator AOT, and speed up construction of the airport's second phase?
The point is that the government is not in a good position to proceed with expanding its investment in Suvarnabhumi, but the number of passengers there is increasing rapidly. Moreover, the government has already spent much money on populist schemes that it promised in order to win the election in July, along with compensation for the floods in the second half of last year. There are a number of mega-investment projects already queuing up for a budget.
One way to solve the congestion problem at Suvarnabhumi is to |move all low-cost carriers, the biggest of which is Thai AirAsia, which operates 82 to 90 flights a |day. A source at AOT said moving |all low-cost flight services would help reduce congestion at Suvarnabhumi by around 8-10 million passengers a year. This would also help slow down the investment in construction of Suvarnabhumi's second phase.
But another big question is what kind of incentives the government will offer to those low-cost airlines to encourage them to move. These days, many airlines are expanding the number of flights they offer, |both domestically and internationally, including connecting flights. Last week, low-cost airlines urged the government to clarify its incentives.
AOT, meanwhile, is not believed to be in favour of moving the low-cost carriers, as its management costs could double, but it would not gain any fee income from Don Mueang, the source said.
Operators of retail spaces, car-parking lots and hotels near Don Mueang, should be the gainers in this game if moving the low-cost flight services to the airport is successful.
Copyright 2012 - The Nation, Bangkok, Thailand / Asia News Network
