Phuket International Airport Development

26th Oct 2010

The annual Skytrax survey of airports in 2007 labelled Phuket International Airport as an 'unclassified' airport. This is the lowest category in the star rating system Skytrax operates, from one to five star (Singapore, Hong Kong and Incheon, Seoul, South Korea, for example are among the few five star airports. Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok, which is still relatively new, is three star.)

(Skytrax is a leading, British based company that does annual surveys of airports, airlines, lounges and other components of the aviation experience.)

'Unclassified' means the airport is still subject to a star ranking review or the airport has been dropped from the star ranking programme. It does not mean the airport is unsafe. Often it can relate to the mere size of the operation.

On the surface this does not look good for Phuket Airport, which one traveler recently declared that 'architecturally and decoratively the airport is in a time warp.' However, such rankings can be deceiving.

For example an Airports Council International (ACI) survey of the 25 fastest growing airports in 2007 put Phuket Airport at number 23 with growth rate of 21.1 percent. This was for airports with over five million passengers passing through a year, a feat in itself that underlines the importance of the airport and its place in Phuket tourism. Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam were the only other Asian airports on the list.

So how do these ranking organizations come to their ratings of businesses such as PIA? They ask many questions in a 4-5 minute customer questionnaire that covers areas such as: visits, the most familiar 'experience'; standards of check in, premium check, self serve check in, baggage screening, queuing for security, security screening efficiency, queuing for immigration, immigration staff attitude, fast track facilities, baggage delivery times. In the transit and departure areas they ask questions about walking distances, connecting between flights, seating areas, toilet facilities, terminal cleanliness, directions and signage, shower facilities, transit hotel/day rooms, flight information screens, airport PA announcements and baggage trolley availability.

Looking at 'airside' facilities they ask about choice of restaurants, bars and cafes, food and drink prices, tax free shopping, prices in tax free shops, internet/WIFI availability, entertainment options, telephone/fax services, ATM cash machines, smoking lounges/segregation and airport information counter.

The most common complaint were congestion in the terminal, lack of good toilet facilities and general cleanliness, slow immigration queues and the smallness of the airport for the number of passengers it is processing. Others were very high in their praise ' nice and well equipped; clean, people are friendly, food and drinks at very reasonable prices, customs officer very efficient, short walk from check to the gate.'. It just proves that no matter how much authorities try to improve services and facilities passengers will be dictated by their personal experiences through taking the good for granted and complaining only about what they perceive as bad.

To their credit the Airports Authority of Thailand has taken on board many these observations. It has earmarked five billion baht for reconstruction, finishing in 2010. So, In the meantime, in recognition of the need to meet customer demands, the an additional 50 million baht will be used to upgrade existing facilities more rapidly.

The upgrade includes two million baht to refurbish toilets, something that passengers say is desperately needed; 40 million baht for new immigration counters and seven million baht for a temporary parking lot. All of this is in response to passenger feedback. In addition new security measures will be introduced.

The more substantial reconstruction will include a new international passenger terminal, upgrade of the domestic terminal, construction of additional taxiways and parking space for 11 more aircraft. The 3000 meter runway will not be extended. The upgrade will boost capacity to 11.5 million passengers a year from the present 6.5 million.

Wing Commander Wicha ,General Manager of PIA, said that immigration booths for arrivals will be increased by six and the same number for departures. No new toilets will be built because of space limitations but existing toilets will be upgraded and refurbished. Budgeting to expand the temporary car park has started.

Wing Commander Wicha said budgeting is being done to move a number of buildings, such for cargo, ground service equipment, engineering and the waste water plant from the southern to the north east part of the airport to make way for the new international terminal to be built. This process will take four years overall.

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