Suvarnabhumi to reopen in 1-2 weeks

[Al.]

Airports of Thailand Plc expects to reopen Suvarnabhumi Airport in 1 week at the earliest and 2 weeks at the latest, said the company's acting president Serirat Prasutanond.

 

He said on Wednesday that the airport could be reopened for full operations only after complete inspection for irregularities, explosives, and readiness of equipment and systems.

 

After the inspection, all systems would be tested and if all are stable and ready, the Civil Aviation Department would be invited for inspection. Then, coming would be pilot representatives and representatives from airlines. If things go smoothly, the airport would be fully reopened.

 

"If the systems are intact, the airport could be reopened soon," Serirat said.

 

On Wednesday, Thai Airways International landed the first flight from Phuket at 2pm and it would also fly passengers of six special flights from the airport to six international destinations.

 

THAI Flight TG2109 from Phuket was the first to land at Suvarnabhumi on December 3 as the airport was partially open. The flight, through Boeing 747-400, carried 351 passengers.

 

The second flight belonged to Royal Jordan RJ180, of which 60 passengers were flown from Jordan to Bangkok at 3.25pm. Immigrations and Customs services were provided at THAI's Crew Centre.

 

Suvarnabhumi in the afternoon of December 3 will also welcome Bangkok Airways' PG148 at 4.20pm. Meanwhile, another flight will leave the airport for Samui.

 

Cargo planes resumed their operations on Tuesday.

 

"We're trying hard to ensure that the airport could be reopened within Dec 15. As the situation improves, we will inform all those in the aviation industry that we can resume the operations," Serirat said.

 

He noted that damage during the shutdown period was estimated at over Bt100 million per day.

 

"We have learnt the lesson. This affects the entire nation and all lose. If there is any more political conflict, please never again take Suvarnabhumi as the political tool," he plead.

 

He insisted that on the day that protesters took control of the airport, AOT had done its best to protect the airport. All security officers and police officers did their best, under the guideline that there must be no clash.

 

At 10am, protesters started to pack their belongings and leave the airport and airport security officers since Tuesday night have returned to the site. On Wednesday, Customs officers were also seen.

 

On Wednesday morning, while many areas like the check-in counters return to normal conditions, but the PAD stage remained with some leaders on the stage.

 

 

The Nation

 

Al.

[Scumbag]

People have been posting that some flights will start arriving on the 5th...TiT

[templeman]

What about the other airport in Bkk

Could they not us that also,if it took less time to get fully operational????

[en184]

Hmm - Get your skates on AOT. 2 weeks, and xmas will be cancelled for me. Swiss wont fly if it not officially open

[.Q.]

They will say it will take longer so when they open it earler it makes them look good. it's the oldest trick in the book.

[gilligan]

They will say it will take longer so when they open it earler it makes them look good. it's the oldest trick in the book.

 

man, i hope you are right!

 

i am in limbo. i just spoke to my travel agent about trying to change my landing date from dec 11 to dec 16. she just told me that we should wait since we may be able to get in on dec 11.

 

i just don't know what to believe. initially they said not before dec 15, but not i get the fealing that it may be sooner.

 

help!!!

[en184]

I test software for banks for a living. To test a whole airport, 2 weeks is optomistic. they would need a whole team of testers, bomb searchers etc.

 

If anything critical is damaged, such as security systems, etc, they got a problem.

.

[Scumbag]

I have to say that even if the whole security system is down at Suvarnabhumi it would still be a better security option than U-Tapao. As long as the lights, x-ray machines, metal detectors and the air traffic control system are all working it would be a far sight better than U-Tapao.

[lantern]

I wonder how many airlines will feel confident, in this heightened security era, flying into an international airport with security so lax that it can be overtaken by a mob at any moment!

 

The repercussions from this will be going on for years.