Bangkok infrastructure faulted

Bangkok infrastructure faulted

Bangkok airport infrastructure is deficient, having failed to expand fast enough to cope with staggering traffic demand.

Bangkok is one of eight cities highlighted by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) for aviation infrastructure shortcomings.

IATA director-general Alexandre De Juniac has taken governments to task for not doing enough to meet aviation infrastructure needs, calling for greater urgency to ensure infrastructure matches demand.

Bangkok, whose two main airports, Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang, are facing critical congestion, was singled out along with Sydney, Manila, Jakarta, Mumbai, Mexico City, New York and Sao Paulo for suffering bottlenecks.

Figures from the Airports of Thailand Plc showed a total of 59.1 million passengers were crammed into Suvarnabhumi in the fiscal year to Sept 30, up 6.5% from the previous year, while its capacity stands at 45 million passengers a year.

Don Mueang processed 37.2 million passengers, 7.2% more than the previous year, versus its capacity of 30 million passengers a year.

The IATA chief has called on governments to work with the industry to plan and build the requisite infrastructure to ensure their economies reap the gains from a growing global air transport industry.

"There is no time to lose. Governments are not meeting their responsibility to provide sufficient infrastructure for the industry to meet demand," he told reporters at IATA's industry outlook presentation last week.

"Our demands are rather simple. We need capacity to meet demand. Airports must be aligned with user needs for quality and technical specifications. And affordability is key."

The global aviation industry body expects airlines to carry 4.1 billion passengers in 2017, along with 59.9 million tonnes of cargo.

Next year, IATA expects to see passenger numbers grow to 4.3 billion, while freight will reach 62.5 million tonnes, in the wake of continued robust travel demand and the improved global economy.

In a separate press briefing, Lara Maughan, head of worldwide airport slots at IATA, pointed to the fact that airport capacity and airline demand for access to airports cannot keep pace with each other.

Passenger numbers are due to nearly double over the next 20 years to 7.2 billion passengers annually.

But airport capacity is not keeping pace, neither is it forecast to, she said, while passenger load factors are hitting all-time highs, with demand booming.

The latest forecasts by plane-makers Airbus and Boeing indicate the number of operating aircraft are forecast to double over the next two decades.

"There is no doubt, we are entering a period where capacity availability is going to impact the ability to serve the forecast demand," said Ms Maughan.

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