Suvarnabhumi airport gets a thumbs-down when it comes to punctuality in handling flights, earning a lowly one-star rating in a new global assessment.
Thailand's international gateway ranked 442nd among 489 airports in the biannual on-time performance (OTP) ratings conducted by OAG, a British flight data analyst.
The report, issued twice a year, accords between one and five stars to both airports and airlines on the basis of their OTP on a rolling 12-month basis.
Suvarnabhumi, which once dubbed itself "The Pride of Thailand" before changing the tagline to "The Airport of Smiles", scored 68.8 out of 100 in the OAG review, which covered the period from October 2016 to September 2017.
According to OAG, "on time" is defined as departures and arrivals that take place less than 15 minutes after the scheduled departure/arrival time.
A total of 49 airports were accredited five-star ratings, with OTP scores ranging from 85.2 to 92.8. The top five performers were Tokushima (Japan), Kochi (Japan), Hilo (Hawaii), Beauvais-Tille (France) and Birmingham (England), in that order.
There was minor consolation for Suvarnabhumi, which topped the one-star league table of 48 airports by besting regional peers in Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Jakarta.
Singapore's Changi airport, which has won accolades as one of the world's best airports in other global rankings, got a three-star OTP rating this time around with a score of 81.3.
The poor OAG ratings for Suvarnabhumi underscore severe overcrowding, a critical capacity shortfall and a refusal to keep a lid on flight movements, all of which affect the OTP score.
A total of 55.5 million passengers went through the airport in the fiscal year to September 2016, compared with a rated annual capacity of 45 million.
Airports of Thailand Plc, the state enterprise that runs Suvarnabhumi and five other large airports, had no comment on the OAG review when contacted by the Bangkok Post.
Last week, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) specifically named Suvarnabhumi as one of the airports in Asia that need improvement.
"We are headed for a major infrastructure crisis," said IATA secretary-general Alexandre de Juniac. "In many ways the Asia-Pacific region is ahead of the game with major hubs having robust expansion plans. But there are challenges. Bangkok, Manila and Jakarta are among airports that need major upgrades."