Phuket airport will alter the checking process of hold baggage next month to ease passenger congestion outside the terminals.
Airport general manager Monrudee Gettuphan said departing passengers can go directly to the check-in counters inside the terminal from April 1 and their hold baggage will be x-rayed when it is moved onto the belts to the aircraft.
Passengers will be notified if the machines find suspicious objects in the suitcases when they are screened, she added.
Passengers leaving Phuket airport now are required to screen their luggage before going inside the building. The screening process at the entrance will be scrapped on April 1, Mrs Monrudee said.
"With the in-line screening system, passengers will be more convenient and congestions outside the airport will be reduced," she said.
Phuket is one of the six airports operated by Airports of Thailand Plc. It led other airports in the passenger traffic growth in 2016 with 17.5% to 15.1 million.
Its new terminal opened in September last year and the old terminal is under renovation now.
