THAI gears up for airport mega-move
Thai Airways International Plc said yesterday that it was ready to transfer personnel and equipment relating to its six main activities to Suvarnabhumi Airport, in time for the new airport's opening on 28 September.
Kobchai Srivilas, senior executive vice president, said the company was set to transfer its of cargo and commercial mail operations, ground support equipment services, catering services, its aircraft maintenance centre, customer services and its operations centre. A total of 1.8 million pieces of equipment and machinery will have to be moved. Objects to be transferred have been separated into nine groups and will be transported by large trucks, including 10-wheeler lorries. The whole move is expected to take about 2,200 trips. In addition, some 800 service vehicles will also be transferred separately in three stages. Items to be moved in the pre-transfer period, which starts this month and comprise some 1,248 trips, are those which do not affect day-to-day operations, such as office equipment and spare parts that are not used regularly. The critical period - the day before the airport opens - will see a lightning-speed shipment of equipment used in everyday flight operations, such as ground support equipment services, cargo and catering services. The anticipated 1,086 trips are scheduled to take no more than six hours in total. The final phase will include gear that can be moved after the opening, such as aircraft spare parts and equipment used in the parking bay. This is expected to encompass 595 trips. In addition to the transfer of apparatus, on the evening of September 27, THAI will transfer its aircraft. A total of 27 aircraft will be flown without passengers from Bangkok International to Suvarnabhumi. Meanwhile, Transport permanent secretary Wanchai Sarathulthat said, following a meeting with related agencies yesterday, that several agencies are anxious that domestic flights, due to start operations on September 15, will not be ready. "It's not mandatory for airlines to operate on the day. It would be voluntary," he said. Thai AirAsia and Bangkok Airways have said they will not be ready to operate flights on September 15, as proposed by caretaker Transport Minister Pongsak Ruktapongpisal. The companies have said they will move to the new airport on September 28 for the official inauguration.
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