Suvarnabhumi beefs up security, facilities for long holiday

BANGKOK, July 16 (TNA) -- Thailand's Suvarnabhumi Airport is beefing up security and better preparing facilities to cater to the higher demands, as an average of about 152,000 passengers are expected to pass through the airport during the long weekend from July 16-20. Cabinet aimed to stimulate economy and promote tourism-related business sectors, approved Monday, July 18 as additional public holidays which will give residents a five-day holiday from Saturday 16 to Wednesday July 20. July 19 is Asalha Puja Day and July 20 marks the start of the Buddhist Lent. Suvarnabhumi airport general manager Sirote Duangratana said July 16-20 is the 5-day long weekend for the Asalha Puja and Buddhist Lent celebrations, where a total of 759,155 passengers are projected to pass through the airport alone, with an average of about 151,831 passengers are expecting to use the airport per day. He said up to 4,591 flights are expected to fly through the airport during the 5-day long weekend, where daily average flights would stand at 918 flights for each day of the ling weekend. To cater to the higher volume of passengers for the Buddhist holidays, the airport has prepared extra parking spaces which would accommodate 450 cars. Moreover, Suvarnabhumi Airport would also be exempting parking charges for passengers who had planned to park their cars for an extended period. Passengers could also use the shuttle buses that connects between the parking building and the terminals free of charge during the long weekend holiday. The airport has further mobilised more officials around the airport to provide customers with more conveniences and would act as a central communication point between passengers and the Airpots of Thailand (AoT) and other concerned agencies in providing assistance. The airport has also coordinated with the Immigration Department in providing more immigration officials to cater to the higher passenger volume, while mobilising more airport staff to help Thai nationals use the Auto Channel with ease. The number of security officers would be mobilised to patrol around the airport to ensure passengers and customers' safety. (TNA)