Airport Review by : Gan Yung Chyan
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to Everyone
There have been negative reviews posted on Facebook and Skytrax over the immigration queues of the newly-expanded Phuket International Airport, which now consists of a separate international passenger terminal for charter and scheduled flights, Terminal X for private jet flights and the smaller domestic passenger terminal. Complaints are about longer queues before immigration and inadequate immigration staff. Last week, the reporter of this medium took the opportunity to fly with Tigerair to Phuket for a last minute review of the new international passenger terminal before Christmas with the aim to testify if the queues are longer than previously. There are also more discoveries in the airport premises.
The Tigerair flight flew past above the scenic Mai Khao Beach and landed on the runway passing by the Domestic Terminal and finally arrived at the International Terminal. The roof of the international terminal is wave-shaped, reminding passengers that Phuket is for relaxation and beach recreation. The International Terminal is larger than the older one. It has bigger and cleaner windows than those of Suvarnabhumi International Airport. Passengers can see the aircraft parking at the tarmac more clearly than at Suvarnabhumi. Obviously, this is an advantage for landing and transiting at Phuket International Airport.
Morning queues before Immigration are typically long as there are more tourists from Europe on inbound flights and typically it takes Europeans more time to clear the immigration to claim their luggage.
Try to avoid queues that are closer to the right. The average waiting time for a passenger to clear the Immigration is not more than 10 minutes. However, an immigration officer from an unoccupied immigration desk will come out to channel tourist queues to an immigration desk that has just been opened. There are more occupied immigration desks in the middle and towards the left but it takes a passenger including the reporter 20 minutes, never an hour, to wait for his turn to get his passport stamped.
Two suggestions to the airport: Add the ASEAN tourist sign to two immigration desks next to the immigration desk with the Thai / Diplomatic / Official sign on the right. Many inbound international tourists are of ASEAN nationalities. Employ two security officers to channel tourist queues.
An advice to the tourist: Try to choose a morning inbound flight to Phuket and depart from the Phuket airport in the evening. Never transit for an outbound flight in the afternoon from Phuket due to the morning immigration queues. Avoid Thai AirAsia 1 pm fight to Phuket from Singapore if one is on transit to another afternoon point-to-point flight from Phuket.
The immigration queues are not the only situations that create hassles among tourists.
First-time visitors will note that there is no restaurant, no food stall and no food court at the Arrival hall. The Arrival hall provides tourism information and there are taxi and mini-bus counters where one can buy tickets for travel to Patong and other parts of Phuket. Above the Arrival area is a Rest zone located before the 7-11 convenience store.
To find food to eat, it is advisable to go down to the basement, turn left, and turn right to the Departure hall on the third floor. One needs to get the luggage scanned again in order to reach the Departure hall. At the Departure hall, go up the escalator to the fourth floor where restaurant chains like ThaiExpress and Ajisan Ramen are located. Besides the restaurants, one can also find rows of beach chairs where one can take a nap on. This is located next to the ice cream stall.
The Airlines' offices are located on the second floor. Again, one needs to get the luggage scanned on the first floor before entering the second floor via a lift. These offices are now smaller than the previous airlines' offices at the old international terminal which is now being converted into the Domestic Terminal.
Unfortunately, apart from Emirates office, one is unable to find many brochures and inflight magazines at offices of Cathay Dragon and Qatar Airways. While timetables are aplenty at SilkAir office in the airport in the mornings, there are none at Malaysia Airlines and Thai Airways offices and it is impossible to find the airport office of FireFly. The office of Thomas Cook Airlines, Arkefly and other European airlines that fly to Phuket is located on the basement of the car park building opposite the international terminal but it is out of bounds to tourists most of the time.
There is a free 24-hour airport shuttle bus service to the Domestic Terminal on the third floor. It takes about 10 minutes including waiting time to reach the Domestic Terminal from the international terminal as the driver waits for the bus to have at least 80 per cent seating occupancy before moving onward to the Domestic Terminal.
The bus stop of the airport shuttle bus service is unfortunately located in the smoking zone. Tour buses also stop here. Another suggestion to the airport: Keep the bus stop free from tobacco smoke by imposing fines for smoking. Designate another stop for tour buses so that it is easier for tourists to look for the airport shuttle bus.
On the road turning towards the direction to the Domestic Terminal, it is congested. Please take note that the Domestic Terminal is under renovation from November 2016 to 11 December 2017. Congestion is expected. There will be a link bridge corridor from the Domestic Terminal to the new International Terminal in December 2017 once renovation and upgrading works are complete.
The Domestic Terminal is smaller and congested. The only restaurant opening for business to domestic and transit passengers is the Phuket Airport Restaurant operated by Thai Airways International. Formerly, it was a lounge restaurant for Thai Airways passengers only. Waitress service is polite and friendly. Vegetarian food is available. Free water is served.
Shuttle travel from the Domestic Terminal to the International Terminal takes 5 minutes.
The toilets are clean but the auto-soap dispensers run out of soap quickly. Users find difficulty in looking for and alerting the toilet cleaners on soap insufficiency. A suggestion to the airport : Install a telephone line in each toilet so that users may contact the toilet cleaner easily to replenish the auto-soap dispensers and toilet paper.
Finally, after checking-in for an outbound flight from Phuket, the immigration queues are shorter. A maximum of 2 passengers are allowed to queue forward before an immigration officer. It takes about 5 minutes per passengers to clear the immigration. Thumbs up for the immigration clearance here!
The duty-free shopping area of Phuket International Airport is now bigger than previously. The Royal Orchid Plus lounge of Thai Airways International is an open concept. Non-members on-transit or preparing to depart from the airport may enter the lounge via a door next to the viewing gallery-cum-smoking zone to take snapshots of aircraft arriving and departing on the runway. They can also take photographs and videos of aircraft arrivals and departures at the open viewing gallery, on transit. However, the airport should consider setting up a public aircraft viewing gallery outside the Departure hall at the future link bridge corridor linking both terminals or construct a separate aviation building where tourists can enter 24 hours to shoot pictures of aircraft flying, landing and departing.
With a public enclosure for aircraft photography, there will be no necessity to penalize tourists and the public for taking photos or videos of aircraft at the restricted zone of Mai Khao Beach with a death penalty, a life sentence or a jail term of between 5 to 20 years as per the Air Aviation Act 1978 of Thailand.
The Phuket International Airport currently has a warning system in Thai, English and Chinese at the restricted zone of Mai Khao Beach. The zone covers the end of the runway near the beach where many people gather to take photographs of aircraft when they land. Sometimes, the planes fly so low and close to the fence, thus posing higher risk of flight accidents. Failure to comply with the Aviation Act will incur legal suits and the mentioned court sentences in Phuket.
As the airport appears dis-organized and directions within the airport are insufficient, Phuket International Airport is a second-class airport. If the air-conditioners failed to work, it would have been a third-class airport.
Sayacinta - Airpost wishes all readers arriving in Phuket many Happy Wonderful Holiday Experiences!
SilkAir, Jetstar and Tigerair operate daily scheduled flights to Phuket from Singapore. From Phuket, one can fly onward to Chiang Mai with VietJet Air Thailand and Nok Air, and to Don Mueang with Thai AirAsia, Thai Lion Air and Nok Air, and to Suvarnabhumi with Bangkok Airways, Thai Airways, Thai Smile Airways and VietJet Air Thailand. Orient Thai Airlines operates charter flights only.
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to Everyone
There have been negative reviews posted on Facebook and Skytrax over the immigration queues of the newly-expanded Phuket International Airport, which now consists of a separate international passenger terminal for charter and scheduled flights, Terminal X for private jet flights and the smaller domestic passenger terminal. Complaints are about longer queues before immigration and inadequate immigration staff. Last week, the reporter of this medium took the opportunity to fly with Tigerair to Phuket for a last minute review of the new international passenger terminal before Christmas with the aim to testify if the queues are longer than previously. There are also more discoveries in the airport premises.
The Tigerair flight flew past above the scenic Mai Khao Beach and landed on the runway passing by the Domestic Terminal and finally arrived at the International Terminal. The roof of the international terminal is wave-shaped, reminding passengers that Phuket is for relaxation and beach recreation. The International Terminal is larger than the older one. It has bigger and cleaner windows than those of Suvarnabhumi International Airport. Passengers can see the aircraft parking at the tarmac more clearly than at Suvarnabhumi. Obviously, this is an advantage for landing and transiting at Phuket International Airport.
Morning queues before Immigration are typically long as there are more tourists from Europe on inbound flights and typically it takes Europeans more time to clear the immigration to claim their luggage.
Try to avoid queues that are closer to the right. The average waiting time for a passenger to clear the Immigration is not more than 10 minutes. However, an immigration officer from an unoccupied immigration desk will come out to channel tourist queues to an immigration desk that has just been opened. There are more occupied immigration desks in the middle and towards the left but it takes a passenger including the reporter 20 minutes, never an hour, to wait for his turn to get his passport stamped.
Two suggestions to the airport: Add the ASEAN tourist sign to two immigration desks next to the immigration desk with the Thai / Diplomatic / Official sign on the right. Many inbound international tourists are of ASEAN nationalities. Employ two security officers to channel tourist queues.
An advice to the tourist: Try to choose a morning inbound flight to Phuket and depart from the Phuket airport in the evening. Never transit for an outbound flight in the afternoon from Phuket due to the morning immigration queues. Avoid Thai AirAsia 1 pm fight to Phuket from Singapore if one is on transit to another afternoon point-to-point flight from Phuket.
The immigration queues are not the only situations that create hassles among tourists.
First-time visitors will note that there is no restaurant, no food stall and no food court at the Arrival hall. The Arrival hall provides tourism information and there are taxi and mini-bus counters where one can buy tickets for travel to Patong and other parts of Phuket. Above the Arrival area is a Rest zone located before the 7-11 convenience store.
To find food to eat, it is advisable to go down to the basement, turn left, and turn right to the Departure hall on the third floor. One needs to get the luggage scanned again in order to reach the Departure hall. At the Departure hall, go up the escalator to the fourth floor where restaurant chains like ThaiExpress and Ajisan Ramen are located. Besides the restaurants, one can also find rows of beach chairs where one can take a nap on. This is located next to the ice cream stall.
The Airlines' offices are located on the second floor. Again, one needs to get the luggage scanned on the first floor before entering the second floor via a lift. These offices are now smaller than the previous airlines' offices at the old international terminal which is now being converted into the Domestic Terminal.
Unfortunately, apart from Emirates office, one is unable to find many brochures and inflight magazines at offices of Cathay Dragon and Qatar Airways. While timetables are aplenty at SilkAir office in the airport in the mornings, there are none at Malaysia Airlines and Thai Airways offices and it is impossible to find the airport office of FireFly. The office of Thomas Cook Airlines, Arkefly and other European airlines that fly to Phuket is located on the basement of the car park building opposite the international terminal but it is out of bounds to tourists most of the time.
There is a free 24-hour airport shuttle bus service to the Domestic Terminal on the third floor. It takes about 10 minutes including waiting time to reach the Domestic Terminal from the international terminal as the driver waits for the bus to have at least 80 per cent seating occupancy before moving onward to the Domestic Terminal.
The bus stop of the airport shuttle bus service is unfortunately located in the smoking zone. Tour buses also stop here. Another suggestion to the airport: Keep the bus stop free from tobacco smoke by imposing fines for smoking. Designate another stop for tour buses so that it is easier for tourists to look for the airport shuttle bus.
On the road turning towards the direction to the Domestic Terminal, it is congested. Please take note that the Domestic Terminal is under renovation from November 2016 to 11 December 2017. Congestion is expected. There will be a link bridge corridor from the Domestic Terminal to the new International Terminal in December 2017 once renovation and upgrading works are complete.
The Domestic Terminal is smaller and congested. The only restaurant opening for business to domestic and transit passengers is the Phuket Airport Restaurant operated by Thai Airways International. Formerly, it was a lounge restaurant for Thai Airways passengers only. Waitress service is polite and friendly. Vegetarian food is available. Free water is served.
Shuttle travel from the Domestic Terminal to the International Terminal takes 5 minutes.
The toilets are clean but the auto-soap dispensers run out of soap quickly. Users find difficulty in looking for and alerting the toilet cleaners on soap insufficiency. A suggestion to the airport : Install a telephone line in each toilet so that users may contact the toilet cleaner easily to replenish the auto-soap dispensers and toilet paper.
Finally, after checking-in for an outbound flight from Phuket, the immigration queues are shorter. A maximum of 2 passengers are allowed to queue forward before an immigration officer. It takes about 5 minutes per passengers to clear the immigration. Thumbs up for the immigration clearance here!
The duty-free shopping area of Phuket International Airport is now bigger than previously. The Royal Orchid Plus lounge of Thai Airways International is an open concept. Non-members on-transit or preparing to depart from the airport may enter the lounge via a door next to the viewing gallery-cum-smoking zone to take snapshots of aircraft arriving and departing on the runway. They can also take photographs and videos of aircraft arrivals and departures at the open viewing gallery, on transit. However, the airport should consider setting up a public aircraft viewing gallery outside the Departure hall at the future link bridge corridor linking both terminals or construct a separate aviation building where tourists can enter 24 hours to shoot pictures of aircraft flying, landing and departing.
With a public enclosure for aircraft photography, there will be no necessity to penalize tourists and the public for taking photos or videos of aircraft at the restricted zone of Mai Khao Beach with a death penalty, a life sentence or a jail term of between 5 to 20 years as per the Air Aviation Act 1978 of Thailand.
The Phuket International Airport currently has a warning system in Thai, English and Chinese at the restricted zone of Mai Khao Beach. The zone covers the end of the runway near the beach where many people gather to take photographs of aircraft when they land. Sometimes, the planes fly so low and close to the fence, thus posing higher risk of flight accidents. Failure to comply with the Aviation Act will incur legal suits and the mentioned court sentences in Phuket.
As the airport appears dis-organized and directions within the airport are insufficient, Phuket International Airport is a second-class airport. If the air-conditioners failed to work, it would have been a third-class airport.
Sayacinta - Airpost wishes all readers arriving in Phuket many Happy Wonderful Holiday Experiences!
SilkAir, Jetstar and Tigerair operate daily scheduled flights to Phuket from Singapore. From Phuket, one can fly onward to Chiang Mai with VietJet Air Thailand and Nok Air, and to Don Mueang with Thai AirAsia, Thai Lion Air and Nok Air, and to Suvarnabhumi with Bangkok Airways, Thai Airways, Thai Smile Airways and VietJet Air Thailand. Orient Thai Airlines operates charter flights only.
