New Bangkok airport unsafe, says Iata study

[milehighj]

New Bangkok airport unsafe, says Iata study
- July 6, 2007
The Straits Times
Checks on passengers and their belongings below par


BANGKOK - BANGKOK'S new Suvarnabhumi airport is unsafe, with checks on passengers and their belongings below par, says the International Air Transport Association (Iata).

Iata's safety study of the 10-month-old airport found that standards are inferior to those of its predecessor, the Don Muang airport, Bangkok Post reported yesterday, citing an Airports of Thailand (AoT) source who obtained the report.

The study found many spots in the passenger terminal where passengers who have passed through security checks could meet those who have not. Unchecked parcels or objects could therefore be passed to the cleared passengers and be carried on board aircraft.

http://travel.asiaone.com.sg/news/20070706_001.html

[jjpb3]

I guess I'm not really surprised by this news.

What's the usual implication such a "de-certification" by IATA? What happens during the time when, presumably, the airport authorities fix the problem?

[milehighj]

I'm not sure what would now happen at the IATA level.

Having transited there twice in the past month, I can definitely say that BKK is extremely well-staffed with security personnel, and they spend a fair bit of time screening each departing pax.

Unfortunately, this mostly involves rifling through each hand-carry in search of "liquids", which must then be consolidated and X-rayed separate to other luggage.

I guess this achieves the appearance of security, but more needs to be done beyond insisting that my Colgate toothpaste is a "liquid" and sending that thru the X-ray machine....

[WSSS]

Not surprising. The Thai authorities did not renew Suvarnabhumi's certificate. I dislike Suvarnabhumi and find it a lousy airport. The security checks are... Period.

[kkjay77]

I'm not surprised either.
Survanambhumi is a disaster with cracked runway
(or was ot taxiway?), not enough toilet/restroom to
now unsafe airport. They had enough time to build
an airport worth comparing to SIN, HKH and ICN but
they dropped the ball here.

[StarG]

If someone that has cleared immigration can meet with another who hasn't at some point airside, something is definitely wrong.