Glitches few, report Bangkok airport caterers

Reports from Bangkok say that despite delays that cost the airport years, and the “happy coup” that grabbed the world’s headlines, Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport is up and operating, in some cases with fewer problems than expected so far.

Domestic flights have been taking place at the airport since the middle of September. But the official opening took place on September 28 with Air India flight 348 on the carrier’s Delhi-Bangkok-Shanghai route. The flight took off at 15:05 on the opening day of operations.

The three caterers that service the airport reported business as usual in early October. Thai Airways Catering, which has had to deal with a crippling fire earlier this year has been operating a modified approach, preparing some of its meals at the old facility and Don Muang Airport until it can be up to speed at its new kitchen.

“Things went quite smooth, no problem (in) cut over from Don Muang Airport to Suvarnabhumi Airport,” says Pismai Chandrubeksa, managing director Thai Airways’ Catering Department. “We also got full support from our airline customers.”

The caterer had planned for some delays in its ICT operations that turned out to be less than expected, said Chandrubeksa. “Moreover, here at our new catering building, we have more space, no congestion (and) my staff feels more comfortable working here.”

At Bangkok Air Catering, Linus Knoebel, the managing director said operations at the airport faced some “minor issues” in baggage handling and cargo service, but now “for the overall performance of Suvarnabhumi Airport, the results of its full operations are satisfactory.”

The caterer’s parent company, Bangkok Airways had been operating its domestic service at the new airport since September 21 with routes to Sukhothai, Chiang Mai, Samui, Jinghong and Shenzen.

Though it has been operating in Thailand for more than 30 years, LSG Sky Chefs only recently won the tender to cater the new airport. On October 6, the caterer issued a press release touting a “smooth start-up of the new Bangkok facility.” The LSG unit is operating at about half of its 25,000 meal per day expectation once traffic increases. It has 24 international airline customers.

"We are looking forward to becoming a valuable business partner at this exciting location, thus contributing to the growth and attractiveness of Suvarnabhumi.” said HK Cheung, chief operating officer of LSG Sky Chefs Asia/Pacific region in a release on the facility’s opening.

Reports state that the airport officials were still working out glitches in the baggage handling system as late as last week.