AOT Confident Of Handling Flood Situation At Suvarnabhumi Airport
Mr. Somchai Sawasdeepon, Senior Executive Vice President of Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited (AOT) and Acting General Manager of Suvarnabhumi Airport, said Suvarnabhumi Airport is confident of handling the flooding situations around Bangkok and its vicinity, as it has a highly capable Flooding Prevention System in placed with (3.5m high, 23.5m long and a base 37m in width) soil barriers surrounding the airport; where the height of the barriers was recently increased from 3m to 3.5m, completed on 18th October 2011 with assistance from the Department of Highways. Also, Suvarnabhumi Airport has 6 reservoirs with capacity to store 4 million m3 of water, with the current level of water in the reservoirs being at 1 million m3 (25%); as well as 2 Pump Stations (4 water pumps in each station) with ability to drain water out at a rate of 12 m3 per second or 1 million m3 per day.
Mr. Somchai added preparations for flooding include 24-hour monitoring of the weather forecast and coordinating with the Royal Department of Irrigation, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and other relevant agencies. The information received from various agencies is carefully analyzed at all time to best protect the airport. Additionally, a special team of officials has been set up to monitor and protect the barriers surrounding the airport against the flash water from the North of Thailand.
Mr. Somchai confirmed all flights and passenger services are operating as usual at Suvarnabhumi Airport; with the month of October still averaging about 130,000 passengers and 800 flights per day. Suvarnabhumi Airport is also capable of handling the diverted Nok Air and Orient Thai flights from Don Mueang International Airport only increasing the number of flights by 33 and number of passengers by about 20,000 per day. Nonetheless, there are already a large number of vehicles parked at Suvarnabhumi Airport, therefore, would advise anyone wishing to travel to the Airport to allow plenty of time and to use public transportation Airport Rail Link, buses and taxis and would like to apologize for any inconveniences and disruptions this may have caused.
Contact Information
Special Affairs Department
Suvarnabhumi Airport
Tel: +662 132 9029
Fax +662 132 9019
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