"IATA Upbeat on Bangkok Airport after Talks with Thai Minister"

Monday, February 11, 2003

International Transport Group Upbeat on Airport after Talks with Thai
Minister
Thailand - The Bangkok Post


Global airline industry leaders seem to be less sceptical about the future
of Suvarnabhumi international airport after noting a stronger determination
by the government to build the facility as an international aviation hub. 

After a meeting with Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit and
officials, key members of the International Air Transport Association (Iata)
praised the awareness, progress and understanding of local aviation
authorities. 

Giovanni Bisignani, Iata's director-general and chief executive, said that
Iata suggested the government increase the airport's handling capacity to 45
million passengers a year, expand the second runway to 4,000 metres from
3,700 and install the latest security measures such as retina-scanning for
passenger identification. 

Mr Bisignani said the government was confident the airport could open for
test runs in March 2005 and start commercial operations six months later. 

He said Mr Suriya was very receptive to Iata's advice and promised the
facility would be one of the world's best airports. 

It was very important to boost co-operation in the industry given a tough
environment and the likely fall-out from a US-Iraq war, Mr Bisignani said. 

Last year, airlines posted combined losses of 12 billion baht and 400,000
aviation jobs have been lost since Sept 11, 2001. 

Iata believes the industry should break even on international traffic if
there is no war in Iraq. However, Mr Bisignani said it was difficult to
estimate the potential damage if a war occurred. 

"Based on the Gulf War, which occurred during a booming world economy,
aviation traffic was down by 15 percent in the first three months [of the
war)] and 10 percent during the next three months."

Iata members last year paid a combined US$40 billion for fuel but oil prices
have risen by 30 percent since Jan 1. Every additional cent per gallon costs
the airlines a combined $600 million a year.


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