If you look at the arrivals and departures for BKK on flightradar, you can see the astonishing amount of international movements, including a lot of wide-bodied planes. With late (and early) arrivals, that is bound to cause occasional logjams at immigration. Personally I have never had to wait more than 15 minutes but after Covid I did have some long waits for luggage. Those numbers (and quality) of arrivals indicate how successful BKK has been since it was created.
And the new departure gates and new runway show how well it is being developed.

The location of BKK, and the large number of domestic Thai destinations, made it a perfect opportunity for a successful hub.
It also makes it difficult for any neigbouring smaller countries to have anything other than a satellite airport destination of course, receiving only short haul flights from the big hubs of BKK, KUL and SIN (and to some extent SGN). Especially if such countries impose visa fees, and high fees for citizens' passports.

Doc67 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 12, 2024 2:22 pm

YaTingPom wrote: ↑Mon Feb 12, 2024 11:40 am

Doc67 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 12, 2024 10:11 am Out of interest, do you know when they first conceived of a 3rd runway?

Heathrow has been planning a 3rd parallel runway for decades (4, I think) and the last '3rd' runway (05/23) was closed in 2003.

That will happen at some point. They (whoever owns Heathrow) have spent millions buying up property.

The only other option is a new airport and apart from one out near the Thames estuary (Boris' idea) there is no other area, so expansion will happen.

It's too late for Heathrow, it's an environmental and political hot potato. The only two airports viable for am additional runway are Gatwick and Stansted. Both are surrounded by fields, not towns and of the 2, Stanstead only deals with short haul low cost carriers. If they offered long haul flights they have a huge catchment area of Essex, Herts, Suffolk, Norfolk and Lincs. Ask anyone in Norwich about getting a taxi to Heathrow!

Heathrow: too built up and overfly issues


Gatwick: Fields to the south and limited over fly issues.


Stansted. Plenty of space.


Catchment area for Stansted long haul routes.

I am very familiar with those airports.

There's a reason why Heathrow is the busiest airport in the European area. It has links to pretty much all of the worlds airports, is centrally located (no one cares about farmers in Norfolk) and is much larger than Gatwick, and has better transport network (Gatwick only has one motorway leading to it, Heathrow has five and multiple rail connections. The silicon hubs of Reading, Maidenhead and Cambridge are perfectly placed to use it, not forgetting the billion £ central London money markets.

The airlines who own the landing slots won't want to move.

I think the heathrow 3rd runway will go ahead at some point when capacity gets too much. The only thing that saved the residents is COVID...for now.

jaynewcastle wrote: ↑Mon Feb 12, 2024 5:23 pm

phuketrichard wrote: ↑Mon Feb 12, 2024 10:31 am seems rather than adding a new runway, they might be better investing in hiring more immigration officers and open more desks for arrivals
but thats a westerner thinking 555555555

Last few years, its actually leaving BKK thats the bigger problem now, though having more immigration officers in Arrivals available in peak periods seems very desirable too

Use this lot, you'll be through in 15 mins or less. You'll never go back to queueing with the herd again.

https://www.icecg.in/airport-faqs/who-o ... 25%20stake.

YaTingPom wrote: ↑Tue Feb 13, 2024 7:56 am

Doc67 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 12, 2024 2:22 pm

YaTingPom wrote: ↑Mon Feb 12, 2024 11:40 am

Doc67 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 12, 2024 10:11 am Out of interest, do you know when they first conceived of a 3rd runway?

Heathrow has been planning a 3rd parallel runway for decades (4, I think) and the last '3rd' runway (05/23) was closed in 2003.

That will happen at some point. They (whoever owns Heathrow) have spent millions buying up property.

The only other option is a new airport and apart from one out near the Thames estuary (Boris' idea) there is no other area, so expansion will happen.

It's too late for Heathrow, it's an environmental and political hot potato. The only two airports viable for am additional runway are Gatwick and Stansted. Both are surrounded by fields, not towns and of the 2, Stanstead only deals with short haul low cost carriers. If they offered long haul flights they have a huge catchment area of Essex, Herts, Suffolk, Norfolk and Lincs. Ask anyone in Norwich about getting a taxi to Heathrow!

Heathrow: too built up and overfly issues


Gatwick: Fields to the south and limited over fly issues.


Stansted. Plenty of space.


Catchment area for Stansted long haul routes.

I am very familiar with those airports.

There's a reason why Heathrow is the busiest airport in the European area. It has links to pretty much all of the worlds airports, is centrally located (no one cares about farmers in Norfolk) and is much larger than Gatwick, and has better transport network (Gatwick only has one motorway leading to it, Heathrow has five and multiple rail connections. The silicon hubs of Reading, Maidenhead and Cambridge are perfectly placed to use it, not forgetting the billion £ central London money markets.

The airlines who own the landing slots won't want to move.

I think the heathrow 3rd runway will go ahead at some point when capacity gets too much. The only thing that saved the residents is COVID...for now.

err... Cambridge? I'll assume that was a typo.

The City boys have City Airport and Stansted for European travel. The are stuck with Heathrow for long haul, but not through choice.

Heathrow is not busy because it is popular, it is busy because it has a huge catchment area and people have no choice for long haul anywhere in the South or South East apart from Gatwick. Stansted would dramatically change that. That's why it got smothered in the cradle. **

It's a big stitch up. They want to funnel as many people through LHR as they can and fleece them. A 2nd runway at Stansted offering NEW long-haul slots to alternative airlines and that is NEW competition and the airlines and airport operators aren't really into that. Stansted deals with the hoi polloi on Ryanair and Easy Jet going on holiday to Europe etc and Heathrow is fine with that lot staying in Essex.

Nobody will be asking the airlines to give up their slots at Heathrow, a 3rd runway would create NEW slots for the same airlines to keep the monopoly going.

Who owns LHR? FGP TopCo Ltd. And who owns FGP TopCo Ltd?*

2. Ownership of FGP Topco Limited
FGP Topco Limited is the ultimate parent company of Heathrow Airport Holdings Limited. It is owned and led by the infrastructure specialist Ferrovial S.A.,[Spanish] which holds a 25% stake. Other owners include Qatar Investment Authority (20%), Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) (12.62%), GIC (11.20%) and Alinda Capital Partners (10%). The remaining shares are held by China Investment Corporation, Universities Superannuation Scheme Ltd and Aviva Investors.

Who thinks this lot have the best interests of the British flying public at heart? We must be really stupid to have allowed that to happen.



*https://www.icecg.in/airport-faqs/who-o ... 25%20stake.

**https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_St ... velopments

Oh I agree 100%.

You have to remember too that they have tried to apply for expansion at Stansted but that area is full of stinkingly rich people who don't want the extra noise and traffic. Once there's an accident on the M11 you are fucked and going the back route is a nightmare! I have mates who run chauffeur and taxi firms in Cambridge and their customers hate having to go from Heathrow, more so Gatwick! My favourite, and theirs, is City but the long haul stuff is limited, unless you are on a private jet of course.

Heathrow has 5 terminals and when the other airports are busy it is an utter nightmare, Heathrow is so much better laid out.

It's not what is correct but where the money is.

MOds:
can someone split this into Heathrow and Bangkok?
please

Yeah, fair enough, but it's far more interesting.

YaTingPom wrote: ↑Tue Feb 13, 2024 11:18 am Yeah, fair enough, but it's far more interesting.

Only if you're interested in Heathrow airport, and not the actual topic of the thread