A grim milestone was reached in the operations of Suvarnabhumi International Airport yesterday when a flight departed with no checked-in passengers on board. All the passengers for West Cambodia Airlines flight WC083 to Battambang, scheduled to depart at 9.15 yesterday morning, had been trapped in the immigration queues and failed to make the flight in time.

‘I had heard about the long lines at the airport, so I got here before 5 this morning and waited for over an hour before the check-in desk opened,’ said one distraught passenger.

‘Once I’d checked in, I then had to run back out of the check-in area, up two floors, over to the far end of the terminal, across the access bridge and into the car park to get to the end of the line for immigration. Over two hours later I had just got to the entrance to passport control when the departure board said that the boarding gate was closed.’

Asked why he and other passengers had not paid to go through the Fast Channel, he pointed out that WC was a completely no-frills airline so probably none of the passengers could afford the extra expense.

An airline spokesperson expressed regret at the turn of events but said the setback was likely to be temporary. ‘The stranded passengers left on the next flight. There was plenty of room for them because the passengers booked on that flight were themselves delayed by the same queues, which persisted throughout the day.’

Other airlines reported a similar situation, where many passengers have to be bumped to the next flight. ‘It gets a bit messy with the checked baggage,’ said one ground crew manager, ‘because by IATA rules the bags can’t go without the passenger. But the handlers are learning to read the tags as if they are for the next flight. Most of the time, at least.’

This solution works for routes where there are a number of flights each day, when a delay may be a matter of a few hours only. But for less regular flights, it often means a night spent on the airport floor. The Airports Authority of Thailand has set aside a special area for this. Last night there were reportedly long queues to use this facility.

When asked about criticism of the long lines, an immigration official shrugged his shoulders and pointed to the substantial extra income from passengers who pay extra or the Fast Track service.

‘We’re getting more and more money from this and we’re planning to use it to hire more staff,’ he said. ‘They’ll be stationed at the main office in Sun Ratchakan, of course.’

Visitors to the Immigration office on Chaeng Wattana Road were reporting extremely quick turn-around times with plenty of officials on hand. ‘Even with half the staff eating noodles or dozing, I got a re-entry visa inside 5 minutes,’ said one satisfied customer. ‘I just wonder if I’ll be able to get out of the country so I can use it.’

Some passengers would be grateful for the chance to get to the immigration queues. Traffic coming into the terminal for departure is now backing up for many hundreds of metres. Since airport usage has not increased significantly, some are blaming these tailbacks on perverse lane restrictions close to the departures hall.

These not only reduce the number of lanes that can used to approach the terminal, but also ensure that flows of arriving and departing traffic have to cross each other.

An airport spokesperson admitted that they haven’t yet got the position of the traffic cones quite right. ‘If we can figure it out,’ he said, ‘we hope to have tailbacks reaching all the way to the Bangkok-Chonburi highway. Then we’ll be able to open a Fast Track lane on payment of a special toll charge. This will increase the airport’s revenue considerably.’

Rumour has it that similar artificially contrived bottlenecks are planned for access to toilets, car parks and the Airport Express train service. Once lengthy queues become the norm, a Fast Track service will be initiated, each time for a suitable fee.

Asked whether these moves would not further damage the already sinking reputation of Suvarnabhumi airport as an international destination, the spokesperson sounded an upbeat note.

‘We realized that in terms of design, services and facilities, we would never make it. So instead we’re aiming at a new goal. We already have a built-in advantage in the immense distances passengers have to cover to and from the boarding gates.’

‘So when passengers have to queue for immigration, toilets, and so on, rather than relax on the seating, we’re hoping this will make us the Number One ‘Keep-Fit’ airport in the world.’