Bangkok and Other Airports - Your Recent Experience - Busy, OK or Quiet. Please Add your Experiences.

[Phantom51red]

Came in Suvarnabhumi yesterday at 6,10pm,new terminal,nice,train takes you to old terminal 5 minutes,up the escalator your right opposite immigration which was pretty quiet with queue s about 10 or so deep at each booth,through less in 10 minutes and in taxi to hotel at lat Krabang.

The flight was Qatar from lhr ,we had to stop at Cairo for fuel as could not go through Iran Iraq airspace now.

On a positive side it cut my 4 hour wait in doha down to 1 hour,each flight had 3 seat to myself,all in all pleasant journey.

[Smiler]

I went through swampy on Thursday afternoon/early evening on my way back to Blighty, it was an absolute breeze despite there seemingly being a lot of people about. I did the self check-in/baggage drop at Qatar 4 hours before my flight so no queues there and to to my absolute amazement no queue at immigration a couple of hours later. From the escalator (the very far one, right in the corner) to duty free was about 5 minutes, I barely broke stride.

Wasn't very complimentary about the new satalite terminal on my arrival but credit where its due, I had a whole different experience on departure. Was really quite impressed with the place, particularly the waiting areas at the gates which I thought were spacious and comfortable.

Qatar flights were meh cattle class - you get what you pay for.

Heathrow terminal 4 was as easy as swampy - no queues anywhere, case waiting on the belt, we landed at 6:35am and I was outside having a ciggy at 7:02.

Edited May 11 by Smiler

[maipenrai]

I left Thailand yesterday, the desk at the Dynasty Grande offered me a ride for 500b including tolls which is what I generally pay the taxi cabs waiting out in the street and it was one of the quickest rides I have ever made to the airport and in a nice car too; I was a little early so check-in was a snap and also security and Immigration were virtually deserted - we left the hotel at 12:05 and I was into the secure area of the airport by 12:55. 

My flight was delayed by half an hour because of late arrival of the plane, this is flight BR68 which I believe originates in LHR; then when we reached Taipei we were told we had to maintain a holding pattern for twenty minutes because of "heavy traffic" - I was starting to get a little concerned about making my next flight but when I reached the cursory transit security check (I call it cursory because you don't have to worry about belts, shoes or laptops - just empty your pockets and throw your bag on the belt) there was nobody there at all and I breezed right through. The next flight to Vancouver left on time and I was able to move to a better seat because a fellow wanted my seat so he could sit next to his wife - at first I said no because he had an inside middle row seat and I had my usual aisle seat but I looked around after they had closed the plane's doors and saw another aisle seat empty in a much better spot for me and cleared the move with the flight attendant so this made everybody happy - it was a busy flight and I saw only one empty seat in our PE cabin.

[boydeste]

4 hours ago, maipenrai said:

IMy flight was delayed by half an hour because of late arrival of the plane, this is flight BR68 which I believe originates in LHR; 

Yes, that's the flight I usually take.

Historically it is late most days because they seem to fail to turn it around at Swampy when it originally comes in from Taipei the day before. That puts it late into Heathrow, thus late leaving to come back to Swampy. Often it makes up a bit of time in this direction though!

It wouldn't surprise me if they are slow turning it around going in your direction too, but have never looked at it.

Glad you are home safe, well nearly home!

[Nightcrawler]

1 hour ago, boydeste said:

Yes, that's the flight I usually take.

Historically it is late most days because they seem to fail to turn it around at Swampy when it originally comes in from Taipei the day before. That puts it late into Heathrow, thus late leaving to come back to Swampy. Often it makes up a bit of time in this direction though!

It wouldn't surprise me if they are slow turning it around going in your direction too, but have never looked at it.

Glad you are home safe, well nearly home!

Yes me too and it's been like that for months  usually make up time on the way but rarely arrive on time at BKK. 

[Butch]

On 5/13/2024 at 6:03 PM, boydeste said:

Yes, that's the flight I usually take.

Historically it is late most days because they seem to fail to turn it around at Swampy when it originally comes in from Taipei the day before. That puts it late into Heathrow, thus late leaving to come back to Swampy. Often it makes up a bit of time in this direction though!

It wouldn't surprise me if they are slow turning it around going in your direction too, but have never looked at it.

Glad you are home safe, well nearly home!

That's a real annoyance for the BR068 out of LHR. Late inwards BR067 has a knock on for turning the Aircraft around which, as you say, makes for a late departure for BR068 and and nowadays, an on time departure it seems to be the exception rather that the rule.

Kudos to the LHR ground crew who actually manage to blitz the plane and get it ready.

The THAI which arrives often earlier seems to have much more reliable timings, but maybe that's due to THAI getting the priority out of BKK. I just wish they'd offer a premium Econ.

[boydeste]

23 minutes ago, Butch said:

The THAI which arrives often earlier seems to have much more reliable timings, but maybe that's due to THAI getting the priority out of BKK. I just wish they'd offer a premium Econ.

That has been my thoughts on the situation, because it has been going on for a very long time and the Thai flight never seems to get delayed.

Edited Wednesday at 11:06 AM by boydeste

[Krapow]

3 hours ago, Butch said:

That's a real annoyance for the BR068 out of LHR. Late inwards BR067 has a knock on for turning the Aircraft around which, as you say, makes for a late departure for BR068 and and nowadays, an on time departure it seems to be the exception rather that the rule.

Kudos to the LHR ground crew who actually manage to blitz the plane and get it ready.

The THAI which arrives often earlier seems to have much more reliable timings, but maybe that's due to THAI getting the priority out of BKK. I just wish they'd offer a premium Econ.

 

2 hours ago, boydeste said:

That has been my thoughts on the situation, because it has been going on for a very long time and the Thai flight never seems to get delayed.

Hence why although i slightly prefer EVA, i now book Thai if price is roughly the same, as can't be doing with the delays, and the flying without luggage due to the delay, was bad.