Suvarnabhumi Airport opens Chinese passenger assistance centre Suvarnabhumi Airport has opened a facility to accommodate Chinese passengers affected by the lockdown of Wuhan where the new coronavirus outbreak began.

No. 7/2020
January 25, 2020

The facility, known as Airport Operation Centre, located at the CIP 5 Room on the third floor of the passenger Terminal, will be in operation between January 25 and February 9.
Wing Commander Suthirawat Suwanawat, General Manager of Suvarnabhumi Airport, said the centre (telephone: 0 2132 9950) is manned 24-hour by officials from Suvarnabhumi Airport, airlines, Immigration Bureau, Tourist Police and other agencies to assist Chinese passengers who are unable to return to the Chinese city.
Suvarnabhumi Airport has also availed Chinese interpreters to assist Chinese passengers and provide information.
China's decision to quarantine Wuhan by suspending all public transport system affected China Southern Airlines, which normally operates three flights a day from Wuhan to Suvarnabhumi Airport, cancelling its services until Feb 8.
Such cancellation means that passengers who arrived in Thailand before the Chinese authorities’ decision to shut down the Wuhan airport are unable to return to the originating city.
Wing Commander Suthirawat noted that Suvarnabhumi Airport has closely monitored the situation of the outbreak by integrating operations with the international communicable disease control checkpoint, airlines, Immigration Division 2 and other relevant agencies in screening passengers traveling from Wuhan.
Additional screenings for passengers traveling from Guangzhou have recently been set up at Suvarnabhumi.
Aircraft arriving from Guangzhou are directed to dock at a designated gate where the health control agency performs thermo scanning to check passenger temperature according to the procedures of the Ministry of Public Health.
Any suspected patients will be subject to additional physical examinations and are directed to the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute.
In addition, Suvarnabhumi Airport has given priority to hygiene care at its site by increasing the frequency of cleaning passenger areas and facilities including trolleys, toilets, immigration form filling points, information counters and taxi ticket issuing areas.
Moreover, hand sanitizer gel dispensers are placed at all gates for inbound flights as well as and other areas where a large number of passengers gather.
Wing Commander Suthirawat said that Suvarnabhumi Airport will maintain surveillance of the coronavirus development and is prepared to activate a contingency plan if situation warrants by fully supporting the disease control checkpoints' measures.
However, Suvarnabhumi Airport advices passengers who are planning to travel to China during this time to closely monitor the development of the outbreak which appears to be spreading to other Chinese cities.
Passengers should check the status of their flights with the airlines concerned before coming to the airport to avoid being stranded at the airport or waste time travelling to Suvarnabhumi, he said.
Relevant information can also be obtained around the clock from AOT Contact Center 1722.
China Southern Airlines has since January 24 put a stop on its three daily flights between Suvarnabhumi and Wuhan.
Four carriers - Thai Airways, China Southern Airlines, Spring Airlines and Kenya Airways - operate 13 services a day from Guangzhou to Suvarnabhumi and 12 outbound flights.
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For more information:
Special Affairs and Community Relations Department Suvarnabhumi Airport
Phone: 0 2132 9031
Fax: 0 2132 9019