Airport finally fixes failed aircon system
Airports of Thailand (AoT Phuket), which operates Phuket International Airport, has finally responded publicly to the problem of the air conditioning system at the international terminal failing.
The response came through a statement issued as a “News Release” on Oct 19, not marked as signed by any particular person, though the General Manager of Phuket International Airport is Monchai Tanode.
The release was marked as “Phuket Airport would like to clarify the case of the air conditioning system malfunction at the international passenger terminal.”
The release first marked posts online already long complaining about the failure of the air conditioning at the international terminal.
“From the case that there are various pages posting messages with pictures about Phuket Airport that #Tourists complain that the service #is not suitable for the definition of an international airport, very hot after the air conditioner has been broken for many days. There’s still no fix. Travel costs are expensive. Still have to come across quality like this Most recently, it was necessary to have the Phuket MP report the matter to the Ministry of Transport. Please fix it quickly! After Phuket Port closed its mouth,” the release said, citing the complaints posted online.
Of note, Phuket MP Thitikan Thitipruethikul, Member of Parliament for Phuket District 3 (all of Thalang District plus Tambon Kathu), posted online that he had informed the Ministry of Transport of the airport’s failure to fix its air conditioning system.
The release by AoT Phuket explained that “the cause was a failure of two cooling systems, one of which caused a problem in the air conditioning system inside the building.”
The result was a “temperature higher than normal”, AoT
Phuket admitted.
An inspection of the cooling system found that there was a refrigerant leak, AOT Phuket said in its statement.
“When AoT became aware of the aforementioned problems, we therefore hastened to hire a company to take corrective action immediately,” it added.
AoT had the urgent repairs made “immediately”, including replacing the lost coolant.
“We are ready to expedite the procurement of spare parts for the air conditioning system to work efficiently as before,” AoT Phuket assured.
While the work is waiting to be completed AoT Phuket has installed a total of 90 portable air-conditioning units throughout the terminal for passenger comfort, the statement explained.
The “News Release” included photos showing temperature readings throughout the terminal of 24℃-25℃.
“AoT Phuket expects to repair the cooling system so that it can return to normal use by tonight (October 19, 2023). AoT would like to apologise for the inconvenience on this occasion,” the official statement concluded.
The “News Release” issued yesterday came while AoT Phuket GM Mr Monchai was leading a public meeting to discuss issues and receive feedback from the public on the potential impact on local residents of the B6 billion ‘Phase 2’ expansion of the airport, which aims to increase capacity of the airport to 18 million passengers a year.