Oriental Flavours

Some things change quickly,others less so. Terminals around the world have grown and become attractive places, with more space, light and facilities. Some of the things that go on inside and the thinking behind them haven't kept up with the pace.

Arriving at Siem Riep in Cambodia passengers enter a brand new modern building with an attractive temple-style roof. It's a great leap forward. Unfortunately the immigration department could only manage a short hop. At one end of an impressive long counter the newly arrived hand over $30 for a visa. At the other end it is handed back, having been handled by thirteen officials. For the 50 passengers off a Vietnam Airlines ATR 72 it's a slow process. For a full A321 or larger it would be a nightmare.

The ATR  on which we travelled had departed from Da Nang in Vietnam where the aircraft "stop" markings are ahead of the game, with the A350 clearly marked. Just to make sure nothing's missed out, new lines have also been painted for the TU-134 and DC-10. Both unlikely ever to visit again. It does though indicate a time span of 50 or more years.

A bit further north, Hanoi also has a brand new 1 km long terminal opened in January. Visitors from the 1990s will remember a huge and largely empty open ramp and it being perhaps the only place in the world which followed the original Boeing 747 operating manual which specified three open doors and three sets of passenger stairs.Visitors from the 1990s will also remember the highway into town which started off well suddenly became something like a cart track leading to a rickety substitute for the bridge, the definitive one not having been built yet. Now it's all there and the highway sweeps across the Red River. It's all a Japanese project. Far from being empty the new terminal and ramp see 900 scheduled services a week by 34 carriers. The spinal trunk route to Ho Chi Minh City accounts for 270 of these. It is all  a reminder of the sheer volume of traffic flows within the region of which industry observers in Europe and the USA are often unaware.

The number of regional Low Cost Carriers also takes the uninitiated by surprise. South East Asia has seen a mushrooming of 22 from Indonesia in the south to Vietnam in the north, with three or four competing on some city pairs. Unsurprisingly over-capacity is common and profitability difficult but as in Europe these carriers are making air travel a realistic option for many new travellers . Once hooked they are reluctant to go back to the buses. Air Asia, now with 200 aircraft is one of only ten carriers worldwide to have carried 50 million passengers in a year. Who would have dreamed that 20 years ago? 

The quietest country in the region is Laos. Its capital Vientiane also boasts a new terminal. Lao Airlines operates a small fleet of A320s and ATR 72s while the distant corners of the ramp are home to a few Chinese built MA61s and Let410s, neither customer favourites. Two retired Lao Airlines AN 24s also lurk there but gone is the Royal Air Lao Viscount of years ago.

Bangkok's huge glitzy Suvaranabhumi Airport is impressive externally and, on first sight internally although the use of some rather dark local materials makes some areas rather dark and oppressive. Be ready for some very long walks indeed  and don't book tight connections. Strangely it also displays a few retired aircraft including A330s which would be more appropriately housed at the old but slowly re-emerging Don Muang Airport. Thai, owner of almost every variant of every type of airliner available, is slowly rationalising and restructuring in response to new international competition and to the local Low Cost Carriers, Bangkok Airlines, Thai Air Asia and Nok Air. Hence its contribution to the static park. Whatever Thai's problems though, its customer service style is something that most legacy western carriers can only dream of. Its catering in all classes is good and attractive too.

And there's the rub. Wherever one goes on nearly every Asian airline the service ethic and delivery is good and that's not because they are all soft people. Just look at their history. They are not. Many have had very tough backgrounds and still do. No doubt there are bad days for everyone but they don't show it. The Singapore Girl theme so brilliantly introduced by Singapore Airlines in the 1970s stands in the background to all the newcomers' offerings. Bangkok Airlines is outstanding for smart customer friendly staff who seem to be genuinely enjoying doing their job .The ethic is there everywhere and they are a pleasure to fly with. A lot goes into selection ,recruitment, training , keeping everything and everyone refreshed and looking forward. Not all of the newcomers will succeed. Several of  the original  of Asian "national" carriers who swept all before them now teeter on the brink of being labelled "legacy". We will come back to that theme but for now even those seen in Asia as less good are servicewise very good by European or US standards.

 Some of Asia's official world needs to catch up and understand that it too is in the business of serving people. That's less easy when people have signed up as part of a "border force","immigration authority" and that sort of thing. They aren't so keen on having their rubber stamps, threat of handcuffs etc taken away. Asia isn't the only place that hasn't cracked it yet though.


-John Williams-