Flying down to Phukets’ International airport ( Code HKT ) you get quite a strange site ( assuming you are a t the right window ). You see an island below you with quite a narrow peninsula, full of trees and a clearing running across from one side to the other that has something on it. Surely not the airport and runway you think. A quick bank of the aircraft to one side and oops, that is the airport!
If you are nervous flyer, it probably best not to look when you land as although the airport can land fully laden Boeing 747s, it does give the impression that should the airplane land 20 yards too long you will end up in the sea. In fact when you are taxing to the building you can actually see the sea just a hundred yards or so beyond the end of the runway!
At the moment the majority of flights into and out of the airport are domestic ones from within Thailand but there are a growing number of International ones from within Asia and one that is due to start to London this year with Phuket Airlines.
Transport The airport itself is about 32km north-east of Phuket Town and north of the main beaches such as Patong and Karon. It is easily reached by car, taxi or minibus – there are no trains on Phuket. Although officially there are buses that going to the airport, in reality they are not worth bothering about and you have to rely on some sort of private transport to and from the airport.
Coming from the airport If you have not already arranged a transfer with your hotel, there are a variety of ways to get out of the airport. There are a couple of multinational car hire companies – Avis & Budget if you wish to go down that route. Just outside the doors of the baggage reclaim there is the official desk that can arrange a private limousine to your destination at a cost of a minimum of 1000B, a taxi minimum 600B or a shared minibus at 100B. All the minimum fares are to Phuket Town, to any beach costs more i.e. to Patong on the minibus is 150B. It will take around 30 minutes to get to Phuket Town and 45-60 to Patong depending on the traffic.
Getting to the airport Again unless you have arranged a transfer through the hotel, it will be a case of going to a travel agent and booking your transportation. But shop around, some agents take bigger commission than others, use the fare from the airport as a guide. If you can get it lower then well done, you did better than I did.
Layout There is currently just one building for International and Domestic departures, so it doesn’t really matter if your driver to the airport doesn’t know if you want domestic or international. All the departures are on the upper floor with arrivals on the ground floor.
Departure Procedure Check in. On entering the building, first thing of course is to check if you are leaving on time. There are plenty of information screens around. Next step is to have your bag screened by security, after this they put a sticker on it across the opening seal / zip and you proceed to check in. These are a line of desks about 60 yards or so inside the door you came in through when being dropped off so there isn’t really too much chance of getting lost! They produce about average check in speed. One good thing is that some airlines have special desks for carry on luggage only – a great thing if you have popped down on a short break.
One disadvantage to this relatively “flat” space is that if several tour buses arrive at the same time and not enough desks are open it can become very congested indeed and queues become very cramped and confused.
Once checked in, if you are flying on an international flight you just turn right, pay your 500B departure tax in cash – you did leave enough Baht, didn’t you? If not, it’s a trip to the currency exchange or ATM as they do not accept plastic. There are booths next to the entrance to passport control and they will give you the receipt, which you give to immigration. No departure tax receipt and they send you back out. A couple of stamps later and you are in the main departure lounge.
If you are going on an internal flight to Bangkok or wherever, you turn left and out of the check-in hall, through a boarding card and id check and you are in the domestic departure lounge. Again it is small enough ( about 300 yards wide and 70 deep ) that it is very difficult to get lost in and there are plenty of information screens to announce boarding. You can see the departure gates from virtually anywhere you sit so you don’t have to worry have a last minute mile run to catch your flight. Departure tax ( 30B ) is included in the price of your ticket. Makes you kind of wonder why they can’t include the international departure tax in the price of the ticket too.
Arrival Procedures Arrival is very straightforward as the signs are clear and as it’s a small airport relatively short walk. You walk from your arrival pier, down the stairs to baggage reclaim and then out into the airport area. Reclaim is usually quick and takes no more than 15-20 minutes.
Facilities Airside The domestic customer area of the airport is the area described above with shops surrounding the one seating area. There are two restaurants which are a Burger King and a Café. There are also a number of last minute souvenir and book shops that as usual with other airports you do pay more for the privilege. Of course, as it is a domestic lounge there is no Duty Free shop. Toilets are numerous and clean. The building is a no smoking one apart from small designated smoking rooms. The decoration is a mix of modern Thai and western which only has the effect of making look like 99% of all other airports. Upstairs are a couple of lounges for frequent travelers of the airlines using the airport..
Facilities Groundside As well as the expected check in desks there are the usual offices of the various airlines serving the airport. There are a couple of restaurants including one mock English pub and a Café, ATMs, souvenir shops, left luggage office. There is also an internet café at 100B every 15 minutes ( compared to 1B per minute in the resorts ) for those too desperate to wait.
For those wanting to have a look, there is a web site that is clear and in English http://www.airportthai.co.th/airportnew/phuket/html
Complaints? Well, if you do get a delay for some reason there is not a lot to do and if several flights are delayed then it could become very crowded indeed. They could also improve choice / competition for transport to and from the airport.
Summary To sum up, it’s a good little regional airport, the direction signs are clear, baggage reclaim is quite fast and it’s very hard to get lost.
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