BANGKOK, 3 October 2023: Thai AirAsia X (flight code XJ) is now operating some flights* at Suvarnabhumi Airport out of the recently opened SAT-1 (Satellite 1) Building.
Departing Thai AirAsia X passengers will continue to check in and clear immigration at the Main Terminal before connecting by the APM shuttle train (every 3 minutes) to SAT-1, where they will head for gates S101-S128 for their respective Thai AirAsia X flights.
Arriving Thai AirAsia X passengers at Suvarnabhumi Airport will also disembark at SAT-1 and connect by the APM shuttle train to the Main Terminal for immigration clearance, baggage collection and transfers.
This operational change applies to Thai AirAsia X (XJ) routes between Bangkok and South Korea (Seoul), Japan (Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo) and China (Shanghai) only.*
Thai AirAsia X arriving and departing passengers between Suvarnabhumi and Sydney (Australia), Thai AirAsia (FD) flights, and all other AirAsia Group flights will continue to operate from the main terminal at the airport.
The new terminal comes with 28 contact gate aircraft parking stands capable of accommodating A380s and 64 passenger loading bridges.
Thai AirAsia X and Thai Vietjet are the first airlines to use SAT-1, with Thai AirAsia X operating 14 flights daily and Thai Vietjet four flights daily. Duty-free delivery counter services, duty-free shops, restaurants, and special passenger lounges are only partially open at present, but ultimately, it will have identical retail outlets as found elsewhere air side.
The APM shuttle train can handle up to 3,590 passengers per hour or 210 passengers per five-minute transfer to and from the remote satellite terminal. The SAT-1 building will benefit airlines that want to end bus transfers to remote boarding bays. International travellers not keen on the long treks in Suvarnabhumi Airport’s main terminal corridors will value the APM shuttle transfer.
However, baggage check-in and immigration will remain in the main terminal, a notorious bottleneck of passenger congestion when checking in for flights. The airside terminal zones and buildings, which include the domestic and main terminal gates and now the remote SAT-1 gates, rarely suffer the same degree of passenger congestion.
