Phuket Airport

Arrived on a Domestic flight into the original terminal. A pier into the terminal and down to the Baggage Reclaim with 2 belts. Out round and into the Arrivals Area you pass a fenced off area before you get outside with all the tour reps with signs. The Arrivals Area is under cover to protect from tropical rains but is exceedingly busy with cars, mini-buses and coaches in a space that was designed for a different era - a new terminal is currently being completed and phased into use (March 2017). Pretty quick delivery of the bags. Departing gets more complicated if you are flying domestically to Bangkok but on a connecting ticket out of the country - if so you can use the CIQ system at Bangkok (BKK) airport and arrive as a transit passenger having cleared customs. To do this you have to Check-in at the International Terminal at Phuket airport not the Domestic one. The new terminal is very spacious with various Check-in Islands at the front and then Passport Control followed by Security and the Departure Lounge. Departures has an array of shops and cafes to provide what you need along with various Thailand souvenir stalls. There is free Wi-Fi but you need access to your Emails to obtain the password required to access the Wi-Fi Gates look out onto the apron and are connected mainly via air bridges unless you are on a CIQ flight when gates 82-84 bus you to the rear of your aircraft in the Domestic part of the airport. Check-in was OK as was Passport Control and Security and apparently a huge improvement on the older system. Hopefully as more of the terminal is brought into use it will maintain this. It is still quite a small airport with not much walking between the different parts. It can get very busy as Phuket is a major tourist destination and the most busy airport after Bangkok in Thailand.

✅ Verified Review | After an effortless and relaxed boarding at Don Mueang in Bangkok we found transiting through Phuket Airport on arrival a dream. But on our return flight it was a different story. We arrived at departures to be met with big queues at the entrance and security scanning all bags at the entrance. Once past this there were only 2 positions open to check in, one for no hold cargo and one for online check in and counter check in and it was moving very slowly. Eventually after about 25 minutes we got our bags dropped off as we had checked in online. Got to say at this point the staff were professional and polite but I believe there should have been a position open for online check in so you could just drop your bags. Once past the counter we had our carry ons scanned again, now I am all for security but I can not understand why they have to be scanned twice. Just before we were due to board the gate was changed and once we arrived at the updated gate all I can describe it as was a "bun fight". 2 flights crammed into 1 area and then bussed to the aircraft a world away from the relaxed boarding in Bangkok. Once on the aircraft the service was excellent as usual. With so many flights using Phuket Airport it is high time it was upgraded. I have given 3/10 this is for Phuket if scoring Don Mueang it would be 10/10 excellent.

Having read other reviews I was dreading going through this airport. We arrived at 0750 on 1st February and were fortunate to be among the first passengers off the plane. On reaching the immigration hall, there were only three desks manned. We chose the desk with five people in the queue and were through in less than five minutes. At the luggage carousel our bags were third and fifth off the plane. Straight through customs into the arrivals hall and we were met by our taxi driver and were on our way to the hotel 20 minutes after landing-a very pleasant surprise. On our departure tree weeks later, we arrived at the airport at 06.15 for a 0940 departure. The taxi driver dropped us at the far end of the arrivals hall away from the crowds and we were able to get through the x-ray machine with no delays. Check in at Emirates business desk took less than two minutes and we were then told that a very pleasant lady would escort us to the Coral Business lounge. Looking at the lengthy queues we were resigned to a very long wait but this staff member walked us to the front of every queue, security, immigration etc. and we were in the Coral lounge within 10 minutes of checking in. I must confess that I felt really embarrassed by this and we did get some very murderous looks form the other passengers in the queues. I do not know if this service is specific to Emirates airlines. The immigration officers all looked bored and were obviously just going through the motions. Personally, I would not consider using this airport again until major improvements are made to the immigration/security procedures.

Absolutely worst crowd management I've seen in more than 50 airports. Staff absolutely not trained to handle such numbers and really inefficient waiting time. More than an hour for security and no business class line. Bangkok Airport isn't the best but for sure it's doing better than that.

Phuket International is undertaking a so called upgrade and the end result is a catastrophe. The domestic airport arrival is complete chaos. Very difficult to get a cab. Touts and self declared cabs all over the place. Minibuses from hotels mixed with private limos. Extremely stressful and hostile environment. The departure is of the same level. This airport, unlike Bangkok, does a pre-scan in order to get inside the airport. This creates a long queue with under age security staff in charge of the whole process! Plan at least 30 minutes to clear this bottle neck. The checkin area dates back from the 1960s. Dirty and messy place. Once the check in is processed, there is very limited choice of food and shops upstairs.

I am travelling from Phuket to London Heathrow via Bangkok today, flying business class. We checked in at the airport to find the business class lounge for Thai Airways is closed and a 'temporary' lounge set up. Basically, a cordonned off area of the large lounge. Service has been terrible. We had ordered a coffee, which was so tiny we drank it in three mouthfuls! My husband ordered a chicken sandwich which consisted of a strip of fake chicken and a pile of lettuce. Inedible. We have now been sitting here for an hour surrounded be empty coffee cups and dirty plates, and have been completely ignored by the three members of staff, who have spent the time chatting, eating their breakfast and walking past us. Terrible experience compared to Heathrow business class lounge, where the service was fantastic. Champagne, cocktails and delicious food all available to help yourself to. For once, UK has got it right!

I reviewed the new Phuket airport in October 2016 and found it to be a disorganised mess with a near 2 hour queue to clear immigration for the 60 minute hop to KL. I flew from Phuket to London yesterday and there could not have been a greater contrast. The baggage scanning is now undertaken before you enter the terminal (a bit like the old terminal) and there was barely a queue for any of the security points at the entrance to the terminal. 5 minutes later I was inside and had the choice of two check-in desks at Bangkok Airways with no queues. Breezed into immigration and was directed to a counter almost immediately from where I cleared hand baggage security a couple of minutes later. In a decent airside lounge a couple of minutes later. From arrival to a cup of coffee took about 15 minutes. This was at 08.30 hrs on a Tuesday to catch the 10.20 flight up to Bangkok. It was clear that there has been a rethink and that the immigration counters are fully staffed and operational - or were at least yesterday - which was not the case last October. I arrived into Phuket as I normally do having cleared immigration in Bangkok so I cannot comment on the arrivals process other than to say it can be a long walk if you gate in the old terminal. But credit where it is due, the improved experience was light years from what it was in October and my scathing review as a consequence. Well done to all concerned and keep it up.

Arrival processing at Phuket Airport took 3 hours. Departure took 3 hours and I just barely made my flight despite arriving 3 hours before departure. This airport has no management and nobody cares. We stood in line outside for an hour for the first security check, and then 2 hours to clear customs. There were people jumping the queues and no one to stop them. The situation got tense as many people were 45 to 60 minutes late to board their flights. I don't know whether I will ever go back to Phuket again. It's a shame to have a nice vacation spoiled by this level of airport management incompetence.

✅ Verified Review | Worst travel experience I had for many years at Phuket Airport. Crazy long queues on passport control both inbound and outbound - spent at least one hour in queue both arrival and departure. Additional time to enter the building itself as x-ray machines at the entrance with staff clearly not understanding what they do. Plan minimum 90 mins to pass all formalities on departure and get yourself mentally ready for 60 min queue on arrival.

✅ Verified Review | Like many other reviewers of this airport, I was very disappointed at the time required to depart from this airport. As arrival was quickly accomplished, we never expected to experience such a long period that was required on departure. Luckily we happened to arrive a little early and so still could make our flight. The line to proceed through an initial baggage scan that took place outside the terminal entrance doors, extended beyond the covered portion of the airport. It took an hour to finally arrive at the X-ray machine. Then, with staff perhaps unable to properly understand the signals of the X-ray equipment, I was forced to spend an extra 15 minutes there while a security officer rummaged through my suitcase looking for a non-existent battery despite my repeatedly stating that I had no battery inside. After the officer removed many items, I had to go back and have a re-scan after which my luggage was declared OK. Of course my packing was a mess at this point and they let me put it back in by myself. I realize they have to be safe but as I had no problem with any other security equipment at other airports, I am placing the blame on experience with the equipment. Once inside, we got processed quite quickly by the airline to obtain our boarding pass (we were traveling business so less of a line-up), but then had to join a line for immigration that extended outside the immigration area, almost reaching the end wall of the terminal. When we reached inside the actual immigration area we noticed that, despite there being the option of 2 officers per kiosk, it appeared there was only one officer working per kiosk. So they did have the ability to speed things up if they wanted and staff were available. Hence a little over another hour was spent going through immigration and the inside security check. In summary, we spent well over 2 hours in some form of line just to get inside the terminal. This is a new terminal that is apparently the second busiest in Thailand yet is managed as if it were a small market airport. Not really a tourist-friendly airport.