Suvarnabhumi Airport is bracing for a major test as the holiday travel season approaches its peak. An additional 32,000 passengers - 20,000 on international flights and 10,000 on domestic flights - are expected to pass through Bangkok's new airport between Dec 25 and Jan 5.

Twenty-eight airlines are adding a total of 274 air movements - both take-offs and landings - during the 12-day period, on top of the normal daily rate of 750-800 movements.

The additional movements would involve 123 international services and 151 domestic ones, according to Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT), the operator of Thailand's six major airports.

Security measures at Suvarnabhumi airport have been stepped up during the Christmas and New Year celebrations as more people are projected to travel during the festive season, senior officials said today.

Effective through New Year's Day, security measures at the airport will be tightened round-the-clock as more airport security, together with army and police personnel, will be posted there to provide security to local and foreign passengers, Chotisak Asapaviriya, president of Airports of Thailand Public Co., Ltd. (AOT).

Travellers should also beware of bogus guides and unauthorised limousines at the airport. They could be a threat because they are not registered with the airport, Mr. Chotisak said.

Thai officials hope the introduction of Southeast Asia's first paperless customs system will prove a breakthrough in its ambitious plan to become a regional air logistics center to rival Singapore. The pioneering application of air cargo "e-customs" at Suvarnabhumi Airport, developed with co-operation between the Thai Customs Department and WFSPG Cargo Co, a cargo terminal operator, will significantly streamline the customs procedures for air freight.

The web-based information technology is saving a huge amount of paper, time, hassle and money normally spent on imports, exports and trans-shipment of goods through Bangkok's new airport.

Having high expectations that large numbers of foreign tourists and local travelers would be traveling by air during the New Year weekend holiday, the management of Suvarnabhumi Airport will offer special traveler's assistance next week, Somchai Sawasdeepon, general manager of the airport, said Sunday.

The travelers center will be on the seventh floor of the passenger terminal building as airport officials believe that the airport will be more crowded with the greatest number passengers at any given time since it opened commercially September 28, Mr. Somchai said.

Services at the reception center include advice on facilities available at the airport, flight timetables, prevention of luggage delays and providing sufficient transportation facilities, he said.

The no-housing zone surrounding Suvarnabhumi airport has been extended from a radius of 8km to 10km as a long-term solution to aircraft noise pollution, Deputy Transport Minister Sansern Wongchaum said yesterday. Mr Sansern said the meeting on management of the airport vicinity, which he chaired, agreed yesterday that residents in the designated areas would be subject to expropriation, which would be carried out on a voluntary basis.

The exact area covered in a radius from the airport's centre and the number of affected homes had yet to be determined.

Mr Sansern said the announcement prohibiting housing within 8km of the airport had been in place since 1992 and reiterated on many occasions, but it had never been taken seriously. He said the aircraft noise since the opening of the airport had made areas in the vicinity unfit for residential purposes. Land prices have plunged by up to 80% as a result.