Suvarnabhumi Airport Bangkok International Airport, is an international airport serving Bangkok,
Thailand. It was officially opened for limited domestic flight service
on 15 September 2006, and opened for most domestic and all international
commercial flights on 28 September 2006. The airport is currently the main hub for Thai Airways International, Bangkok Airways, Orient Thai Airlines, and Thai AirAsia. It also serves as regional gateway and connecting point for various foreign carriers.
The airport is located in Racha Thewa in Bang Phli district, Samut Prakan Province, about 25 kilometres (16 mi) east of downtown Bangkok. The name
Suvarnabhumi was chosen by King Bhumibol Adulyadej and refers to the golden kingdom hypothesised to have been located somewhere in Southeast Asia.
Designed by
Helmut Jahn of Murphy/Jahn Architects and constructed primarily by
ITO JV, the airport has the world's tallest free-standing
control tower (132.2 metres / 434 feet), and the world's 4th largest single-building
airport terminal (563,000 square metres / 6,060,000 square feet). Suvarnabhumi is the
6th busiest airport in Asia, and
the busiest in the country, having handled 47.9 million passengers in 2011, and is also a
major air cargo hub, with a total of 96 airlines. On social networks, Suvarnabhumi is the world's 2nd most popular place where
Instagram photos were taken in 2011.The airport inherited the airport code BKK from
Don Mueang after the older airport ceased international commercial flights. A modern
motorway no.7 connects the airport, Bangkok, and the heavily industrial
Eastern Seaboard of Thailand, where most of the manufacturing for export takes place.
History
Border between the concourse and the terminal seen from the arrival area
Inner courtyard as seen from the luggage claim room
Inner courtyard and terminal structure by night
A
play area, titled
Wonder World, at the airport's departure lounge.
Land purchase, early construction
Planning of a second international airport for Bangkok started in the
early 1960s. The process was slow from the start: as early as 1968,
critics were already charging that the project was "five to seven years"
behind the main schedule.
The 8,000-acre (32 km
2) plot of land occupied by the
airport was purchased in 1973, but the student-led protests on 14
October that year led the overthrow of the military government of Prime
Minister
Thanom Kittikachorn and the project was shelved.
After a series of ups and downs, the "New Bangkok International
Airport" company (NBIA) was formed in 1996. Due to political and
economic instabilities, notably the
Asian financial crisis of 1997, the civil construction began six years later in January 2002 by the government of
Thaksin Shinawatra. The airport is located in a once low-lying marsh, formerly known as
Nong Ngu Hao (
Thai:
หนองงูเห่า, lit. "
Cobra Swamp"), which took 5 years (1997–2001) to clear make a
land reclamation.
In 2005, the construction supervision and management was transferred to
the Airports of Thailand PLC, while the NBIA company was dissolved.
Financing
Fifty percent of the airport's construction cost was covered by
Airports of Thailand, while the another 50% was from a friendly agreement of AOT and the
Japan Bank for International Cooperation
(JBIC). Airport-related procurement followed JBIC's stringent
guidelines for transparency and openness. Despite populism regarding the
airport as being built for passengers, Thai and foreigner exporting
companies in the area for a long time wanted a round the clock airport
built along with a modern motorway between factories, Bangkok, and the
port of
Laem Chabang.
Early construction, airport tests, and official opening
The airport was due to open in late 2005, but a series of budget overruns, construction flaws, and
allegations of corruption plagued the project.
A further problem was the belief that the airport was haunted by
spirits, and sightings of ghosts by superstitious construction workers,
so that on 23 September 2005, the Thai airports authority held a
ceremony with 99 Buddhist monks chanting prayers to calm these spirits.
Symbolic first test flights involving two Thai Airways aircraft were
held on 29 September 2005, a previously announced deadline for opening.
Full tests of the airport, with seats sold to the public, took place on 3 and 29 July 2006. Six airlines –
Thai Airways International,
Nok Air,
Thai Air Asia,
Bangkok Airways,
PBair and
One-Two-GO – used the airport as a base for 20 domestic flights.The first international test flights were conducted on 1 September 2006. Two THAI's aircraft,
Boeing 747-400 and
Airbus A300-600,
simultaneously departed the airport at 09:19 to Singapore and Hong
Kong. At 15:50 the same aircraft flew back and made simultaneous
touchdowns on runways 19L and 19R. These test flights demonstrated the
readiness of the airport to handle heavy traffic.
On 15 September 2006, the airport started limited daily operations with
Jetstar Asia Airways operating three Singapore to Bangkok flights 3K511. The first commercial arrival
Singapore flight 3K512 and
Thai Airways International operating some domestic flights to
Phitsanulok,
Chiang Mai and
Ubon Ratchathani. Bangkok Airways moved on 21 September,
AirAsia and
Thai AirAsia followed suit on 25 September and on 26 September
Nok Air
moved to Suvarnabhumi Airport. During this initial phase, as well as in
the previous tests, the airport used the temporary IATA code
NBK.
Suvarnabhumi officially opened at 03:00 on 28 September 2006, taking
over all flights from Don Mueang. The first flight to arrive was
Lufthansa Cargo flight LH8442 from
Mumbai at 03:05.
The first commercial when officially opened arrival was from
Japan Airlines at 03:30. The first passenger arrival was
Aerosvit flight VV171 from
Kiev at 04:30, and the first cargo departure was
Saudi Arabian Airlines flight SV-984 to
Riyadh at 05:00.
Aerosvit also had the first passenger departure (VV172 to Kiev) around 05:30.
Initial difficulties
Many difficulties were recorded in the first few days of the
airport's operation. On the first day alone, sluggish luggage claims
were common – the very first passenger arrival by Aerosvit took an hour
for the luggage to start coming out, and some flights did not have their
luggage coming out even after four hours. Also flights were delayed
(Thai Airways claimed that 17 of 19 flights were delayed that day), and
there were also failures with the check-in system.
Subsequent problems included the failure of the cargo computer system,
and the departure boards displaying the wrong information, resulting in
confused passengers (especially as unlike Don Muang, there were no
"final calls" issued).
Months into its opening, issues such as congestion, construction
quality, signage, provision of facilities, and soil subsidence continued
to plague the project, prompting calls to reopen Don Mueang to allow
for repairs to be done.
Expert opinions varied widely regarding the extent of Suvarnabhumi's
problems as well as their root cause; most airlines stated that damage
to the airport was minimal.
Prime Minister
Surayud Chulanont
decided on 16 February 2007 to reopen Don Mueang for domestic flights
on a voluntary basis, with 71 weekly flights moved back initially, with
no international flights allowed.
Capacity and safety issues
Problems with the tarmac
The Engineering Institute of Thailand conducted investigations at the
airport in late 2006 after signs of distress were spotted at several
locations in Suvarnabhumi's taxiways and taxilanes.
Rutting was found in five of the six taxilanes and one of the six taxiways.
Plastic deformation
of the asphalt wearing course was observed near the takeoff position of
the runway. However, the investigators noted that plastic deformation
at this location was a common phenomenon and only routine maintenance
was required to repair the distress. Aside from this surface distortion,
both runways were in good structural condition.
Further investigations found that that taxilane and taxiway rutting was caused by separation of the asphalt
binder from the
aggregate surface due to prolonged water infiltration into the asphalt concrete
base course,
a phenomenon known as "stripping." The 23-centimetre (9.1 in) thick
base course is the top-most layer of the tarmac. Core samples indicated
that the concrete base course material contained the correct job mix and
aggregate gradation. Below the base course are the binder course, the
wearing course, and the cement-treated base.
Detailed investigations found that water seepage was evident along
the rims of the expansion joints in the cement-tested base, indicating
that a large quantity of water was still trapped in the sand blanket
(the bottom-most layer of the tarmac). It was found that water trapped
in the sand blanket was fully confined with no connection to the
pavement areas of the airport. A later investigation by the AoT
identified several potential reasons for the trapped water in the sand
blanket. The AoT's findings were disputed by several experts.
The Engineering Institute of Thailand sent a formal warning to the
AoT in November 2006 about the urgent need to drain water from beneath
the tarmac, and the need for immediate action. "The AOT did nothing
about the problem," Suebsak Promboon of the EIT later noted. "The
situation might not have become this bad if the water had been drained
then."
In January 2007, ruts were discovered in the runways at Suvarnabhumi.
The east runway was scheduled to close for repairs. Expert opinions have varied widely as to the root cause of the ruts.
Airport authorities and airline representatives maintained that the
airport was still safe and resisted suggestions that the airport should
be completely closed and all flights moved back to Don Muang.
On 27 January 2007, however, the Department of Civil Aviation
declined to renew the airport's safety certificate, which expired the
previous day. The
ICAO
requires that international airports hold aerodrome safety
certificates, but Suvarnabhumi will continue to operate because the ICAO
requirement has yet to be adopted as part of Thai law.
Capacity
The airport has two parallel runways (60 m. wide, 4,000 m. and
3,700 m. long) and two parallel taxiways to accommodate simultaneous
departures and arrivals. It has a total of 120 parking bays (51 with
contact gates and 69 remote gates) and 8 parking bays (5 contact gates
and 3 remote gates) of these are capable of accommodating the Airbus
A380 aircraft. With a capacity of handling 76 flight operations per
hour, both international and domestic flights will share the airport
terminal but will be assigned to different parts of the concourse. In
the initial phase of construction, it will be capable of handling 45
million passengers and 3 million tonnes of cargo per year. Between the
airport hotel and the terminal building are the two 5-storey car park
buildings with a combined capacity of 5,000 cars.
Plans to re-open Don Mueang for domestic
In January 2007, Thai Airways announced a plan to move some of its domestic operations back to
Don Muang International Airport
due to overcrowding. Three days later, the Ministry of Transport
recommended temporarily reopening Don Muang while repair work on the
runways at Suvarnabhumi proceeds. At that time,
Thai Airways said it would shift most of its domestic flights back, keeping flights with high international passenger connections such as
Chiang Mai and
Phuket at Suvarnabhumi. On 28 March 2009,
Thai Airways discontinued all domestic flights from Don Muang. Bangkok Airways and
One-Two-GO had similar plans, but Bangkok Airways remained at Suvarnabhumi.
Thai AirAsia
said it would not move unless it could shift both its international and
domestic operations, and they remain at Suvarnabhumi for this reason.
Nok Air and
PBair were undecided, but
Nok Air later relocated all their flights to Don Muang, where they operate today.
As of January 2010, only
Nok Air and
One-Two-Go operate domestic flights from Don Muang Airport.
PBair have ceased operations altogether. One-Two-Go was integrated into
Orient Thai Airlines in July 2010 but continues to operate from Don Muang Airport.
Thai Airbus A340 (HS-TLA) at Suvarnabhumi Airport
Repair and upgrades
Airports of Thailand found that the cost of fixing 60 identified
problems at the airport would be less than 1% of the total airline cost
and the problems could be fixed in up to four to five years. Dr. Narupol
Chaiyut, a member of a committee overseeing service problems at the new
airport, estimated that 70% of the problems would be fixed within 2007.
20 of the 60 problems were successfully fixed by February 2007.
Accidents and incidents
- On 3 February 2010, Flight 116, a Thai Airways Boeing 747–400,
experienced an oil filter message, high vibration, and fire warning from
the No. 1 engine, a General Electric CF6-80CB1F turbofan engine,
shortly after takeoff. The flight crew shut down the No. 1 engine,
discharged both fire extinguishing bottles, and started a return back to
the airport. A successful three-engine landing was performed with no
reported injuries.
Features
Structural Design
Suvarnabhumi Airport main terminal roof is designed with structural
elements and bays placed in a cantilevered wavelike form to appear to
“float” over the concourse beneath. This overall design principal was to
express the former essence of the site, from which the water had to be
drained before construction could begin. The eight composite 2,710-ton
Trusses supporting the canopy of the main Terminal are essentially
diagrams of the bending movements acting on them, with the greatest
depth at mid-span and over the supports. These mega-trusses are composed
of three smaller trusses joined via pin connections: the middle truss
acting similarly to a drop-in beam flanked by two cantilevered trusses.
The outer and inner trusses address compression inversely to one
another. Whereas the top of the middle truss is formed by two cords to
account for the compression of the roof structure, the bottom of the
cantilevered trusses is formed by two chords, sense the concentration of
compression reverses when the outer-trusses are cantilevered.
The integration of structural form into overall aesthetic is a phenomenon personally describes by
Helmut Jahn
as “Archi-Neering”. These integrations include works on the advanced
long span lightweight steel trusses coupled with exposed pre-cast
concrete structures, low e-coated glass facade system, three layer
translucent membrane, integrated cooling, using water as a low energy
carrier and the thermal mass of concrete and a displacement ventilation
system with minimal air-changes.
The result of
Helmut Jahn’s
vision is a structure with performance materials serve in their total
composition and in use more than in their conventional roles. This
maximizes daylight use in comfort with substantial enegy life cycle cost
savings. The installed cooling system reduced up to 50% compared to a
conventional system. A translucent membrane with three layers was
developed to mediate between the interior and exterior climate, dealing
with noise and temperature transmission, while still allowing natural
flow of daylight into building.
Structural Facade
Suvarnabhumi Airport main terminal characteristic green building
envelop utilizes a minimalist structural form of point fix facade called
cable truss system. The structure relied on pre-tensioned highly
compacted dia.14mm stainless steel cable supported by compression
spreader strut elements between two vertical trusses to provide
stability. Dead loads are supported by dia.16mm high tensile stainless
rod that were engineered right inside the main body of the point fix
clamp making the DL rods to appear hidden between the glass silicon.
Flood Protection
Suvarnabhumi Airport has taken numerous measures to protect it from
flooding. The airport area is surrounded by a 3 metre high, 23.5 km long
earth dyke. Within the area protected by the dyke there are numerous
canals, including one running along the inside of the dyke, which drain
into 6 reservoirs. The reservoirs hold up to 4 million cubic metes of
water. At the southern boundary of the airport there are two water
pumping stations, each has 4 pumps that pump 12 cubic metres (12,000
litres) of water per second ( or 1 million cubic metres per day). The
pumped water is discharged into 2 canals, Khlong Lat Krabang and Khlong
Bang Chalong, which flow south to the Gulf of Thailand.
Events
On 25 January 2007, due to work to the upgrading the taxiways, which
was suffered by a small crack, few incoming flights were delayed and
several flights were safety diverted to a nearby operating
U-Tapao International Airport in Rayong province.
On 26 November 2008, an illegal occupation of the airport took place by
People's Alliance for Democracy,
closing the departure lounge and blocking exits, causing almost three
thousand passengers stranded within the main terminal, another 350,000
were stranded inside the country, as all flights were grounded for a
short while.
People's Alliance for Democracy Seizure
Control tower On 12.00 am
On 2 December 2008, protesters agreed to leave the airport as they had
been illegally protesting and permitted the resumption of flights.
Security checks, clean-ups and recertification once the illegal
occupation ended delayed the airport from being fully functional until 5
December 2008.
Warnings
In 2009, the
Irish Government
warned its citizens to be on guard while browsing in the airport's
shops. "We have received reports that innocent shoppers have been the
subject of allegations of suspected
theft
and threatened that their cases will not be heard for several months
unless they plead guilty and pay substantial fines," the Irish
government wrote in a
travel advisory, which also advised shoppers to retain all receipts to "avoid great distress."
Britain and
Denmark also posted online advisories about hard-to-detect demarcation lines between shops in Suvarnabhumi's sprawling
duty-free zone and warned shoppers to be alert about carrying unpaid merchandise across the lines.
Irregularities
Petty thieves and confidence men, the majority of them illegal taxi
drivers or tour guides, are known to prey on tourists in the arrival
hall. They belong to politically-well connected criminal groups: Kamnan
Samruay, Boonruang Srisang, Sak Pakphanang, the Pattaya Mafia and Phuyai
Daeng.
Evicting them has proved difficult as they allegedly are well connected
(the head of the Pirap gang is supposedly related to an AoT executive,
while the Phuyai Daeng has ties to influential civil servants in Samut
Prakan).
On 1 October 2010, two hundred armed men occupied the airport's
parking area for an hour, blocking the building's entrances and seizing
ticket booths to collect fares from motorists.
Airport security personnel failed to respond, reportedly because an
internal dispute within the Parking Management Co., the firm contracted
to run the parking facilities.
Specifications
Costing an estimated
฿155 billion (US$3.8 billion), the airport has two parallel
runways (60 m wide, 4,000 m and 3,700 m long) and two parallel
taxiways to accommodate simultaneous departures and arrivals.
It has a total of 120 parking bays (51 with contact gates and 69 remote
gates), with five of these capable of accommodating the
Airbus A380.
The main passenger terminal building, with a capacity of handling 76
flight operations per hour, co-locates the international and domestic
terminals, though assigning them to different parts of the concourse. In
the initial phase of construction, it will be capable of handling 45
million passengers and 3 million tonnes of
cargo
per year. Above the underground rail link station and in front of the
passenger terminal building is a 600-room hotel operated by Accor Group
under the
Novotel
brand. Between the airport hotel and the terminal building are the two
5-storey car parks with a combined capacity of 5,000 cars.
Long-term plans include five runways flanking two main terminals, two
satellite buildings and a domestic terminal will have a combined
capacity capable of handling more than 150 million passengers and 6.4
million tonnes of cargo a year were settled clearly on the drawing
board. The second phase of airport expansion which involving the
construction of a satellite building south of the main terminal and a
domestic terminal is expected to begin construction early 2012.
The airport's passenger terminal is the world's largest passenger
terminal ever constructed in one phase at 563,000 square metres
(6,060,000 sq ft), and is also currently the fourth biggest passenger
terminal building in the world, after the
Hong Kong International Airport (570,000 square metres / 6,100,000 square feet),
Beijing Capital International Airport (986,000 square metres / 10,610,000 square feet), with the largest passenger terminal being at
Dubai International Airport
(Terminal 3 is over 1,500,000 square metres / 16,000,000 square feet).
The airport's air-traffic control tower is still remaining as the
tallest in the world's history at 132.2 metres (434 ft).
Suvarnabhumi Airport has 51 air bridges and 69 non air bridges.
Additionally, flights are also able to park at remote locations on the
ramp, from where airport buses transport passengers to and from the
terminal.Suvarnabhumi Airport has 5 air bridges and 3 non air bridges
for Airbus 380–800
Expansion
On December 15, 2011
Airports of Thailand
(AOT) announced to speed up the second phase expansion of Suvarnabhumi
Airport to 2016, one year ahead of its scheduled completion in 2017. An
investment of 62.5 billion baht ($1.95 billion USD/€1.49 billion EURO)
is being planned for the second phase, according to Transport Minister
Sukampol Suwannathat. The plan is to strengthen Suvarnabhumi Airport’s
position as a regional aviation hub. Phase 2 would raise the airport's
capacity to 65 million passengers a year and should also be undertaken
in parallel with the construction of the new domestic terminal.
Earlier transport Minister ACM Sukampol Suwannathat gave the green
light to Airports of Thailand (AoT)'s plan to carry out the expansion of
Suvarnabhumi airport with the construction of a new domestic terminal.
The new domestic terminal will be capable of handling 20 million
passengers a year. Estimated cost is 9.2 billion Baht. The two expansion
projects are part of the overall airport enlargement that would see
Suvarnabhumi raise its annual passenger handling capacity to 103 million
passengers, 73 million international and 30 million domestic passengers
by 2024 at an estimated cost of 163 billion baht. The expansion
includes the construction of one additional runway from two at the
present, subsequent enlargement of domestic and international terminals
and improvements to parking bays, car parks and other airport
infrastructure.
Airlines and destinations
Scheduled services
| Destinations |
| Aeroflot |
Moscow-Sheremetyevo |
| Aerosvit Airlines |
Kiev-Boryspil |
| Air Astana |
Almaty |
| Air Austral |
Saint-Denis de la Réunion |
| Air Berlin |
Berlin-Brandenburg [begins 3 June 2012], Berlin-Tegel [ends 2 June 2012], Düsseldorf
Seasonal: Munich |
| Air China |
Beijing-Capital |
| Air France |
Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Phnom Penh [ends 25 March 2012] |
| Air India |
Delhi, Mumbai |
| Air Koryo |
Pyongyang |
| Air Macau |
Macau |
| Air Madagascar |
Antananarivo, Guangzhou |
| AirAsia |
Kuala Lumpur |
| All Nippon Airways |
Tokyo-Haneda, Tokyo-Narita |
All Nippon Airways
operated by Air Japan |
Tokyo-Narita |
| Asiana Airlines |
Seoul-Incheon |
| Austrian Airlines |
Vienna |
| Bangkok Airways |
Bangalore, Chiang Mai, Dhaka, Guilin, Ko Samui, Lampang, Luang
Prabang, Malé, Mumbai, Phnom Penh, Phuket, Siem Reap, Sukhothai, Trat,
Yangon |
| Biman Bangladesh Airlines |
Dhaka, Chittagong |
| British Airways |
London-Heathrow, Sydney [ends 25 March 2012] |
| Business Air |
Daegu, Seoul-Incheon, Singapore |
| Cathay Pacific |
Colombo, Hong Kong, Karachi, Mumbai, Singapore
Seasonal: Delhi |
| Cebu Pacific |
Clark, Manila |
| China Airlines |
Amsterdam, Kaohsiung, Taipei-Taoyuan |
| China Eastern Airlines |
Jinghong/Xishuangbanna, Kunming, Shanghai-Pudong |
| China Southern Airlines |
Guangzhou, Shantou, Zhengzhou |
| Crystal Thai Airlines[41][42] |
Cochin, Colombo, Dubai, Manila, Muan, Mumbai, Paro, Phuket, Seoul-Incheon |
| Delta Air Lines |
Tokyo-Narita |
| Druk Air |
Bagdogra, Dhaka, Paro, Guwahati |
| Eastar Jet |
Seoul-Incheon |
| EgyptAir |
Cairo, Kuala Lumpur |
| El Al |
Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion |
| Emirates |
Christchurch, Dubai, Hong Kong, Sydney |
| Ethiopian Airlines |
Addis Ababa, Guangzhou, Hong Kong |
| Etihad Airways |
Abu Dhabi |
| EVA Air |
Amsterdam, London-Heathrow, Taipei-Taoyuan, Vienna |
| Finnair |
Helsinki |
| Garuda Indonesia |
Jakarta-Soekarno-Hatta |
| Gulf Air |
Bahrain |
| Happy Air |
Hat Yai, Hua Hin, Loei, Mae Hong Son, Nakhon, Ratchasima, Nan, Phuket, Ranong |
| Hainan Airlines |
Beijing-Capital [begins 13 July 2012], Haikou, Hangzhou, Nanning |
| Hong Kong Airlines |
Hong Kong |
| I-Fly |
Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Moscow-Vnukovo |
| IndiGo |
Delhi, Mumbai |
| Indonesia AirAsia |
Denpasar/Bali, Jakarta-Soekarno-Hatta, Medan, Surabaya |
| Japan Airlines |
Osaka-Kansai, Tokyo-Haneda, Tokyo-Narita |
| Jeju Air |
Busan, Seoul-Incheon |
| Jetairfly |
Brussels |
| Jet Airways |
Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai |
| Jetstar Airways |
Melbourne |
| Jetstar Asia Airways |
Singapore |
| Jin Air |
Seoul-Incheon |
| Kenya Airways |
Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Nairobi |
| Kingfisher Airlines |
Kolkata |
| KLM |
Amsterdam, Taipei-Taoyuan [ends 24 March 2012] |
| Korean Air |
Busan, Cheongju, Daegu, Seoul-Incheon |
| Kuwait Airways |
Kuwait, Manila |
| Lao Airlines |
Luang Prabang, Pakse, Savannakhet, Vientiane |
| Lufthansa |
Frankfurt, Ho Chi Minh City, Kuala Lumpur |
| Mahan Air |
Mashhad, Tehran-Imam Khomeini |
| Malaysia Airlines |
Kuala Lumpur |
| MIAT Mongolian Airlines |
Charter: Ulan Bator |
| Myanmar Airways International |
Yangon, Singapore |
| Nepal Airlines |
Kathmandu |
| Nok Air |
Chiang Rai |
| Nordwind Airlines |
Moscow-Sheremetyevo, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Kemerovo, Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude, Khabarovsk, Yakutsk |
| Oman Air |
Muscat |
| Orient Thai Airlines |
Hong Kong, Seoul-Incheon |
| Pakistan International Airlines |
Hong Kong, Islamabad |
| Philippine Airlines |
Delhi, Manila |
| P.C. Air |
Vientiane |
| Qantas |
London-Heathrow [ends 24 March 2012], Sydney |
| Qatar Airways |
Doha, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City |
| RAK Airways |
Ras al-Khaimah [begins 1 June 2012] |
| Royal Brunei Airlines |
Bandar Seri Begawan |
| Royal Jordanian |
Amman-Queen Alia, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur |
| S7 Airlines |
Seasonal: Irkutsk, Khabarovsk, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk |
| SAS Scandinavian Airlines |
Copenhagen |
| Shanghai Airlines |
Chongqing, Shanghai-Pudong |
| Singapore Airlines |
Singapore |
| South East Asian Airlines |
Clark |
| SriLankan Airlines |
Beijing-Capital, Colombo, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Shanghai-Pudong |
| Swiss International Air Lines |
Zürich |
| Thai AirAsia |
Chennai [begins 23 March 2012], Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Chongqing
[begins 23 March 2012], Colombo [begins 1 March 2012], Delhi [ends 24
March 2012],Denpasar/Bali, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Hanoi, Hat Yai, Ho Chi Minh City,
Hong Kong, Kaohsiung, Krabi, Kuala Lumpur, Kolkata, Macau, Manila,
Narathiwat, Penang, Phnom Penh, Phuket, Shenzhen, Nakhon Phanom, Nakhon
Si Thammarat, Singapore, Surat Thani, Trang, Ubon Ratchathani, Udon
Thani, Yangon |
| Thai Airways International |
Auckland, Bangalore, Beijing-Capital, Busan, Brisbane, Brussels,
Chengdu, Chennai, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Colombo, Copenhagen, Delhi,
Denpasar/Bali, Dhaka, Dubai, Frankfurt, Fukuoka, Guangzhou, Hangzhou
[begins 13 April 2012], Hanoi, Hat Yai, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong,
Hyderabad, Islamabad, Jakarta-Soekarno-Hatta, Johannesburg, Karachi,
Kathmandu, Khon Kaen, Ko Samui, Kolkata, Krabi, Kuala Lumpur, Kunming,
Lahore, London-Heathrow, Los Angeles, Madrid, Manila, Melbourne,
Milan-Malpensa, Moscow-Domodedovo, Mumbai, Munich, Muscat,
Nagoya-Centrair, Osaka-Kansai, Oslo-Gardermoen, Paris-Charles de Gaulle,
Penang, Perth, Phnom Penh, Phuket, Rome-Fiumicino, Seoul-Incheon,
Shanghai-Pudong, Singapore, Stockholm-Arlanda, Sydney, Surat Thani,
Taipei-Taoyuan, Tokyo-Haneda, Tokyo-Narita, Ubon Ratchathani, Udon
Thani, Vientiane, Xiamen, Yangon, Zürich
Seasonal: Gaya, Varanasi |
| Thai Regional Airlines |
Nakhonratchasima, Phetchabun, Surin |
| Thai Smile |
Chiang Mai [begins 1 August 2012], Gaya [begins 1 October 2012],
Jakarta [begins 1 August 2012], Kolkata [begins 1 August 2012], Macau
[begins 1 July 2012], Phnom Penh [begins 1 August 2012], Surat Thani
[begins 1 September 2012], Varanasi [begins 1 October 2012] |
| Tiger Airways |
Singapore |
| Transaero |
Moscow-Domodedovo, Moscow-Sheremetyevo, St Petersburg, Yekaterinburg
Seasonal: Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk, Vladivostok |
| Travel Service Hungary |
Seasonal: Budapest |
| Turkish Airlines |
Ho Chi Minh City, Istanbul-Atatürk |
| Turkmenistan Airlines |
Ashgabat |
| T'way Airlines |
Seoul-Incheon |
| United Airlines |
Tokyo-Narita |
| United Airways |
Dhaka |
| Ural Airlines |
Yekaterinburg |
| UTair Aviation |
Seasonal:Krasnodar |
| Uzbekistan Airways |
Tashkent |
| Vietnam Airlines |
Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City |
| Vladivostok Air |
Khabarovsk, Seoul-Incheon, Vladivostok |
Cities with a direct international airlink to Suvarnabhumi Airport
Charter services
Cargo services
| Destinations |
| Air France Cargo |
Paris-Charles de Gaulle |
| Air Hong Kong |
Hong Kong, Penang |
| ANA Cargo |
Okinawa, Osaka-Kansai, Taipei-Taoyuan, Tokyo-Narita, Singapore |
| Aryan Cargo Express |
Hong Kong, Seoul-Incheon |
| Asiana Cargo |
Seoul-Incheon |
| Cardig Air |
Hong Kong, Jakarta-Soekarno-Hatta, Singapore |
| Cargolux |
Baku, Luxembourg, Shanghai-Pudong, Xiamen |
| Cathay Pacific Cargo |
Hong Kong |
| China Airlines Cargo |
Abu Dhabi, Luxembourg, Taipei-Taoyuan |
| China Cargo Airlines |
Shanghai |
| DHL |
|
| Emirates SkyCargo |
Dubai |
| EVA Air Cargo |
Taipei-Taoyuan |
| FedEx Express |
Guangzhou |
| Jett8 Airlines Cargo |
Singapore |
| K-Mile Air |
Ho Chi Minh city, Singapore |
| KLM Cargo |
Amsterdam, Taipei-Taoyuan |
| Korean Air Cargo |
Seoul-Incheon, Singapore |
| Kuzu Airlines Cargo |
Istanbul-Ataturk |
| Lufthansa Cargo |
Frankfurt, Mumbai, Sharjah |
| MASKargo |
Kuala Lumpur |
| Martinair Cargo |
Amsterdam,Singapore |
| Nippon Cargo Airlines |
Singapore, Tokyo-Narita |
| Saudi Arabian Airlines Cargo |
Guangzhou, Jeddah, Riyadh, Shanghai-Pudong |
| Singapore Airlines Cargo |
Chennai, Mumbai, Singapore, Tokyo-Narita |
| Thai Airways Cargo operated by Southern Air |
Amsterdam, Chennai, Delhi, Dubai, Frankfurt, Hong Kong |
| Tri-MG Intra Asia Airlines |
Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh |
| UPS Airlines |
|
| Yanda Airlines |
Coimbatore, Delhi, Pune, Seoul-Incheon, Shanghai-Pudong, Tokyo-Narita |
| Yangtze River Express |
Shanghai-Pudong |
Ground transportation
Airport link Suvarnabhumi station located right below the main terminal building
Taxis stand is located outside the arrival hall on the same level
Airport Rail Link
The 30-billion baht
Suvarnabhumi Airport Link was opened on 23 August 2010,
after multiple delays. The Airport Rail Link (ARL) is operated by SRTET, a subsidiary company of the
State Railway of Thailand. The
standard gauge
line is 28.6 kilometers long and is elevated for most its length,
running mostly above existing regional railway lines and parallel to the
No. 7 Motorway and Si Rat Expressway. There is a short
at-grade/underground segment as the line approaches the passenger
terminal building of Suvarnabhumi Airport. The ARL has two interchange
stations, namely Phaya Thai (changing for
BTS Green Line services) and Makkasan (linking Phetchaburi station of the
MRT Blue Line).
Two train services are operated: the non-stop Express Line trains run
between Suvarnabhumi and Makkasan (at a maximum speed of 160 km/hour);
the commuter City Line trains that run between Suvarnabhumi and Phaya
Thai, calling at all stations.
At the end of 2010, Makkasan station will also serve as the City
Airport Terminal with parking and baggage check-in facilities offered to
passengers using the Express Line. In the future, the ARL will
complement the SRT Red Line commuter service, which comprises two meter
gauge, dual-track lines. The ARL may also be extended from Phaya Thai to
Don Mueang via Bang Sue, if the old Don Mueang International Airport is
reopened for civil aviation under a dual-aiprort policy.
The Airport Rail Link operates daily from 6 am to 12 midnight. A
single-trip journey costs between 15 and 45 Baht or 150 Baht on the City
Line and Express Line service, respectively. Journeys on an Express
Line train (non-stop to Makksan) and the City Line train (six stops to
Phaya Thai) takes 15 and 27 minutes, respectively. Suvarnabhumi station
is located right under the main terminal building (B1 Level, two floors
below the Arrival Hall). As the connection walkway linking Makkasan and
Phetchaburi MRT stations is currently under construction, passengers
changing to other mass transit lines are advised to take a City Line
train to Phaya Thai and change to the
BTS Skytrain from there.
Baggage check-in facilities for passengers travelling on flights operated by
Thai Airways International and
Bangkok Airways are offered at Makkasan station (the
city air terminal)
from 8 am to 9 pm, daily. Passengers must check in their baggage at
least 3 hours prior to the flight departure, or up to 12 hours in
advance, and are required to purchase an Express Line ticket to
Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Regional train
Meanwhile,
SRT
provides a suburban commuter train service between Hua Takhe (the
nearest station to Suvarnabhumi on the East line) and the northern
suburban city of Rangsit via downtown Bangkok and the old Don Mueang
Airport. The train also connects with BTS and MRT at Phaya Thai and
Phetchaburi stations respectively. Passengers pay a flat fare of Bt30. A
shuttle bus service linking the airport with Hua Takhe railway station
is provided by BMTA for Bt15. The train service is currently not as
popular as the bus service because it requires a shuttle bus connection.
The service will be stopped when the Airport Express Link is completed.
City bus
The airport express bus stopped running as of June 2011.
12 air-conditioned city bus routes are operated by Bangkok Mass
Transit Authority (BMTA) serve the airport's dedicated bus terminal.
City buses offer a cheaper alternative of Bt35 flat fare, compared with
the airport express bus. However, passengers must take a shuttle bus to
the public transportation center's bus terminal before they can board
the regular city buses. The 12 routes available are as follows:
| Service |
Destination |
Notes |
| City Bus |
| 549 Suvarnabhumi |
Minburi-Bangkapi |
via Seri Thai Rd. |
| 550 Suvarnabhumi |
Lat Phrao MRT Station Ratchada-Lat Phrao Intersection |
| 551 Suvarnabhumi |
Victory Monument |
via Rama IX Rd. |
| 552 Suvarnabhumi |
Hua Lumphong (Bangkok Central Railway Station) |
via On Nut BTS station |
| 552A Suvarnabhumi |
Samut Prakarn |
(Phraeksa BMTA Depot) |
| 553 Suvarnabhumi |
Samut Prakarn |
(Crocodile Farm BMTA Depot) |
| 554 Suvarnabhumi |
Rangsit via Don Mueang and Ram Indra Rd. |
by expressway |
| 555 Suvarnabhumi |
Rangsit via Don Mueang and Central Plaza Lad Phrao |
by expressway |
| 556 Suvarnabhumi |
Southern Bus Terminal via Ratchadamnoen Klang Rd. and Democracy Monument |
by expressway |
| 557 Suvarnabhumi |
Wongwian Yai |
Out of Service |
| 558 Suvarnabhumi |
Thonburi Housing Community – Central Plaza Rama II |
| 559 Suvarnabhumi |
Future Park Rangsit via Dream World |
by expressway |
| Service |
Destination |
Notes |
| Long-distance services |
| Transport Company Bus |
Pattaya |
| Transport Company Bus |
Nong Khai |
Counter of the AOT Limousine Service
Car
The airport has 5 main access routes. Among these the most convenient route is via the
Bangkok Chon Buri Motorway (Highway No. 7). Another main airport entrance is in Samut Prakan province via the expressway from Bang Na to Bang Pakong.
The airport has provided 5 convenient entrance routes. The main route
is via the motorway in the north of Bangkok, directly connecting
Bangkok's downtown and
Chon Buri
province, the industrial and harbor city in eastern Thailand. However,
another main airport entrance is located in Samut Prakan province,
connecting an elevated highway in the south of Bangkok which lies from
Bang Na to Bang Pakong.
Limousines
Additionally, flat-fare
limousines are available at the Arrivals Level (2nd floor). Limousine services are provided by
AOT and by a number of other licensed Limousine companies
.
BUS (Bor Khor Sor)
Bus Line 389 go to
Pattaya Bus Line 9905 go to
Jomtien Beach BUS Line 9906 – 1 go to
U-Tapao International Airport get off at U-Tapao Station Bus Line 9907 go to
Chanthaburi BUS Line 9909 go to
Si Racha
Public taxi
Metered taxis are available on the ground level of the airport, one level down from the arrivals hall.
Departure tax
Since 1 February 2007 the 700
Baht departure tax
is included in the price of flight tickets. Before that date, departing
passengers had to pay the tax to officials or vending machines before
they entered the immigration queues. The departure tax at Don Muang
International Airport was 500 Baht per person.
See also
References
- ^ a b 2011 Statistics
- ^ USA Today, "Bangkok's new airport opens to first commercial flights", 15 September 2006.
- ^ Instagram, "Top 15 Places to Take An Instagram Photo", December 2011.
- ^ "New airport to be ready on time" [1][dead link], Bangkok Post, 5 November 1968.
- ^ Handley, Paul M. (2006). The King Never Smiles. Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-10682-3.
- ^ Richard Lloyd Parry, "Poo Ming – a blue ghost who haunts $4bn airport", The Times, 27 September 2006
- ^ ThaiDay, "THAI discounts tickets for historic test flights", 1 July 2006.
- ^ "PM Thaksin says Suvarnabhumi Airport ready in two months"[dead link], MCOT, 29 July 2006.
- ^ Pennapa Hongthong, Just listen to our noisy nightmare, The Nation, 28 September 2006
- ^ Petchanet Pratruangkrai, Suchat Sritama, Exporters pan new export fees, The Nation, 27 September 2006
- ^ Kurt Hofmann, LH Cargo set to be first into Suvarnabhumi, ATW, 28 September 2006
- ^ Suchat Sritma, Touch down...into chaos, 29 September 2006
- ^ e-Travel Blackboard, Baggage ruffles up some feathers, but Suvarnabhumi still a success, 29 September 2006
- ^ The Nation, Airport shippers hit by computer failure, 2 October 2006
- ^ Some flight services will likely return the Don Muang Airport[dead link], The Nation, 29 January 2007.
- ^ a b The Nation, Engineers unable to agree on root cause of airport cracks, 10 February 2007
- ^ The Nation, THAI baulks at moving to Don Muang, 15 February 2007
- ^ Thailand backtracks on plan for second international airport, Channel NewsAsia, 16 February 2007
- ^ A Rough Takeoff for Bangkok's New Airport, TIME, 25 January 2007
- ^ New airport's east runway to close for repairs, return to Don Muang mooted[dead link], Thai News Agency, MCOT, 27 January 2007.
- ^ "Bangkok airport officially unsafe"[dead link], CNN, 27 January 2007
- ^ Use Don Muang during repairs: 2 airlines, The Nation, 27 January 2007.
- ^ Move to use 2 airports gets mixed reception, The Nation, 31 January 2007.
- ^ Bangkok Post, B1bn needed to fix terminal problems over four to five years[dead link], 16 February 2007
- ^ [2][dead link]
- ^ University of Cincinnati, SUVARNABHUMI AIRPORT, September 2008
- ^ E-Architect, Suvarnabhumi Airport Bangkok, 15 August 2008
- ^ Bangkok Post, Suvarnabhumi safe, banks to help flood victims, 11 October 2011
- ^ Some airlines afraid to use new airport, The Nation, 26 January 2007.
- ^ Thai protesters shut down airport
- ^ Thai protesters agree to vacate the airport
- ^ MSNBC: Alleged scam targets tourists in Bangkok 7 August 2009
- ^ Bangkok Post: Crackdown fails to stop airport gangs 6 September 2009
- ^ Ibid.
- ^ Bangkok Post: AoT orders firm to end dispute after car park seizure 2 October 2010
- ^ Ibid.
- ^ Bangkok Post, New Bangkok Airport – Now Aiming For July 2006 Opening, 2005
- ^ 2nd phase development to be finished one year ahead
- ^ http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/aviation/254104/minister-supports-airport-expansion Minister supports airport expansion Published: 30/08/2011
- ^ Full article
- ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_Thai_Airlines#Destinations
- ^ http://www.crystalthaiair.com/
- ^ "Thai AirAsia grounds Bangkok-New Delhi service | Bangkok Post: business". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
- ^ "News – Sunny Airways". Sunnyair.net. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
- ^ "SIA Cargo Starts Freighter Services to Tokyo Narita via Bangkok and Taipei | The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online". Mb.com.ph. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
- ^ AMS reference[dead link]
- ^ "Airport Link to start commercial operation Aug 23". Mcot.net. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
- ^ "Work starts on link to Bangkok's new airport". David Briginshaw, International Railway Journal, April 2005.
- ^ "Suvarnabhumi Airport". Suvarnabhumi Airport. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
External links
![[1]](http://2bangkok.com/09/Thailand-1968/19681105airportontime.jpg){kind=link}