Bangkok International Airport
Bangkok International Airport (or also
Don Mueang International Airport) (, also
Don Muang, ) is an airport in
Bangkok, Thailand. The airport was officially opened on
March 27th 1914, although the field had been in use earlier. The main field before the opening of Bangkok International Airport was the
Sa Pathum airfield.
Bangkok International Airport is an important
hub of
Asia and the hub of
Thai Airways International.
Bangkok International Airport serves the most air traffic in Thailand.
As of 2004 more than 80 airlines serviced the airport and over 30,000,000 passengers, 160,000 flights and 700,000 tons of cargo were handled at this airport per year. In 2004 it was the
14th busiest airport in the world by passenger volume.
Bangkok International Airport is a joint-use facility with the
Royal Thai Air Force's
Don Muang Royal Thai Air Force Base, being the home of the RTAF the 1st Air Division, consisting primarily of non-combat aircraft.
Vibhavadi Rangsit Road is the main route linking the airport with downtown Bangkok. The
Uttaraphimuk Elevated Tollway, running above Vibhavadi Rangsit, offers a more rapid option for getting into the city and connects to Bangkok's inner city expressway network. Besides travelling by road, there is train service connecting to
Hua Lamphong station in the center of town. The railway station is across the highway and linked with the airport by walkway bridge.
Bangkok International Airport will be replaced by the new
Suvarnabhumi Airport, which has been under construction since
2002 and is currently expected to open September 28,
2006. The present airport's fate has not been officially decided yet, but it has been decided that all domestic and international scheduled traffic shall move to Suvarnabhumi.
[Bangkok Post, All flights must use new airport from Sept 28, Jun 19, 2006]There is a golf course located between the two runways. The course has no separation whatsoever from the runway, and people are only held back by a red light when airplanes land and cross the golf course. From the aerial/satellite pictures below one can see the greens and bunkers quite well.
The airport was the second in Thailand (after Sa Pathum airfield, part of
Sa Pathum Horse Racing Course). The first flights to the airfield were on
March 8 1914 and consisted of the first aircraft of the
Royal Thai Air Force. In
1911 Thailand sent three officers to
France to train as pilots and they brought back to Thailand four
Breguets and four
Nieuports.
During the
Vietnam War, Don Muang Royal Thai Air Force Base was used as a major command and logistics hub of the
United States Air Force.
History of disasters and near-disasters
*
December 25,
1976 -
EgyptAir Flight 864, a
Boeing 707-300 bound for Bangkok from
Cairo, crashed into an industrial area near the airport during a landing attempt. All 53 aboard were killed.
*
April 27,
1980 - a
Thai Airways BAe 748 enroute from
Khon Kaen to
Bangkok lost altitude during a thunderstorm and crashed about 8 miles from Bangkok International Airport. All four crew members and 40 of the 49 passengers were killed. [
1]
*
November 29,
1987 -
Korean Air Flight 858, flying from
Abu Dhabi International Airport in
Abu Dhabi,
United Arab Emirates to Don Muang to
Gimpo Airport near
Seoul,
South Korea, exploded over the
Andaman Sea after a bomb planted by
North Korean agents exploded. Everyone on board died.
*
May 26,
1991 -
Lauda Air Flight 004, which was headed to
Wien-Schwechat International Airport in
Vienna, suffered an in-flight deployment of the thrust reverser on the No. 1 engine after taking off from Don Muang. Among the 213 passengers and 10 crew, there were no survivors.
* If
Project Bojinka had not been discovered after a fire in
Manila, one or more aircraft owned by a
U.S. carrier/s flying to Bangkok would have blown up over the
Pacific Ocean on
January 21,
1995 as part of the project's first phase.
*
August 22,
1999 -
Mandarin Airlines Flight 642, which was landing in Tropical Storm Sam at
Hong Kong International Airport in
Hong Kong on a route from Don Muang to Hong Kong, rolled upside down on the runway. The plane came to rest upside down. 3 of the passengers died.
*
March 3,
2001 - a Thai Airways International
Boeing 737-400 (HS-TDC), bound for
Chiang Mai from Bangkok, was destroyed by an explosion and fire that occurred about 35 minutes before the Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra and about 150 other passengers were to board. Five members of the cabin crew were aboard, and one was killed. Witnesses said they heard an explosion before flames erupted aboard the aircraft.
NTSB investigators reported that the center fuel tank exploded followed by the right tank 18 minutes later. The cause for the explosion was unclear. No traces of explosive were found. The center fuel tank is located near air conditioning packs which generate heat, and were running nonstop prior to the explosion.[
2]
*
April 19,
2005 - a
Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-200ER stopped approximately 194 meters beyond a painted stop line at Bangkok International Airport, and its left wing-tip was clipped by a Thai Airways International
Airbus A330-300 taxiing for take-off. Both aircraft were severely damaged. There were no injuries.
 |
Domestic Terminal |
Bangkok International Airport has 3 terminals. However, terminals 1 and 2 are both located in the same physical building.
International Terminal 1
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Aeroflot (Moscow-Sheremetyevo)
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Aerosvit Airlines (Kiev)
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Air Astana (Almaty)
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Air India (Delhi, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Shanghai-Pudong)
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Air Koryo (Pyongyang)
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Air Madagascar (Antananarivo)
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Asiana Airlines (Busan, Seoul-Incheon)
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Biman Bangladesh (Dhaka, Singapore)
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Cathay Pacific**
Dragonair (Hong Kong)
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China Southern Airlines (Guangzhou)
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Druk Air (Thimphu)
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EgyptAir (Beijing, Cairo)
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El Al (Tel Aviv)
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Ethiopian Airlines (Addis Ababa, Hong Kong)
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Indian Airlines (Bangalore, Kolkata, Mumbai, Singapore)
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Japan Airlines (
JALways) (Nagoya, Osaka-Kansai, Tokyo-Narita)
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Kenya Airways (Nairobi, Hong Kong)
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Korean Air (Busan, Daegu, Jeju, Seoul-Incheon)
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Lao Aviation (Vientiane)
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Mahan Air (Tehran-Mehrabad)
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Malaysia Airlines (Kuala Lumpur)
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Myanmar Airways International (Yangon)
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Pakistan International Airlines (Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore)
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Qatar Airways (Doha)
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Royal Brunei Airlines (Bandar Seri Bagawan)
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Royal Jordanian (Amman)
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Royal Nepal Airlines (Kathmandu)
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Scandinavian Airlines System (Copenhagen)
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Sri Lankan Airlines (Beijing, Colombo, Hong Kong)
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Thai Airways International (Athens, Auckland, Bandar Seri Begawan, Bangalore, Beijing, Brisbane, Busan, Chengdu, Chennai, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Chittagong, Colombo, Copenhagen, Delhi, Denpasar, Dubai, Frankfurt, Fukuoka, Guangzhou, Hat Yai, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Islamabad, Jakarta, Johannesburg (starts Oct 31, 2006), Kathmandu, Karachi, Khon Kaen, Kolkata, Krabi, Kuala Lumpur, Kunming, Kuwait, Lahore, London-Heathrow, Luang Prabang, Madrid, Manila, Melbourne, Milan-Malpensa, Moscow-Domodedovo, Mumbai, Munich, Nagoya, Osaka-Kansai, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Penang, Perth, Phitsanulok, Phnom Penh, Rome-Fiumicino, Seoul-Incheon, Shanghai-Pudong, Singapore, Stockholm, Surat Thani, Sydney, Taipei-Chiang Kai Shek, Tokyo-Narita, Ubon Ratchathani, Udon Thani, Vientianne, Xiamen, Yangon, Zurich)
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Thai Sky Airlines (Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul-Incheon)
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Turkmenistan Airlines (Ashkabad)
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Vietnam Airlines (Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City)
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Xiamen Airlines (Fuzhou, Hangzhou, Xiamen)
International Terminal 2
|
The arrival hall of the airport's International Terminal 2. |
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Air China (Beijing)
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Air France (Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Paris-Charles de Gaulle)
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Air Macau (Macau)
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All Nippon Airways (Tokyo-Narita)
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Austrian Airlines (Vienna)
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Bangkok Airways (Guilin, Hiroshima, Hong Kong, Jinghong, Luang Prabang, Phnom Penh, Shenzhen, Siem Reap, Singapore, Xian, Yangon)
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British Airways (London-Heathrow, Sydney)
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Cathay Pacific (Colombo, Dubai, Mumbai, Hong Kong, Karachi, Singapore)
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China Airlines (Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Kaohsiung, Rome-Fiumicino, Taipei-Chiang Kai Shek)
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China Eastern Airlines (Shanghai-Pudong)
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Emirates (Dubai, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Sydney)
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Etihad Airways (Abu Dhabi)
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EVA Air (Amsterdam, London-Heathrow, Taipei-Chiang Kai Shek, Vienna)
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Finnair (Helsinki, Hong Kong, Singapore)
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Garuda Indonesia (Jakarta, Singapore)
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Gulf Air (Bahrain, Dubai, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Muscat)
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Jetstar Asia (Singapore)
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KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (Amsterdam, Taipei-Chiang Kai Shek)
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Kuwait Airways (Kuwait, Manila)
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LTU International (Dusseldorf, Munich)
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Lufthansa (Frankfurt, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Munich)
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Northwest Airlines (San Francisco, Tokyo-Narita)
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Orient Thai Airlines (Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Seoul-Incheon)
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PBair (Danang)
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Philippine Airlines (Manila)
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Phuket Air (Yangon)
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President Airlines (Phnom Penh)
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Qantas (Sydney, London-Heathrow)
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Royal Phnom Penh Airways (Phnom Penh)
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Siem Reap Airways (Siem Reap)
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Singapore Airlines (Osaka-Kansai, Singapore, Tokyo-Narita)
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Swiss International Air Lines (Singapore, Zürich)
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Thai Air Asia (Hanoi, Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur, Macau, Penang, Singapore, Xiamen)
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Thai Airways International (Los Angeles, New York)
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Turkish Airlines (Istanbul-Atatürk)
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United Airlines (San Francisco, Tokyo-Narita)
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Uzbekistan Airways (Tashkent)
Domestic Terminal
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Bangkok Airways (Chiang Mai, Koh Samui, Krabi, Phuket, Sukhothai, Trat, Utapao)
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Nok Air (Chiang Mai, Hat Yai, Udon Thani, Phuket, Nakhon Sri Thammarat,Trang,Loei)
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One-Two-GO (Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phuket, Hat Yai, Krabi, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Ubon Ratchatani)
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Orient Thai Airlines (Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Bangkok, Hat Yai, Phuket, Udon Thani)
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PB Air (Buriram, Lampang, Mae Hong Son, Nakhon Phanom, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Nan, Roi Et, Sakon Nakhon)
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Phuket Air (Ranong)
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Thai Air Asia (Khon Kaen, Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Hat Yai, Phuket, Surat Thani, Udon Thani, Ubon Ratchathani)
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Thai Airways International (Chiang Mai, Phuket, HatYai, Krabi, Trang, UbonRatchatani, Udon Thani, ChiangRai, Phitsanulok, Surat Thani, Nakhon Sri Thammarat, Khon Kaen)
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Suvarnabhumi International Airport*
Bangkok International Airport Homepage*
Overview*
Airport data
