Suvarnabhumi Airport
Suvarnabhumi Airport (), also
New Bangkok International Airport (NBIA) or
Second Bangkok International Airport (SBIA) is the long-delayed new international
airport of
Bangkok, Thailand. The airport is presently using interim
IATA airport code NBK, but it will inherit the code
BKK from
Bangkok International Airport after it is decommissioned.
[Bangkok Post, "Suvarnabhumi gets interim code", July 6, 2006] The
ICAO code for the airport will be
VTBS. After numerous delays, the airport is now scheduled to open on 28 September 2006.
[Thai News Agency, "Suvarnabhumi Airport set to open on Sept 28", June 8, 2006.]Full tests of the airport took place on July 3 and July 29, 2006. Six airlines â€"
Thai Airways International,
Nok Air,
Thai Air Asia,
Bangkok Airways,
PBAir and
One-Two-GO â€" used the airport as a base for 20 domestic flights.
[ThaiDay, "THAI discounts tickets for historic test flights", July 1, 2006.] ["PM Thaksin says Suvarnabhumi Airport ready in two months", MCOT, July 29, 2006.]The airport is located in Racha Thewa in
Bang Phli district,
Samut Prakan Province, about 25 kilometers east of Bangkok. The name
Suvarnabhumi (pronounced
su-wan-na-poom) was chosen by HM King
Bhumibol Adulyadej which means "the golden land", specifically referring to the continental Indochina. Designed by Murphy/Jahn Architects, the airport will have the tallest control tower (132 m.) and the largest single building (563,000 m²) in the world at the time of its completion in 2006. The airport will replace the current
Bangkok International Airport (Don Mueang) as Bangkok's primary airport for all commercial airline flights.
[[http://etna.mcot.net/query.php?nid=23369 "New airport operations costly to low-cost carriers", MCOT, July 16, 2006 (retrieved July 17, 2006).]The new Bangkok airport will surpass the terminal size of
Hong Kong International Airport making it the largest terminal building in the world.
The plot of land occupied by the airport with an approximate area of 8,000 acres (324 km²) was purchased in 1973, but the
Thammasat student uprising on
October 6 of the same year succeeded in overthrowing the military government of dictator
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. The airport is located in a once low-lying marsh, formerly known as
Nong Ngu Hao ("
Cobra Swamp"), which took about 5 years (1997 - 2001) to clear through
land reclamation. In 2005, the construction supervision and management was transferred to the Airports of Thailand PLC, while the NBIA company was dissolved.
The airport was due to open in late 2005, but a series of budget overruns, construction flaws, political interference and allegations of corruption continues to plague the project. After much speculation,
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra announced that the airport would be open by September 2006 at the latest. Symbolic first test flights involving two Thai Airways aircraft were held on
September 29,
2005, a previously announced deadline for opening.
The construction of the City Airport Terminal in Makkasan and a 28.6 km high-speed rail link to the new airport started in July 2005 and are planned for completion in November 2007, although this deadline, too, seems unlikely to be met. The airport express, informally known as the Pink Line and operated jointly with
SRT's planned Red Line commuter service, will connect with the
BTS Sukhumvit Line and
MRT Blue Line at Phaya Thai and Phetchaburi stations respectively, offering airport-bound passengers a fast 15-minute limited stop journey from the city.
Costing 113,774.799 million baht, the airport has 2 parallel runways (60 m wide, 4,000 m and 3700 m long) and 2 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 5 of these are capable of accommodating the
Airbus A380. 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. 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. The airport has 5 main access routes. Among these the most convenient route is via the Bangkok-Chon Buri Motorway (Highway No. 7). In addition to the express rail link, 11 city bus routes operated by BMTA will serve the airport.
Long-term plans for four runways flanking two main terminals and two satellite buildings with a combined capacity capable of handling up to 100 million passengers and 6.4 million tonnes of cargo a year are on the drawing board. The second phase of airport expansion involving the construction of a satellite building south of the main terminal is expected to begin 3 to 5 years after the completion of the first main terminal.
Airports Authority of Thailand (AoT) announced on July 21 2006 that a separate terminal for low-cost airlines will be built at the airport at a cost of 600 million baht (15.8 million dollars). The budget terminal will be located near Concourse A of the main terminal. It is capable of handling 15 million passengers per year. Its operating concept will be modeled after the LCC terminals of
Kuala Lumpur International Airport and
Singapore Changi Airport.
* http://www.suvarnabhumiairport.com/en/index.htm
*
Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited*
Suvarnabhumi Airport Guide*
Google Maps (Satellite Image) (Latitude: 13.689 Longitude: 100.742)
*
Details of the Suvarnabhumi Airport Project*
Updates and pictures of Suvarnabhumi Airport
