The long wait for the opening of Bangkok's new international airport is nearly over. Ten years in the making, Suvarnabhumi Airport will begin operating limited domestic flights on September 15, with full-scale international flights beginning at 0300 on September 28.
Of course that's assuming there are no more delays – the airport was originally due to open in late 2005, but construction and budgetary problems led to the date being pushed back nearly a year.
Suvarnabhumi (pronounced su-wan-na-poom and translating as "golden land") will be the world's largest single terminal airport, and will replace the current three-terminal Don Muang International Airport which reached full capacity some time ago.
Located 30km east of the Thai capital, a high speed rail link is under construction to connect the new airport to the city, however this is not due to open until November 2007 at the earliest. The airport is capable of handling 45 million passengers per year, although there has been speculation that this figure will not be enough to cope with increased demand, and a second budget airline terminal has been mooted. There will be a 600 room Novotel hotel attached to the airport, and two five-storey car parks with a capacity of 5,000 cars.
Suvarnabhumi Airport will become the new base for Thai Airways, and is expected to reinforce the city's status as an important gateway for South East Asia.
The airport's official website is currently under construction, but for more information visit airportsuvarnabhumi.com.
Report by Mark Caswell
