Published on September 11, 2006 - After more than four decades of waiting, Thailand has a new world-class airport that will place the country at the forefront of the growing global aviation industry

September 28, 2006, will see the close of a long chapter in Thai history and the opening of a new one in the development of aviation in the Kingdom.

After 46 years of waiting, the Suvarnabhumi Airport will officially commence operations and travellers will finally bid goodbye to Don Muang.

“It’ll be an extraordinary day. We will leave the ancient Don Muang – which is one of the world’s oldest airports still in operation – to one of the world’s most modern airports,” said Somchai Sawasdeepon, Suvarnabhumi Airport director.

After being postponed several times and despite reported problems just weeks before the big day, the Bt154 billion airport looks set to open for real this time.

The Airports of Thailand has already hit the promotion trail and ads for the new airport adorn the city. Construction workers are labouring round the clock to put finishing touches to the passenger terminal, cleaners are sweeping away building dust and airlines are busy testing their systems.

They all share a single goal: on September 28 the airport must be ready for landings and departures.

Eventually, the airport expects to serve 76 flights an hour and see 45 million passengers and three million tonnes of air cargo pass through each year.

With four runways, Suvarna-bhumi Airport can cope with up to 100 million passengers per year and 64 million tonnes of cargo.

About 14 kilometres off the Bang Na-Trat highway, the new airport is spread over 20,000 rai, about 3,200 hectares, which is six times the area of the Don Muang airport.
One glance shows that Suvarnabhumi is state of the art, making Don Muang look “antique” by comparison.

The passenger terminal is a fascinating, immense steel and glass structure. Its facades convey a sense of openness and afford extensive views of the airfield, a delightful and invigorating experience helping to ease the anxiety of air travel.

Built without structural columns, the terminal boasts 563,000 square metres of usable space, compared with 321,166 at Don Muang. The Suvarnabhumi Airport terminal building is claimed to be the world’s largest.

To get a sense of just how vast it is, compare it with CentralWorld – which has 500,000 square metres of space and is considered to be Southeast Asia’s largest shopping complex.

Since we are discussing records, the new airport also boasts the world’s tallest control tower at 132.2 metres.

Meanwhile, the 600-room Suvarnabhumi Hotel claims to have the world’s most spacious lobby. Below is the station for the airport rail link.

Suvarnabhumi officials assert that the airport’s security measures are second to none, including the 26 CTX baggage scanners whose purchase raised a controversy. Other airports have these scanners, which can detect chemicals used in explosives, but they are stand-alone units. At Suvar-nabhumi, passengers don’t need to carry their bags to the scanners.

Unlike Don Muang, where all gates are adjacent to the main building, Suvarnabhumi is equipped with seven concourses.

All are roofed in glass and Tef-lon-coated synthetic fibre. These structures should fascinate visitors as Thailand leaps forward in tourism, trade and investment.

Some teething problems have been experienced with information technology, but everyone is convinced these will be ironed out in time and boarding passes and luggage tags will be provided in an instant.

Chaiwat Wararaj, area station manager for Austrian Airlines, was at the airport last week. He saw no problems and believes other airlines will be pleased with the technology.

Suvarnabhumi opens at a time when airports around the world are expanding capacity and facilities to accommodate the growing volume of travellers and cargo.

Notably, Singapore’s Changi Airport is building a third terminal in a bid to maintain its status as a regional aviation hub.

In spite of the complaint that Suvarnabhumi is too far from the centre of Bangkok and the scandals it has endured along the way, Thais will celebrate its completion.

Without Suvarnabhumi Airport, passenger and cargo transport would be stymied because of capacity constraints at Don Muang. It represents a giant step forward into a new aviation era for Thailand.

Achara Deboonme
The Nation