AIRPORT REPORT: BANGKOK
Good times
Joe Bates discovers more about the ambitions and development plans of Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport.
A
irports of Thailand (AoT) is confident that the record 42.3 million passengers to pass through Bangkok Suvarnabhumi in 2010 ensures that its prize asset is well and truly back on track.
The healthy 4.4% rise in throughput follows 2009’s 4.9% upturn
in traffic and means that Thailand’s showpiece gateway is finally beginning to realise its potential after a difficult few years due to the economic downturn and political unrest. The last time traffic through Bangkok hit such a high was in 2006 when 43.1 million passengers were split between the newly opened Suvarnabhumi (11.6 million) and Don Mueang Airport (31.4 million). The downtown Bangkok gateway, which was originally set to
close when Suvarnabhumi Airport opened, is still used today by low-cost carriers Nok Air and One-two-GO Airlines. Between them, Bangkok’s airports handled a total of 57.1 million
passengers, 1.3 million tonnes of freight and 380,894 aircraft movements in 2010. AoT president, Serirat Prasutanond, says: “I think that 2010 will
be remembered as a good year for Suvarnabhumi as we have experienced strong traffic growth in a difficult operating environment. “I believe that things can also only get better in the years ahead
as the global economy picks up and our planned new facilities come on-line. “Thailand continues to be a popular and well established tourism
destination. Providing there are no further crises, we expect passenger traffic to grow by between 7% and 8% per annum for the foreseeable future.” Other reasons for AoT to be cheerful are the Thai government’s
decision to has rubber stamp the next phase of Suvarnabhumi’s infrastructure development and the August 2010 opening of its eagerly awaited train link to downtown Bangkok. The newly approved $1.89 billion master plan, set to be
completed between 2011-2016, will boost the airport’s capacity from 45mppa to in excess of 60mppa. Its six key projects include a new, 28-gate Midfield Satellite
Terminal capable of accommodating aircraft up to the size of the A380. The complex – which necessitates the addition of another one million square metres of apron – will be located 800 metres
28 AIRPORT WORLD/FEBRUARY-MARCH 2011
south of the main terminal building and linked by Automated People Mover operating in an underground tunnel under the runway. Other major developments include an easterly extension to the
existing main terminal, additional car parking, new airline offices and support facilities such as a cogeneration power plant and water treatment station. AoT wants to open the new midfield terminal as soon as possible
to avoid the problems associated with congestion and overcrowding. Prasutanond certainly believes that the new capacity-enhancing
facility will take customer service levels and operational efficiency at Suvarnabhumi to new heights. He says: “Suvarnabhumi was created to be the best airport in Asia, and this goal is all encompassing. We want to offer the best in
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