Sunday, February 3, 2008

SUVARNABHUMI AIRPORT The New Bangkok International Airport

by Chayada Nutter

Suvarnabhumi Airport, a new international airport located 24 kilometres east of Bangkok, was due to be open on September 28, 2006. It replaces the old overloaded airport at Don Muang and accommodates all international and domestic flights to Bangkok.
About Suvarnabhumi Airport

Airport Layout

PASSENGER TERMINAL COMPLEX AND CONCOURSE AREA

Facilities for both domestic and international passengers are situated in the same building. The concourse buildings are connected to the passenger terminal. There are 7 concourse buildings: A, B, C, D, E, F and G. The combined area of the concourse buildings and the passenger terminal covers over 563,000 square metres.

Passenger Terminal Complex floor plan

The Suvarnabhumi Passenger Terminal Complex comprises 7 floors above ground level and 2 floors below ground level.

1st floor: Bus Lobby Passengers travelling with a tour agency proceed to the 1st floor for buses and coaches. The Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) office, a medical centre, AOT offices for electricity monitoring and airport control offices are also located on the 1st floor.

2nd floor: Arrivals Hall for both domestic and international passengers

3rd floor consists of airlines passenger waiting lounges, security checkpoints, meeting points, shops, service counters and CIP lounges

4th floor: Departures Hallfeatures facilities for both international and domestic passengers, lounges for premium passengers Thai Airways International PLC, customs control checkpoints, some governmental offices, airline booths, airport information counters and escalators in the centre take passengers right up to restaurants on 6th floor.

5th floor: Offices for Thai Airways International and Star Alliance airlines

6th floor: Restaurantscan be accessed via the escalators from 4th floor

7th floor: Observation area

The lower ground floors are referred to as Floor 0 which serves as the train station (when the airport-city rail link opens for operation in December 2007), and Floor -1 where the train platforms are located. The lower ground floors also house the baggage conveyor systems. Runways, Taxiways and Aprons Two parallel runways, with a total capacity of 76 flights per hour, will be in operation during the initial phase. The Eastern runway is 4,000 metres long and 60 metres wide, and the Western runway is 3,700 metres long and 60 metres wide. A 2,200-metre-wide corridor separating the two parallel runways makes it possible to accommodate the simultaneous departure and arrival of aircrafts. Upon full completion of all the phases, the airport will have four parallel runways, two on each side.

Control TowerThe 132.2-metre high control tower at Suvarnabhumi Airport is the world's tallest and provides the best visual coverage of overall airside. To facilitate smooth air traffic control, the air traffic control centre is fully equipped with state-of-the-art aircraft navigation and guiding systems and is one of the most advanced facilities in modern aviation. It has the capacity to manage approximately 76 flights per hour.

A total of 52 taxiways will be in operational service.

There are a total of 120 aircraft parking bays: 51 are contact gates and the remaining 69 are remote aprons. Eight of the parking bays (five with contact gates) accommodate large aircraft such as the Airbus A380. Aircraft parking space for 120 aircraft parking stands extends over an area of 1,053,000 square metres.


CONCOURSE BUILDINGS A, B, C, D, E, F and G

Concourse buildings A and B are for domestic passengers.Concourse buildings C, D, E, F and G are for international passengers.

Passengers walk to the concourse buildings from the terminal complex via concourse building D, which is directly connected to the terminal complex. The intersections of the concourse buildings are termed the airside centre.

There are 2 intersections on 3rd and 4th floors which will be used for shops; the exterior of the concourse buildings will be developed into airline offices and airline lounges. Concourse building A-G Please click to view details

About the Author
Chayada Nutter is The Proud Owner of CupidsOnline Webpage. For more information on this topic, please visit www.CupidsOnline.us Webpage or CupidsOnline.Blogspot.com Blog.

No comments: