Bangkok Airport | Image Resource : wikimedia.org
The Bangkok International Airport, commonly known as Suvarnabhumi Airport, has been serving the people of Bangkok, Thailand, along with another international airport in the form of the Don Mueang International Airport. It came into existence on the 15th of September, 2006 when it operated only a limited number of domestic flights. It was on the 28th of September, 2006 that the airport commenced all its international and domestic commercial flights.
Construction and Nomenclature of Bangkok Airport
It acts as the main hub for Orient Thai Airlines, Bangkok Airways and Thai Airways International as well as connecting point and regional gateway for different types of foreign airlines. Suvarnabhumi Airport was built after clearing what was earlier known as Cobra Swamp or Nong Ngugao in Racha Thewa which is at a distance of 25 km on the eastern side of Bangkok. King Bhmibol Adulyadej selected the name Suvarnabhumi in reference to the golden kingdom.
Helmut Jahn from Murphy or Jahn Architects was given the responsibility of designing the building. The Bangkok Airport holds the record of possessing the globe’s tallest free standing control tower which has a height of 132.2 metres. With an area of 563,000 sq. metres, it is also said to possess the fourth biggest single building terminal in the world. In terms of number of passengers handled, it is the 6th busiest airport of the continent and the 10th busiest airport across the globe.
It operates more than 90 cargo based airlines thereby acting as one of the vital air cargo hubs in the world. The IATA code of BKK was given to this airport after its elder sibling Don Mueang stopped global commercial flights.