Operations at new airport start Sept 28
All systems will take off at 3am

AMORNRAT MAHITTHIROOK

All systems at Suvarnabhumi airport will be ready for the opening of its full-scale commercial service at 3am on Sept 28 when Don Muang airport will be closed to scheduled flights, caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said yesterday. Mr Thaksin was speaking after chairing a meeting of the government's committee supervising the airport's construction.


Airlines will bring their aircraft for departure at the new airport from that time.''Empty planes will wait for take-off at Suvarnabhumi that morning and that will start the full-scale commercial service,'' he said.


All systems at the new Bangkok airport had been completed, and tests had been a success. Faults detected in previous tests had been corrected.


Although tests had not integrated all operating systems and were done only through simulation, they reflected the readiness of the airport. Mr Thaksin said he was confident enough to announce the airport opening on Sept 28.


Suvarnabhumi airport will undergo real tests on July 29 when special flights of six domestic airlines land and take off there. Then on Sept 1, Thai Airways International (THAI) will test its international flights. Public buses will be available at Suvarnabhumi on July 29 and Sept 1 to take passengers to and from the city.


The government would now start public relations work to familiarise people with routes to the airport, he said.


From 3am on Sept 28, Don Muang airport would stop serving regular commercial flights. It will only handle chartered, VIP, private and military flights.


Suvarnabhumi airport boasts the world's largest single passenger terminal that can serve up to 45 million passengers annually.


With that capacity, Mr Thaksin said it may not be necessary to build a separate terminal for budget airlines or look at a second-phase terminal expansion right away. His deputy Gen Chainant Charoensiri said test flights on July 29 would prove if the airport was really ready.