Suvarnabhumi Airport (Thai: ท่าอากาศยานสุวรรณภูมิ, RTGS: Tha-akatsayan Suwannaphum, pronounced [tʰâː.ʔāː.kàːt̚.sā.jāːn.sùʔ.wān.nā.pʰūːm] (listen); from Sanskrit सुवर्णभूमि (Suvarṇabhūmi), literally 'golden land') (IATA: BKK, ICAO: VTBS), also known unofficially as Bangkok Airport, is one of two international airports serving Bangkok, Thailand. The other one is Don Mueang International Airport, which was the main international airport from 1924 to 2006 and transitioned in 2007 to become the low-cost airlines hub for Bangkok. Suvarnabhumi covers an area of 3,240 ha (32.4 km2; 8,000 acres), making it one of the biggest international airports in Southeast Asia and a regional hub for aviation.
Suvarnabhumi was officially opened for limited domestic flight service on 15 September 2006, and opened for most domestic and all international commercial flights on 28 September 2006.The airport is currently the main hub for Thai Airways International, Thai Smile Airways, and Bangkok Airways. It also serves as regional gateway and connecting point for various foreign carriers.
The airport is on what had formerly been known as Nong Nguhao (Cobra Swamp) in Racha Thewa in Bang Phli, Samut Prakan province as well as the districts of Lat Krabang, Bang Na and Prawet in the eastern side of Bangkok, about 25 kilometres (16 mi) from downtown. The terminal building was designed by Helmut Jahn of Murphy / Jahn Architects. It was constructed primarily by ITO JV. The airport had the world's tallest free-standing control tower (132.2 metres or 434 feet) from 2006 to 2014, and the world's fourth largest single-building airport terminal (563,000 square metres or 6,060,000 square feet).
Suvarnabhumi is the 17th busiest airport in the world, eleventh busiest airport in Asia, and the busiest in the country, having handled 60 million passengers in 2017, and is also a major air cargo hub, with a total of 95 airlines. On social networks, Suvarnabhumi was the world's most popular site for taking Instagram photographs in 2012.The airport inherited the airport code, BKK, from Don Mueang after the previous airport ceased international commercial flights. Motorway 7 connects the airport, Bangkok, and the heavily industrial eastern seaboard of Thailand, where most export manufacturing takes place.
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