|
Samui
Airport When you fly
to Samui, your holiday begins the moment you land. That's because
Samui Airport has been created in the mood and style of the island
itself, its low rise palm-thatched roofs and tropical gardens with
their lofty coconut palms blending in perfectly with the exotic
surroundings of one of the most beautiful islands on earth.
The Seamless way Samui Airport harmonies with the local environment
has been acknowledged far and wide,and proves that man-made facilities
can be attractive and efficient at the same time.
The excellence of its disign has been
honoured with a number of environmental and awards,including First
Place in the Outstanding Architecture 1998 Competition staged by the
Siam Architects Association under the patronage of His Majesty the
King of Thailand. Samui Airport also won a Board of National
Environment Award in 1989 for Aviation Environmental Protection and
Awarenes.
Designed by the Habita Company and
open in 1989, Samui Airport represents a total investment of some 800
million baht. It covers an area of 500 rai on the northern end of
Samui Island near Bophut Beach, and is only 20 minutes' drive from the
main beach of Chaweng.
Samui Airport has been a major factor in putting the island on
the international tourist map. It was upgraded to customs airport to
allow international traffic. The airport was thebrainchid of Dr
Prasert
Prasarttong-Osoth,President and
CEO of Bangkok Airways,who had the vision and determination to build
an airport on the island as a key element in establishing his airline.
To some extent, economic considerations dictated the design of the
airport, but the result has proved both successful and popular.
Bangkok Airways operates more
than 40 flights a day on its Bangkok-Samui,Samui-Phuket,Samui-Pattaya(U-Tapao)
,Samui-Krabi and Samui-Singapore routes. Flying time between Bangkok
and Samui is one hour, while the flights on its Samui-Phuket and
Samui-Pattaya routes is under 45 minutes. In the days before Samui
Airport was open,most visitore would have to travel to the island from
Bangkok by rail or bus to Surat Thani and then by ferry to the island
- a journey of 14 hours.
With Samui firmly established as a major tourist destination, Bangkok
Airways has plans to meet future demand for access to the island by
extending the runway to 2,100 m. To achieve this goal, the airline
will invest an additional not less than 200 million baht. It will be
another important step in the sucessful partnership between Bangkok
Airways and Samui Island.
|
