Bangkok among world's 10 busiest airports

International passengers passing through Suvarnabhumi, just slightly below Tokyo Narita. Now key part of global air transport network.

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AIRPORTS: BKK climbs in global ranking by Boonsong Kositchotethana , Deputy Editor Business

Suvarnabhumi Airport has moved into the world's 10 busiest airports in terms of international passengers, underscoring its importance as a global hub.

The gateway airport, code-named BKK, was 10th in the 2010 global ranking by Airports Council International (ACI), putting it in the same league as world leaders such as London, Paris, Hong Kong and Dubai.

A total of 31.41 million international passengers went through Suvarnabhumi last year, up 9% from the previous year's record, or just 750,000 below Tokyo Narita, which held the No. 9 position.

Meanwhile, Phuket Airport ranked eighth in the world's 25 fastest-growing airports last year in the category of those with at least 5 million passengers a year, due to a 26.5% rise in passenger throughput in 2010 to touch 7.31 million.

The ranking of Suvarnabhumi by ACI should put to rest doubts and debates over whether it is a key part of the global air transport network, industry analysts said.

Montreal-based ACI monitors air traffic at 1,318 airports in 157 countries.

Suvarnabhumi was not one of the world's 10 busiest airports in total passenger throughput (domestic and international), nor was its closest rival, Singapore.

Listed in that category were, in order: Atlanta, Beijing, Chicago, London, Tokyo Haneda, Los Angeles, Paris, Dallas/Forth Worth, Frankfurt and Denver.After an 18.95% jump in international passenger traffic in the first half of this year to reach 18.79 million, and with a continued increase in the second, Suvarnabhumi has the potential to move up in the 2011 ACI ranking for international throughput.

ACI said there was a strong rebound in traffic through the world's airports in 2010 from the two-year industry slump. Global passenger traffic rose 6.6%, topping one billion for the first time. Cargo volume hit a record 91 million tonnes with 15.3% growth.

Worldwide airport passenger numbers rose in all six regions surveyed. The Middle East (+12%), Asia-Pacific (+11.3%), Africa (+9.5%) and Latin America-Caribbean (+13.2%) showed high growth, while Europe and North America grew more robustly than before.

Worldwide domestic traffic increased 5.8%, and international traffic rose 7.7%. Aircraft movements rose 1.1% to 74 million.

Some 69% of airports worldwide registered positive passenger growth at an average of 8.6%, while 30% of airports lost traffic at an average of -4.1%.

(Source: Bangkok Post, AIRPORTS, BKK climbs in global ranking, 9/08/2011, Boonsong Kositchotethana , Deputy Editor Business, link) 

Airline Industry Vocabulary

Airports Council International (ACI) - "the association of the world’s airports. It is a non profit organization, whose prime purpose is to advance the interests of airports and to promote professional excellence in airport management and operations ... fostering cooperation amongst airports ... represents the collective positions of its membership, which are established through committees and endorsed by the ACI Governing Board. These views reflect the common interests of the global airports community" (See Wikipedia and website)

international - between countries ระหว่างประเทศ
international passengers - passengers travelling between countries

hub - the central or main part of something where there is most activity จุดศูนย์กลาง
global hub - one the main places in the world where activity is centered (a certain kind of activity: manufactuing hub, transport hub, etc)

code - a few letters or numbers used instead of a longer name (used for speed and convenience)
code-named BKK - "BKK" is the short, fast "code" used for Bangkok

throughput - the amount of things that a system deals with or does during a period of time
passenger throughput - the number passengers that go through an airport during a period of time 

key - important คนสำคัญ
transport - to move people or things from one place to another ขนส่ง
network - a large system of connected parts, organisations, people, etc. เครือข่าย
key part of the global air transport network - an important part of the network of airports around the world (connected by frequent flights)

volume - the quantity or amount of something
cargo volume - the amount of cargo (not people, but things carried in an airplane or ship)

traffic - the number traveling to a place during a period of time (people, aircraft, ships, trains, cars, trucks, etc.) ความหนาแน่นของจำนวนคน หรือยานพาหนะในช่วงเวลาใดช่วงเวลาหนึ่ง
air traffic - all the airplanes travelling through a place during a period of time

potential - the possibility of success in the future ที่มีศักยภาพ ที่เป็นไปได้
rebound - rise again after falling การฟื้นตัวของเศรษฐกิจ เพิ่มขึ้นอีกครั้ง หลังจากมีการปรับลดราคาไป
rebound in traffic through the world's airports - the number of passengers travelling through the world's airports started to increase again (after decreasing for a period of time) 

registered - officially recorded, officially reported 
registered positive passenger growth - officially reported that the number of passengers was increasing from year to year 
 
aviation - science of flying aircraft ศิลปและศาสตร์ในการบิน

global - throughout the world, all over the world ทั่วโลก, ทั้งโลก  
global ranking - making a list of the best in the world (1st is best, 2nd is 2nd best, and so on)

in terms of - as measured by

underscoring - highlighting, showing something as important
underscoring its importance as Y - showing that it is an important Y

in the same league as Y - at the same standard and high level as Y
putting it in the same league as - put's it at the same high level as  

record - the best or most ever achieved สถิติ
category - a group of people or things that have similar qualities หมวดหมู่ ประเภท

doubts - uncertainties, feel uncertain and question whether something is really true

monitors - watches closely for important changes or problems that are developing

domestic - relating to a person's own country ภายในประเทศ
rival - a person, group, team or business that competes with another คู่แข่ง
closest rival - the closest country (in the same ASEAN region) that Thailand is competing with (not competing with Vietnam, Burma, Cambodia, because all these places do not have big busy airports)

slump - a period of slow business; when an economy is much less successful than before and many people lose their jobs ช่วงเศรษฐกิจตกต่ำ
two-year industry slump - a two-year period of slow business 

grew robustly - grew with great strength, grew strongly