Editing Suvarnabhumi Airport (section)

===Airport tests and official opening===
The airport was due to open in late 2004. Still, a series of [[cost overrun|budget overruns]], construction flaws, and [[Corruption in the Suvarnabhumi Airport project|allegations of corruption]] plagued the project.

A further delay was caused by the discovery that the airport had been built over an old graveyard. Superstitious construction workers claimed to have seen ghosts there. On 23 September 2005, the Thai airport authority held a ceremony where 99 Buddhist monks chanted to appease the spirits.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110510015008/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article650902.ece Richard Lloyd Parry, "Poo Ming – a blue ghost who haunts $4bn airport"], ''The Times'', 27 September 2006</ref>

Full tests of the airport took place on 3 and 29 July 2006. Six local airlines — [[Thai Airways International]], [[Nok Air]], [[Thai AirAsia]], [[Bangkok Airways]], [[PBair]], and [[One-Two-Go Airlines]] — used the airport as a base for twenty domestic flights.<ref>''[[ThaiDay]]'', [http://www.manager.co.th/IHT/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=9490000084922 "THAI discounts tickets for historic test flights"], 1 July 2006.</ref><ref>[http://etna.mcot.net/query.php?nid=23694 "PM Thaksin says Suvarnabhumi Airport ready in two months"], [[MCOT]], 29 July 2006. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013160403/http://etna.mcot.net/query.php?nid=23694 |date=13 October 2007 }}</ref> The first international test flights were conducted on 1 September 2006. Two Thai Airways aircraft, a [[Boeing 747-400]] and an [[Airbus A300-600]], simultaneously departed the airport at 09:19 to [[Changi Airport|Singapore]] and [[Hong Kong International Airport|Hong Kong]] respectively. At 15:50 the same aircraft flew back and made simultaneous touchdowns on runways 19L and 19R. These test flights demonstrated the readiness of the airport to handle traffic.{{Citation needed|date=June 2015}}

On 15 September 2006, the airport started limited daily operations with [[Jetstar Asia]] operating three Singapore to Bangkok flights.  Bangkok Airways moved to the airport on 21 September. [[AirAsia]] and [[Thai AirAsia]] followed on 25 September and on 26 September [[Nok Air]] moved to Suvarnabhumi Airport. During this initial phase, as well as in the previous tests, the airport used the temporary IATA code '''NBK'''.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}

Suvarnabhumi officially opened at 03:00 on 28 September 2006, taking over all flights from Don Mueang. The first flight to arrive was a [[Lufthansa Cargo]] flight LH8442 from [[Mumbai]] at 03:05.<ref>Pennapa Hongthong, [http://nationmultimedia.com/2006/09/28/headlines/headlines_30014842.php Just listen to our noisy nightmare] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061029090146/http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006/09/28/headlines/headlines_30014842.php |date=29 October 2006 }}, ''The Nation'', 28 September 2006</ref> The first commercial arrival was [[Japan Airlines]] at 03:30. The first passenger arrival was [[Aerosvit]] flight VV171 from [[Kyiv]] at 04:30, and the first cargo departure was [[Saudi Arabian Airlines]] flight SV-984 to [[Riyadh]] at 05:00.<ref>Petchanet Pratruangkrai, Suchat Sritama, [http://nationmultimedia.com/2006/09/27/business/business_30014714.php Exporters pan new export fees] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303180431/http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006/09/27/business/business_30014714.php |date=3 March 2016 }}, ''The Nation'', 27 September 2006</ref> Aerosvit also had the first passenger departure (VV172 to Kyiv) around 05:30.<ref>Kurt Hofmann, [http://atwonline.com/news/story.html?storyID=6587 LH Cargo set to be first into Suvarnabhumi], ATW, 28 September 2006 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927001605/http://atwonline.com/news/story.html?storyID=6587 |date=27 September 2007 }}</ref>