Passenger traffic through Suvarnabhumi airport rose by close to 13% in the year to September to reach a record 52.4 million.
Official figures released yesterday reflect robust growth in the Thai tourism industry in particular and the global travel industry in general.
International passenger traffic through Bangkok's gateway airport saw a strong 15.5% jump to 43.9 million.
Domestic passenger throughput via Suvarnabhumi showed marginal 0.34% growth to 8.43 million, partly because of a sizeable shift in traffic to Don Mueang airport, which also serves the capital and whose role in accommodating low-cost carriers is fast expanding.
Actual passenger volume handled by Suvarnabhumi in the year to date exceeded the designed passenger handling capacity of 45 million a year, showing how overcrowded the airport has become.
Rising in tandem with passenger traffic, Suvarnabhumi's overall aircraft movements, defined as take-offs and landings, grew by 6.12% on the year to 310,867.
International aircraft movements leapt 7.09% to 242,953 while domestic volumes rose by 2.81% to 67,914.
Combined freight movements through Suvarnabhumi were almost stagnant, inching up 0.75% to 1.28 million tonnes to reflect sluggish economic conditions.
International freight reached 1.24 million tonnes, up 0.71%, while domestic tonnage rose by 2.08% to 40,586 tonnes.
But the outlook for the fiscal year starting this month is for slower growth of 9.7% in passenger throughput, said Suvarnabhumi general manager Sirote Duangratan. He did not elaborate.
Since its opening nine years ago last month, the airport has handled more than 400 million passengers.
Airport management has adopted a strategy of making Suvarnabhumi an international gateway in Asia-Pacific for passenger and cargo traffic.