BANGKOK, Sept 5 (TNA) -- The long-delayed Airport Rail Link project, providing direct rail service to and from Suvarnabhumi Airport, will start providing free service to the public from this December 5 which coincides with the birthday celebrations of His Majesty the King, said State Railway of Thailand (SRT) Governor Yuthana Tupcharoen.

People interested in free rides on December 5 may apply for tickets beginning October 1 at either the Airport Rail Link office or at SRT headquarters, Mr. Yuthana said.

Test runs of the system have been conducted since February by Siemens, the manufacturer and installer of the rail system, and no problems have been found. However, independent engineers will inspect the safety system for the next three months and if no problems are found, the system will be ready for operation.

Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok will have 126 new high-speed Internet kiosks installed by CAT Telecom, in the company’s joint venture with the airport authority.

The new kiosks will feature fast 10 Mbps Internet access and will be free-of-charge for tourists.

This move is part of an overall effort to help the Thai airport achieve a ranking in the world’s top 10 airports by the end of this year, according to the Airports of Thailand (AoT) president, Sereerat Prasutanont.

Both international and domestic travelers will have access to the terminals, four of which have already been installed.

Direct express rail service linking Suvarnabhumi Airport to downtown Bangkok will commence in December, 2009, with the public getting free rides for one month.

Tawanrat Ornsira, Deputy Permanent Secretary for Transport Ministry and chairman of the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) board, said Wednesday that construction of the direct Airport Link, a 28-km rail link between Suvarnabhumi and the City Air Terminal in Bangkok’s Makkasan area, is now 98 per cent complete. The builder is expected to hand over the Airport Link to the SRT in September.

After the official handover, the rail link’s security system will be inspected and tested prior to launching a one-month period of free rides starting from December 5, according to Mr. Tawanrat.

For security reasons Suvarnabhumi Airport will be closed from 9pm Tuesday, November 25th onwards after anti-government protesters blocked entrance of the airport.

Acting Airports of Thailand (AoT) president and Acting Suvarnabhumi Airport Director Serirat Prasutanont announced shortly after 9pm on Tuesday that the airport cancelled all departing flights.

For the time being incoming flights are still arriving, but airport operations have been greatly disrupted.

Hotline number for airport inquiries: 02-1321882 and 02-1321888.

Thai Airways flight information number: 02-3561111.

The long-awaited expansion of Suvarnabhumi Airport has been set in motion now that Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) has agreed to proceed with the 78-billion-baht project.

The majority state-owned and SET-listed airport operator's board last Friday endorsed the Phase 2 development and will soon seek final consent from the Transport Ministry and the cabinet.

The expansion, which was supposed to have begun shortly after the airport opened in September 2006, would increase the passenger handling capacity of Thailand's gateway airport by 33%, to 60 million in the next six years from 45 million currently.