VTBS · BKK · Bangkok, Bangkok
Planes near BKK: live flight tracking at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi
Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (BKK / VTBS) serves Bangkok, Bangkok, Thailand. Built on soft delta ground east of the city, under a strongly seasonal monsoon.
The live map
Aircraft the volunteer receiver network can currently hear around Bangkok. The frame is fixed on the field; tap or click an aircraft to open its full details.
Nothing here is filtered. Military aircraft, aircraft in the FAA's LADD privacy programme and aircraft using temporary addresses all appear the same way anything else does. Open the full map to pan, zoom and switch layers.
Movements we watched happen
Snapshot written . This page refreshes by itself while it is open.
These are transitions the receiver network actually observed at BKK, each with the time it was seen. Nothing here is guessed from a timetable.
Why there may be fewer departures than arrivals
A departure is only counted once a receiver has seen the aircraft on the ground here first. That guard stops us inventing takeoffs for aircraft that merely flew overhead, and it costs us real ones: hearing an aircraft sitting on an airport surface needs a receiver with line of sight to that surface, which is the hardest reception there is. An arrival only needs the aircraft to have been seen airborne, and airborne coverage is very good.
So at any airport without a clear view of the ground, this list will show fewer departures than actually happened. If you see more arrivals than departures below, read that as a fact about where the antennas are, not about the airport.
| Time | Movement | Flight | Aircraft |
|---|---|---|---|
| 02:57 UTC | Departure | LAO442 | AJ27 · RDPL-34266 |
| 02:57 UTC | Arrival | CEB929 | A339 · RP-C3907 |
| 02:55 UTC | Departure | THA431 | A359 · HS-THM |
| 02:53 UTC | Arrival | GFA152 | B789 · A9C-FC |
| 02:53 UTC | Departure | TVJ102 | A320 · HS-VKC |
| 02:52 UTC | Arrival | UAL820 | B789 · N26970 |
| 02:51 UTC | Arrival | CSN357 | A21N · B-301V |
| 02:51 UTC | Departure | ANA848 | B789 · JA887A |
| 02:49 UTC | Arrival | BKP106 | A319 · HS-PPB |
| 02:48 UTC | Departure | THA205 | A320 · HS-TXH |
| 02:47 UTC | Arrival | TGW624 | B789 · 9V-OJC |
| 02:47 UTC | Arrival | BKP212 | AT76 · HS-PZC |
Showing the most recent 12 of 34 in the current recording window.
What appears to be inbound and outbound right now
Where the aircraft in range right now are most likely heading, worked out from their callsigns rather than watched happening.
How this list is built
We take the aircraft the receiver network can currently hear, read the callsign each one is broadcasting, and look that callsign up in an index of the routes it has actually flown before. An entry means this callsign's most commonly observed route ends at BKK. That is a good guide to where a flight is going. It is not a flight plan: nobody has told us today's routing, and we would rather say that than dress an inference up as a schedule.
The consequences are worth knowing. A diversion or an unusual routing will be listed wrong. A charter, a positioning leg, or any flight the index has not seen before is missing entirely. You will occasionally see an aircraft here sitting on the ground on the far side of a continent, which is the method showing its working rather than hiding it. There are no scheduled times or arrival estimates on this page because neither can be computed honestly from what we hold.
For gates, delays and cancellations the airline and the airport are authoritative. This page is for what is actually in the air.
Inbound nearest 20 of 30
| Flight | From | Altitude | Ground speed | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GFA152B789 · A9C-FC | ManamaOBBI / BAH | on the ground | 9 kt | 1 nmWSW of the field |
| CEB929A339 · RP-C3907 | Manila (Pasay)RPLL / MNL | on the ground | 3 kt | 1 nmWSW of the field |
| SWR180B77W · HB-JND | ZurichLSZH / ZRH | 7,825 ft | 277 kt | 23 nmNNW of the field |
| THA637A21N · HS-TOB | TaoyuanRCTP / TPE | 21,000 ft | 389 kt | 58 nmNE of the field |
| IGO1603A21N · VT-NCE | MumbaiVABB / BOM | 35,000 ft | 431 kt | 122 nmWNW of the field |
| CSZ309A320 · B-6691 | ShenzhenZGSZ / SZX | 32,000 ft | 482 kt | 176 nmNE of the field |
| AAR743A21N · HL8398 | SeoulRKSI / ICN | 33,950 ft | 486 kt | 193 nmENE of the field |
| CSN8075A321 · B-6552 | ShenzhenZGSZ / SZX | 29,975 ft | 493 kt | 228 nmNE of the field |
| EVA211B77W · B-16711 | TaoyuanRCTP / TPE | 38,000 ft | 515 kt | 294 nmENE of the field |
| CPA755A333 · B-HYI | Hong KongVHHH / HKG | 40,000 ft | 509 kt | 362 nmNE of the field |
| THY52A333 · TC-LNE | IstanbulLTFM / IST | 39,000 ft | 459 kt | 634 nmNW of the field |
| CFG2362A339 · D-ANRA | Frankfurt am MainEDDF / FRA | 41,000 ft | 462 kt | 1,058 nmNW of the field |
| CAL831A359 · B-18922 | TaoyuanRCTP / TPE | 39,975 ft | 494 kt | 1,082 nmENE of the field |
| PAL730A359 · RP-C3511 | Manila (Pasay)RPLL / MNL | 25,125 ft | 433 kt | 1,114 nmE of the field |
| THA659B789 · HS-TWD | SeoulRKSI / ICN | 40,000 ft | 495 kt | 1,232 nmENE of the field |
| GIA866B738 · PK-GFI | JakartaWIII / CGK | 3,650 ft | 263 kt | 1,235 nmSSE of the field |
| AXB242B38M · VT-BXU | PuneVAPO / PNQ | 35,000 ft | 443 kt | 1,304 nmWNW of the field |
| KAL657A333 · HL7701 | SeoulRKSI / ICN | 40,000 ft | 466 kt | 1,306 nmENE of the field |
| EVA201B77W · B-16732 | TaoyuanRCTP / TPE | 18,425 ft | 431 kt | 1,321 nmNE of the field |
| THA923B77W · HS-TKQ | Frankfurt am MainEDDF / FRA | 37,000 ft | 490 kt | 1,369 nmNW of the field |
Outbound nearest 20 of 30
| Flight | To | Altitude | Ground speed | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KAL660B78X · HL8733 | SeoulRKSI / ICN | on the ground | 2 kt | 1 nmN of the field |
| JAL32B789 · JA871J | TokyoRJTT / HND | on the ground | 3 kt | 1 nmN of the field |
| KMI713B738 · HS-KME | DhakaVGHS / DAC | on the ground | 0 kt | 1 nmN of the field |
| TVJ102A320 · HS-VKC | Chiang MaiVTCC / CNX | 10,550 ft | 312 kt | 8 nmWSW of the field |
| THA431A359 · HS-THM | Kuta, BadungWADD / DPS | 5,875 ft | 279 kt | 12 nmSSW of the field |
| ANA848B789 · JA887A | TokyoRJTT / HND | 12,100 ft | 412 kt | 25 nmE of the field |
| QTR831B77W · A7-BOF | DohaOTHH / DOH | 26,050 ft | 482 kt | 64 nmWNW of the field |
| ETD403A35K · A6-XWH | Abu DhabiOMAA / AUH | 23,450 ft | 448 kt | 78 nmWNW of the field |
| SIA705B78X · 9V-SCM | SingaporeWSSS / SIN | 27,125 ft | 463 kt | 121 nmS of the field |
| TVJ568A321 · HS-VKM | TaoyuanRCTP / TPE | 33,025 ft | 456 kt | 205 nmENE of the field |
| THA415B789 · HS-TWA | SepangWMKK / KUL | 38,975 ft | 504 kt | 294 nmS of the field |
| THA433A333 · HS-TEW | JakartaWIII / CGK | 37,000 ft | 468 kt | 637 nmSSE of the field |
| THA461A359 · HS-THU | MelbourneYMML / MEL | 35,000 ft | 494 kt | 640 nmSSE of the field |
| THA403A333 · HS-TEP | SingaporeWSSS / SIN | 19,225 ft | 382 kt | 689 nmSSE of the field |
| AIC2333A20N · VT-TQL | New DelhiVIDP / DEL | 36,025 ft | 488 kt | 873 nmNW of the field |
| THA323A21N · HS-TOG | New DelhiVIDP / DEL | 35,975 ft | 477 kt | 1,013 nmNW of the field |
| ANA806B789 · JA894A | NaritaRJAA / NRT | 39,000 ft | 487 kt | 1,173 nmENE of the field |
| THY59B789 · TC-LMB | IstanbulLTFM / IST | 35,975 ft | 514 kt | 1,391 nmNW of the field |
| UAE384A388 · A6-EEY | Hong KongVHHH / HKG | 5,425 ft | 284 kt | 2,648 nmWNW of the field |
| THA940A359 · HS-THL | Ferno (VA)LIMC / MXP | 40,000 ft | 448 kt | 4,085 nmNW of the field |
About Bangkok Suvarnabhumi
- ICAO codeVTBS
- IATA codeBKK
- ServesBangkok
- RegionBangkok, Thailand
- Coordinates13.681°N, 100.747°E
Suvarnabhumi sits east of Bangkok on the flat, low-lying delta of the Chao Phraya, on ground soft enough that the site required extensive engineering. It is the main gateway to mainland Southeast Asia, and Don Mueang, the older city airport, still operates a substantial amount of traffic a short distance north.
The wet season is the interesting one to watch. Convective storms build over the delta in the afternoon with enough regularity that the arrival flow visibly reorganises itself around the same time most days.
What the codes mean
Airports carry two identifiers and they are not interchangeable.
BKK is the IATA code: three letters, the one printed on a
boarding pass and a baggage tag, assigned for commercial purposes and reused across
the world without any geographic logic.
VTBS is the ICAO code: four letters, used by air traffic
control, flight planning systems and trackers like this one. Its first
two letters, VT, marks
Thailand, because ICAO allocates the code space by region.
The callsigns in the lists above are a third thing again. A callsign is what the crew typed into the transponder for this leg, so it changes flight by flight, while the registration and the 24-bit hex address stay with the airframe. When a callsign and a registration disagree, the registration is usually the more reliable of the two.
How to read the numbers
Altitude is pressure altitude, which is what the aircraft's air data system reads with a standard pressure setting. It is not height above the ground and it is not always the altitude the crew is flying to. Near Bangkok that gap is most obvious on approach, when a tracker can show a figure that does not match what is on the flight deck.
Ground speed is speed across the earth, not through the air. A strong tailwind can add a hundred knots or more to it without the aircraft flying any faster, which is why two aircraft at the same level going opposite ways can show wildly different numbers. Track is the direction of travel over the ground, which is not the direction the nose is pointing when there is any crosswind at all.
Aircraft go missing from this map for reasons that have nothing to do with the aircraft. Reception is line of sight, so terrain and distance cut it off abruptly; a good deal of light aviation in the United States broadcasts on 978 MHz rather than 1090 MHz; and plenty of aircraft, including gliders and older light types, carry no ADS-B at all and are not required to. How ADS-B works covers all of that properly.
Other airports on the map
The nearest fields with their own live page:
