Airports, Asia, Europe, In the News, Weekly

This week: Stansted diversion, accident in Alicante & more

It’s been another busy week in airport land. Here are the topics we are covering today:

One of this week’s most recent airport news updates came from the United Kingdom, where two British men were arrested after a plane was forced to divert due to a ‘hold baggage’ security scare. The Mirror wrote that the two suspects, aged 49 and 57, were held after the Sri Lankan Airlines A330 Airbus, which was flying from Colombo to Heathrow, was diverted to Stansted Airport (STN) airport just after 7.30pm Friday night. And why all this? According to the story a passenger overheard a man claiming “there was something on the plane in the hold baggage”, and reported it to the crew who then decided to divert the plane to the Essex airport.

Then on Wednesday a sad accident happened at Spain’s Alicante Elche Airport (ALC) – terminal buidling pictured – when the Mirror reported the death of a toddler. According to the article the boy was transported to the entrance of the bag drop and is believed to have died after becoming trapped by rollers. The Guardian quoted a Guardia Civil spokesman who said: “We are still in the early stages of the investigation and looking at CCTV footage, but it seems that it was an accident.”

A lighter story received us from the guys at GQ this week. Remember that guy that got stranded at Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) airport and has been living there since? Well, GQ published a long essay about that guy – his name is Alfred by the way. Well at least that’s the name he gave himself. The essay is a really interesting read with sentences like this one: he was born in either 1945 or 1947 or 1953 and claimed to be Iranian, British or Swedish. Definitely put this one on your (bedtime) reading list!

On Monday it was announced that passengers are now flying out of what’s being billed as the new record holder for the highest civilian airport in the world. USA Today wrote that flights began Monday at the Daocheng Yading Airport (DCY), which is at an elevation of 4,411m (14,472 feet) above sea level. The airport takes the title from Bangda Airport (BPX), which sits at 4,334m (14,219 feet) in China’s Tibet Autonomous Region.

And while we’re in China, we stay there for our last story for this week: According to the South China Morning Post a 13-year-old girl who dresses like a flight attendant and maintains that her ambitions lie in the sky has baffled her parents and local police by insisting on roaming around Guangzhou’s airport. Apparently the girl, Luo Siqi, who has been lingering around the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN) since July, first came to the notice of local police officers in August when they decided to question her for the first time. Police twice in August escorted her to a Guangzhou children’s welfare centre, but she insists on returning to the airport.

Maybe Luo and Alfred could meet up one day. Who knows. Anyway, that’s all for this week – safe travels!

[Alicante Airport Photo from Wikimedia Commons – some rights reserved]