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This week: Paris partial airport closure, more winter difficulties in the U.S. & more

The weeks seem to be flying by, don’t you think? Here’s our next overview of this week’s airport news from around the globe:

First up news from France where according to the Daily Mail this week an Air Algerie plane skidded off the tarmac after landing at Paris Orly (ORY) and forced the closure of one of two runways at the airport. Runway 26 at Paris’ second-biggest airport was closed and would remain so for several hours until the plane is cleared away after its nose and left main gear sank into a grass verge next to the strip. A spokeswoman for Paris Orly has ruled out any kind of terror attack and said the passengers, none of whom were injured, were safely waiting for their luggage within the terminal an hour later.

Then as the averse winter weather continued across the United States, two articles this week were representative of many problems: First up was news from the Charlotte Observer writing that more than 2,000 passengers spent the night in the terminal of Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT). Cots, mats and blankets were distributed, and some airport concessions stayed open late to accommodate the stranded travellers. According to flight-tracking site FlightAware, 278 flights headed to or leaving Charlotte have been canceled and another 22 have been delayed as of 6:30 a.m. Tuesday. On Monday, 486 flights were canceled and 170 delayed.

The second one only just came in and concerns the Denver area: According to The Denver Channel current forecast models at Denver International Airport (DIA) are calling for up to 14 inches of snow between Friday night and Monday morning. The snow has started to intensify and the airport said it expects heavier snow Saturday afternoon into Saturday. The heaviest snowfall at DIA is expected around 5 to 8 p.m. The airlines have reported a total of 166 flight cancelations for today (about 11 percent of scheduled flights).  Many are smaller regional flights to mountain towns and cities around Colorado although some mainline flights are also now affected.

Back to Europe where on Friday a Swiss plane made the news: According to Reuters a bomb threat was made on Friday against an aircraft operated by Lufthansa’s Swiss at Zurich airport (ZRH), a spokesman for the airport said. Swiss flight LX 146 had been due to depart for New Delhi at 12:45 p.m. “The aircraft has been moved to a de-icing pad,” the spokesman said, adding that the aircraft’s passengers and crew were inside the terminal. According to Blick, a Swiss newspaper, those passengers flew out on a different aircraft about 5 hours later. Also later it was confirmed that nothing suspicious was found on the first aircraft.

Moving away from delays to the future of airports when the BBC published a very interesting article about hi-tech transforming airports into “pleasure domes”. The article states a number of technologies changing the way we travel through airports. Developments at Singapore’s Changi Airport (SIN) or Los Angeles’ renovated Tom Bradley International Terminal were mentioned as giving us glimpses of what the future  could bring. It’s surely an interesting read and you find the original article here.

And to finish the week off, here’s an amazing story from the Netherlands where KLM offers a unique Lost & Found service at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS). A dedicated team is now on a mission to return items, found by cabin crew on board or by KLM airport staff, to their legitimate owners – as soon as possible. And that even includes cute dogs. Well, you best watch the video to belief it yourself:

That’s all for this week, safe travels!

[Photo Credit: Chris Turner Photography via Compfight cc]