Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea (PNG) – a beautiful and vastly unexplored country North of the Eastern tip of Australia – is nothing you’d call out of the ordinary. Yes, Port Moresby is fairly accessible from Australia and a few Asian countries, but the people you’d see on those planes wouldn’t be your typical tourists. In fact, most of them won’t be tourists at all. Locals then? Nope, the locals mostly can’t afford the western priced airfares. Papua New Guinea’s per capita GDP lies at only US$2,500, putting the country at the bottom quarter of the global statistic. So who flies to PNG? Expats, businessmen, politicians and the one or other adventurous traveler, is the answer. It’s therefore not surprising that when you land at Port Moresby’s Jacksons International Airport (IATA: POM) the queue at the foreign residents visa counter is the longest; followed by the queue for visa-on-arrival (many nationalities can obtain a visa on arrival for 100 Kina/per person; check with the embassy of PNG in your country prior to your trip).
Category Archives: Oceania
This week’s airport events: air show & bed bugs
This week for me has certainly been one surrounded by planes. However, it didn’t involve any flying. Puzzled? Alright, let me fill you in: I visited the 2011 Avalon International Airshow on 3 days. Where is Avalon? Glad you ask – Avalon (IATA: AVV) is a small regional airport about 60km South of Melbourne, Australia’s second largest city. Every other year Avalon hosts Australia’s largest International Airshow attracting Hundreds of Thousands of public and hundreds of industry & trade visitors from around the country and abroad. While I was hoping for a lot more civil aircraft demonstrations, the airshow otherwise lived up to the motto of “feel the power”: From a jet-engine-equipped glider, the always impressive Mustangs to the newest Royal Australian Air Force plane, the F/A-18F Super Hornet, if it had an engine and made a lot of noise, it was on display. My favourite bit though was the transport aircraft C27-J Spartan (pictured) flown by the Italian Air Force performing jaw-dropping manoeuvres and even included a roll!
Continue reading This week’s airport events: air show & bed bugs
No hinterland airport: Cairns Domestic
I’ve been in two minds over reviewing this airport. On one hand, Cairns is only the 7th busiest airport in Australia and can I highly doubt anyone outside of Australia can actually name 7 cities on this continent, or am I wrong? But then for comparison, the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Dallas Houston [corrected; apologies for the mistake], Texas (IATA: IAH) is the US 7th busiest airport and I’d certainly wouldn’t hesitate writing about that one.
It’s raining awards in Washington
First the Super Bowl in Dallas and now the ATW Online Awards, what a week! Alright, in all fairness, I care as much about the Super Bowl as a child cares about a retirement fund. Put me aside, and it’s undoubtedly a massive event in the US. So what about the ATW Online Awards? Right. ATW stands for Air Transport World. According to their website, they “for nearly 47 years, Air Transport World […] has been the leading monthly magazine serving the needs of the global airline and commercial air transport manufacturing communities.” In this capacity they award the annual ATW’s Airline Industry Achievement Awards. The 37th award ceremony for this years winners is taking place tonight from 6pm local time in Washington, DC.
The Melbourne Run
Your Alarm is set for 4:30am – you are sure of it because you’ve checked it 20 times along with any other household appliance that keeps time & can promise you a morning that you WON’T sleep in! Here goes … Zzzzzz .. ling ling .. buzz buzz .. honk honk .. and you spring out of bed like a lightning bolt and the run begins…
Wellington Rock’s Out!
While Australia’s largest carrier is busy sorting out its issues around the A380 and at the same time celebrating its 90th anniversary, the red continent’s neighbour, New Zealand, is occupied with a different sort of aviation milestone. “MileSTONE” is the perfect word here, as Wellington’s airport (IATA: WLG) reveals this Sunday its newest addition called “The Rock”.
The Rock is the new extension of New Zealand’s capital International Terminal (I reviewed the airport about a month ago; you can read that review here).
Continue reading Wellington Rock’s Out!
Windy Wellington International Airport
Most people flying to New Zealand probably arrive at either Auckland or one of the two main airports on the South Island, Queenstown or Christchurch. But, oh boy, do they miss out! Not on magnificent airport infrastructure (sorry Wellington!) but definitely on an adventurous landing into Wellington International Airport (IATA: WLG). It was, without a doubt, the windiest approach into an airport that I’ve ever experienced – and l’ve experienced a few! Plus, they tell me that was a calm day! These guys here seem to agree with me.
Continue reading Windy Wellington International Airport
Adelaide Airport: International or not?
Adelaide International Airport (IATA: ADL) is a fairly new airport. But wait a minute; did I really write “International” Airport? Did you spot the international part when you were there the last time? No? Well, believe it or not, this airport in down-under’s slightly sleepy state (no offense, but it’s apparently true) of South Australia is actually a, what I call, chameleon airport, or in more technical terms, a “dual airport”. It’s an International airport by morning for various flights from or to Asia and becomes a sole Domestic airport by the afternoon when all gates are allocated to Australian flights and the immigration zone disappears. Quite clever, hu? Indeed!
Sadly when I landed on my Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong for a short stop-over before continuing to Melbourne, the airport was divided into International and Domestic. Sadly that is, because this limited my ability to explore the entire airport as I wasn’t allowed to leave the small locked off area. But on the plus side there are still a few things for you to do, at least for the hour or so before your onward flight: You will find a duty free store which is surprisingly well stocked with, well, Aussie souvenirs, but also electronics and travel accessories, watches, toys and more. Next door you find a “Villa & Hut Kafé” with friendly staff. There is also a small news shop and a cash machine. For some reason the latter didn’t work when I tried it (maybe the coffee hasn’t quite kicked in for me at the time).
But that’s it then. Oh, one more, there is a Singapore Airlines lounge but no Qantas one as that one is on the domestic side of the airport.
| Airport Name | Adelaide (International) Airport |
| Website | http://www.aal.com.au/ |
| IATA Code | ADL |
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AUD 175 |
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AUD 75 (with Ice Jacket) |
[Picture from Flickr]
Up and close at Sydney’s Domestic Airport
Usually the inner sections of airports are closed to non-travellers. I often think that modern airports with their great offers miss out on opportunities when they restrict access to people with tickets on that day only. Imagine: you could go inside London Heathrow’s Terminal 5 and dine a last meal at Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant with your close friend who visited you from Far-Away-Land before their long flight back home. Or imagine the family from Singapore that could enjoy some last moments in the Butterfly garden of Changi Airport’s Terminal 3 with their son departing for an exchange year at a university in the United States.
Well, the good news is that there are airports that do allow non-travellers into their inner core – the post security zone; domestic airports that is. The slightly bad news is that they are often not the most aspiring of places. Nevertheless, they do allow you to drop off or pick up your loved ones directly at the gate.
One such airport is Sydney’s Domestic Airport (IATA: SYD) on the North-East corner of the runways. There, once through the security check, you come down a set of escalators and can then either turn left towards the Virgin Blue gates or right in direction of the Qantas and JetStar boarding gates. Turning right will first lead you to a food court with some usual suspects such as McDonalds, Krispykreme, a Middle-Eastern Outlet, Subway, Sumo Salad and the Australian institutions of Red Rooster and Boost Juice among others.
There are, however, a few more exciting things to do beyond stuffingfilling yourself up prior to your cheap flight where you don’t plan to spend any money on their dry sandwiches. Here are my favourites:
- Check out some serious outback clothing from R.M. Williams at the “And Beyond” store
- Buy your kiddo (or some random kid you happen to know…) one of those cool dinosaur eggs that you have to submerge in water for 10 days before a little, wait for it, yes, you guessed it, Dinosaur pops out. You can find them at the well stocked “Kaboom” kids store.
- Stock up on your SPF 30+ sunscreen for your island trip to Vanuatu (oooops, okay, if you are in the domestic terminal heading for Vanuatu, then you’re seriously in trouble, as that flight most likely leaves from the International terminal, a $5.50 bus trip away). So let’s say your Magnetic Island trip then… You’ll find it in the Pharmacy next to the Kids store.
- Browse through the ubiquitous Peter Lik Australian landscape photography books and postcards
- Try on some new boardies in the “Beachculture” shop towards the 31-40 gates
- The ladies among you might also want to pop into the Mimco store close-by (while we lads wait in the Pub & Winestore called “Taphouse” across from it)
- Finally, browse through the rather good selection of iconic Australian films at the Virgin Media store
| Airport Name | Sydney, Domestic Terminal |
| Website | http://www.sydneyairport.com.au |
| IATA Code | SYD |
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[Picture from Flickr – all rights reserved]
How the swine flu affects your travels
Today, the WHO classified the swine influenza A (H1N1) outbreak as a “public health emergency of international concern.” And while more cases of swine flu were confirmed on Monday in the United States, Canada and Europe (Update: Britain is now also directly affected with one case), country organizations began to take actions, particularly by preventing and monitoring travellers to and from their countries.
Furthermore, financial markets have already “penalized” Mexican airports whose shares traded substiantially lower today: The airport owners are among the “most vulnerable” stocks amid the flu outbreak, UBS AG analysts wrote in a note today in which they cut Mexican equities to “underweight” writes Bloomberg.
It’s pretty clear that this latest threat of an influenza pandemic is going to have further implications on the economy. But how does it affect travellers? Various countries have already tightened their airport checks. Australia, for example, has trained airport staff to spot people with flu like symptoms. According to an article any passengers with flu-like symptoms would be met by quarantine officers. In addition, all incoming international flights would have to make an onboard announcement telling passengers to seek immediate medical advice if they felt unwell with flu symptoms.
Hong Kong, the epicenter of a SARS outbreak six years ago, announced some of the toughest measures anywhere on Sunday in response to a swine flu outbreak in Mexico and the United States, reports The New York Times.
So, what should you do if you are travelling to or from North America in the near future? Here is some advice:
- Travelling to Mexico: in general it’s probably safe to say that if you can postpone your trip, then do so, otherwise check your countries latest travel advice (the UK foreign office’s one can be found here, Germany’s here, Ireland’s here, the USA’s here and Canada’s here). If you decide to go, then do make sure you check with your airline if the flight is still leaving as today several charter airlines (e.g. TUI in Germany) have cancelled their flights to Mexico.
- Travelling from Mexico: be aware of extra precautions at Mexican and foreign airports. Prepare for additional screenings and questioning. Check your destinations country latest immigration advice. Your airline or travel agency should be able to help you.
- Travelling to/from other North American destinations: expect delays at the airports due to tightened security and passenger screenings. Check with your local airline for the latest uptodate travel information.
[Picture from Flickr – some rights reserved]