It’s been another week full of planes for me. But this week I’ve actually been on the planes. I’ve travelled through 3 airports including one that I’ve been longing to review for quite some time: Los Angeles International Airport (IATA: LAX). And I was lucky enough to meet up with the airport’s public relations person who gave me a fantastic tour through the airport and even showed me some real secrets of what to do when you have ample time at LAX. Watch this space for the detailed review!
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!
“Good night, sleep tight and don’t let the bedbugs bite”, is a common phrase you tell children at night before they go to sleep and I’m sure you’ve said it many times yourself. But have you ever come across those mean little creatures? I hope you haven’t as they really are nasty. Zane Selkirk from California recently experienced the little biting creatures first hand. But not in some scabby hotel room, nor in a run-down backpacker, no, she got bitten on two occasions on British Airways flights.
It’s the second week of our newly created section and I always knew this would happen at some point: there’s that odd week where not much happens. But don’t worry, this wouldn’t be LateDeparture if we hadn’t something to write about in style!
The first true late departure of the week was when a rat (yes, you read that right) delayed an Alaskan Airlines flight in Seattle (IATA: SEA). The Associated Press went on reporting that
[…]the flight from Seattle to Denver had just pulled away from the gate Thursday morning when the little stowaway was spotted. The 737 jetliner returned to the terminal and passengers and crew boarded another plane about 90 minutes later. Airline spokeswoman Bobbie Egan says the plane won’t be returned to service until maintenance workers make sure the rat didn’t damage equipment or chew any wires – and an exterminator certifies the plane is rodent-free.”
Well, if that wasn’t juicy news for you, I really don’t know!
On Monday US President Barack Obama unveiled a $3.7 trillion budget plan. Within the 10-year blueprint is also a juicy bit directly affecting US airports as according to some airport industry groups, Obama could cut $1 billion out of the government’s $3.5 billion fund for airport construction grants. So what does that mean for US airports?
Welcome to an entirely new section of LateDeparture! This little weekly review aims at giving you an overview of what happened in the world of airports over the past seven days; every week. Of course, in true LateDeparture fashion, I will specifically focus on airport developments and non-developments (read: delays). If, however, you’re after official on-time performance reports, you’re at the wrong spot. In that case you may want to try this site instead. Everyone else, please read on;-)
First of all, the harsh winter weather continued in many parts around the US and therefore added further delays across a number of US airports. Texas received a hit on Wednesday when more than 400 flights at Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport (IATA: DFW) were cancelled as reported in the Wall Street Journal.
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.
Check this out, my second most favourite airport in Asia, Hong Kong Airport (you can see my most recent video review of the magnificent airport here) has unveiled plans for an extension: Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA) unveiled phase 1 of its midfield development project. The 73,000m² project includes the building of a new midfield concourse with 20 aircraft parking stands, a new cross-field taxiway and the extension of the existing automated people mover (APM) to the midfield concourse. Construction for the phase one development will start in the third quarter of 2011, with the completion expected by the end of 2015.
I’m sure by now almost everyone has heard about the current severe flooding in Queensland, the North-Eastern Australian state with the capital Brisbane. Prolonged heavy rainfall over the past month or so has led to a catastrophic situation in much of the state and to the North of its bordering neighbour state, New South Wales. This event is widely attributed to the effect of “La Niña“, a coupled ocean-atmosphere phenomenon that is the counterpart of “El Niño” which brought drought to the same areas previously.
La Niña, however, isn’t the only ecological hazard and Australia is not the only affected country. Other unusual weather patterns, such as the severe winter weather across Europe in December or masses of snow from Boston to New York and Atlanta more recently are other indicators that these events seem to increase in frequency and severity.
With Christmas out of the way, it’s time to look back and reflect on 2010. Let’s therefore bring back a tradition I started two years ago and provide you with the top 10 airport news of 2010. You will find odd stories about stranded passengers or missed world cup games but also serious disruptions caused by bad weather, accidents or terrorist alerts among LateDeparture’s “Top 10 Airport Stories of 2010”. Let’s begin and start with number 10: (Title Photo from Flickr – some rights reserved)
10. Virgin Atlantic passengers stuck on tarmarc in Connecticut
Hundreds of travelers parked in a diverted Virgin Atlantic plane en route from London to Newark spent a hot, dark and miserable four-hour stretch on the tarmac at Bradley International Airport outside Hartford, Connecticut (IATA: BDL). The incident attracted significant media attention, and highlighted how the recently-implemented Airline Passengers Bill of Rights does not extend to international flights. (AP photo/Journal Inquirer, Jim Michaud)
