Let’s not mock around this week, here are our headlines:
Continue reading This week: Rome’s airport chaos, private jet frenzy in Vegas & more
This week the Nepalese airport has pretty much dominated airport related news around the world. Here are our headlines in the overview:
The massive earthquake in Nepal that costs Thousands of people’s lives has also had an effect on the country’s main airport: Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu (KTM) stories on LateDeparture. LA Times described the scenes at the airport in their article as following: The plane traffic became so backed up that numerous flights were turned away Sunday and forced to return later. Discarded paper and plastic water bottles littered the tarmac, giving the place the sad air of a site where a carnival had just passed through.
A few days later The Wall Street Journal reported that since the quake, this capital city’s single-runway airport and an adjoining military airfield have become the hub of a massive international rescue and relief effort as the impoverished country struggles to care for the huge number of people wounded and displaced in the disaster.
We encourage all of our readers to provide help through one of the humanitarian organisations’ earthquake appeals.
We’re now moving on to a different topic: This week passengers at a US airport had to endure a rather lengthy wait before getting through to customs. Click2Houston reported that Thousands of furious international passengers tried to catch flights home following a massive baggage blunder at Terminal E at Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) stories on LateDeparture on Sunday. As for an explanation from the airlines, passengers were told the chaos was the result of too many international flights arriving at the same time. That’s a rather fishy explanation if you ask us, surely they anticipated the arrival of each of those aircrafts…
Then we got hold of some good news from Down-under: The Sydney Morning Herald reported this week that Brisbane Airport’s domestic terminal (BNE) stories on LateDeparture is set to undergo its biggest expansion since it opened in 1988, with the construction of a new regional airline building now out to market. The expansion will increase the number of gates at the domestic terminal from 61 to 72, with the potential for a further six gates as demand increases. Work is expected to start in early 2016.
And to finish the week off, some ‘storm’ news from New Orleans. According to Reuters a line of storms moving through Louisiana on Monday knocked out power to the New Orleans International Airport (MSY) stories on LateDeparture, sent freight train cars tumbling from an elevated bridge and left nearly 238,000 customers without electricity. At the airport, electricity was off in the main terminal for much of the day and the airfield operated on emergency power, before electricity was fully restored in the evening, an airport spokeswoman said.
That’s all for this week – safe travels.
[Title photo shows the domestic terminal at Tribhuvan Kathmandu Airport before the earthquake; Photo Credit: Debarshi Ray via Compfight cc]
It’s Sunday again here in Australia and with that it’s time for our weekly airport news round-up. Here’s what we have for you this week:
Let’s get going. First up is our coverage from New York. There NJ.com wrote on Thursday that LaGuardia Airport (LGA) is closed today after a plane skidded off a snow-covered runway and came to rest after its nose punched through an airport fence. Officials said none of the 125 people on board was hurt. Port Authorities confirmed that Delta Flight 1086 from Atlanta to LaGuardia landing on Runway 13 skidded into a fence at approximately 11:05 that morning.
Such a disconcerting photo but so glad most seem okay! #LGA #plane #snow pic.twitter.com/rHZiK0dFP6
— Andrea J. Levy (@AndreaJobs) March 5, 2015
One of the runways remained closed until Friday. Fox News reported that [the] airport reopened its second runway Friday after removing a Delta jetliner that skidded and smashed through a fence a day earlier. Cranes were used overnight to remove the plane.
Another accident at the other side of the planet resulted in more airport headaches this week. We’re talking about the Turkish Airline near-miss at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport (KTM). NPR.com reported that at about 7:15 a.m. [on Wednesday], the Airbus A330 with 224 passengers attempted a landing but had to abort. The plane circled and then came in again. This time, passengers say the plane hit the ground hard, its nose bouncing up and down as it veered off the runway. The front landing gear collapsed and the plane came to a stop, its nose resting on the rain-soaked, grassy earth. The plane was evacuated safely. The news service then went on by writing the airport was immediately closed to all but helicopter traffic. Flight TK726 has been sitting all day — nose down, tail up — right near the arrival terminal, with one wing just close enough to the runway to block the safe landing or takeoff of any other large aircraft. Thousands of passengers have either had their flights canceled or, if already in the air, been rerouted for an undetermined period that could last days.
Thankfully today we read that the airport reopened when The International Business Times reported that Nepal’s only international airport in Kathmandu reopened late Saturday, after officials finally removed a Turkish Airlines flight that had skidded off the tarmac.
Moving on and back to the United States where a familiar story repeated itself again this week. Yes, it’s like Groundhog day; sadly. The Star Telegram reported that Hundreds of flights were canceled at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport (DFW) on Thursday as airport crews worked to clear runways of several inches of snow and ice. According to Flightstats.com, 317 arrivals and 264 departures have been canceled at DFW Airport with delays expected to mount as carriers have to de-ice aircraft before take-off in the freezing temperatures.
An entirely different topic reached us via the British Mirror this week. They reported that air passengers in the UK pay the most expensive airport car parking in the world. London City (LCY) tops the table with a fee of £315 (US$475) a week, while seven of the top 10 most expensive airports for parking are in Britain. Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton, Stansted, Edinburgh and Manchester all make the list and Birmingham comes 11th. Other international airports making it into the list were Sydney at 3rd place, Dubai (5th) or Singapore (6th).
After this, you probably need a little nap, right? Well, you’re in luck if you’re currently at Helsinki Airport (HEL). According to the Daily Mail Helsinki Airport has become the first in Europe to offer sleeping pods for worn-out travellers who are looking to catch a little shut-eye between flights. Already billed as one of the most sleep-friendly airports in the world, Finland’s largest airport has installed 19 GoSleep pods which offer privacy and peace for weary passengers. It costs €9 per hour (approximately US$9.70) and pillows and blankets are available for the pods, which are located at two gates inside the terminal.
That’s all for this week – safe sleeping – err – travelling!
[Title Photo from Twitter via New York Post Metro]
This has been a dark week for the aviation industry with the missing Malaysia airlines flight. Our thoughts are with the families of the passengers and crew on that flight. Obviously this incident is our top story, however we did find a few other news bites this week too:
Continue reading This week: Dark times for Malaysia Airlines, AA mishaps, Kathmandu fire & more
Easter is finally here and with that all the usual airport delays. All of them? Not so much! Travellers of the British Stansted Airport (IATA: STN) got off with a slap on the wrist as the announced baggage handler’s strike was called off. Nevertheless, we found a few (other) interesting stories in the lead-up to the long weekend.
Continue reading This week: Tornadoes, an April’s Fool’s prank gone wrong & more
