Airports of the World

Category Archives for Airports of the World.

Airlines add 380s to Dallas

In the last two weeks, Dallas Fort Worth (DFW), the USA’s fourth busiest airport, has had new very long distance Airbus 380 routes added. Qantas upgraded their non stop Sydney -DFW service to an A380 from a 747 on September 29th. This upgrade means that the longest scheduled commercial flight in the world is now served by the largest passenger jet in the world!  The flight is approximately  12, 200 km (8,600 miles). It takes 15 hours 35 mins from Sydney to DFW and 16hr 55mins from DFW due to the headwinds!  Thats a few movies on a flight advertised as…

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Looking for the World’s Fastest Airline

As a runner, I am really interested in this event taking place next Saturday at Budapest Airport in Hungary. They will play host to a competition between airlines to see who is the fastest airline …on the ground. On Saturday 6 September, a 12 kilometre (8 mile) race involving 1,000 runners will take place on Budapest Airport’s Runway 1  (13R-31L) to raise funds for  child cancer charities. The runway is 3km long so I presume teams will run it four times. There will be prizes awarded for: The fastest male and female “The Fastest Airline in the World” “The Fastest Airport…

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The Top Ten views from the air

What would you consider to be the ten best views from the air? British Airways asked their pilots who fly 180 routes globally to nominate their top ten: Northern Lights- I’d love to see them! Central London – Approach into Heathrow (I wonder how much that is about BA pilots coming home?) Mont Blanc – Pisa Sydney Harbour – on departure from Sydney, Australia Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and bay – San Francisco Greenland – North Atlantic flights Venetian canals – Venice, Italy Cape Town, Table Mountain, South Africa Dubrovnik, Croatia Mount Fuji The survey…

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Darwin Flights to resume after Volcanic disruption

Flights will resume late Sunday local time, from Darwin airport in Australia after ash from a volcano eruption in Southern Indonesia closed airspace for hundreds of kilometres. The volcano, which erupted on Friday, is 1373km northwest of Darwin on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa. It is roughly halfway between Bali and Timor. The volcano was reportedly erupting up to 15 kilometres (nine miles) in the air. Some tourists slept on the floor of the airport. For information on departures from the airport, check here.

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Airport Celebrates with Teddy bears

Last December marked the 110th year since humanity began flying and commercial flight began 100 years ago last January. On March 27, Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok, Thailand cerebrates its century.   It was officially opened in 1914 as a Royal Thai Air Force base, although it had been in use earlier than that date. Commercial flights started in 1924 and continued until 2006 when Bangkok’s second airport opened. The airport is now a hub for low cost Thai carriers. Last week passengers were treated to gifts of teddy bears riding on the luggage carousels. Check out the…

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Stunning landing in Queenstown

This is a simply beautiful landing into Queenstown, New Zealand. This town located on the west of the country’s South Island is built around Lake Wakatipu.  It is surrounded by incredible mountains.I have been lucky enough to get to Queenstown several times. Queenstown Airport (IATA: ZQN) is eight kilometres (five miles)  from the centre of town. It is the country’s fourth busiest airport, handling around  a million scheduled passengers per year. The Airport is served by Air New Zealand, Mt Cook Airline, Pacific Blue, Jetstar and Qantas. It has a lovely terminal building and a stunning vista! I have flown to…

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Self serve at home bag tags

  In the “old days”, check in would consist of issuing of a Boarding Pass and Luggage Tags. Increasingly boarding passes are printed at home or available on a mobile phone. Air New Zealand have allowed passengers to print their bag tags while checkig in. Qantas do the same. Now Spanish airline Iberia lets customers print their own baggage tags at home. This occurs when checking-in online at iberia.com . Using a single sheet of A4 paper for each tag, you fold it into quarters and place it in a reusable plastic envelopes. These envelopes are…

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Chinese Air Rage goes viral!

On February 19, Mr Yan Linkun, a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), arrived at Kunming Changshui International Airport with his wife and two sons. They checked in for their 1105am flight to Guangzhou in plenty of time. They then ate breakfast. When they arrived at their gate for their flight, they were too late so the airline switched them to the 1pm flight. The family then missed the last call for that flight. This is what happened next: This next video is from another direction with sound. Apparently the passenger is…

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2012 Airport Top Twenty

Having been to 203 airports now, I have a fair idea of what I want in a good airport. I want first of all an airport that is easy to get around with good signposting. Short lines come next. Being well connected to public transit is more important than parking for me. I do like the car rental outlets located close by and not a shuttle bus away. Talking of shuttle buses, I hate being bussed to and from a plane, so give me enough gates please. Clean well maintained airports get my attention and I do…

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