What Happened to Air Asia Flight QZ 8501 ?

December 28, 2014NatarajanLeave a comment

The first aircraft to land at the newly-launched Low Cost Carrier Terminal-KLIA (LCCT-KLIA) sits on the tarmac in Sepang outside Kuala Lumpur March 23, 2006.

An AirAsia plane went missing during a flight to Singapore shortly after asking to deviate from its planned flight path because of bad weather.

AirAsia flight QZ 8501 lost contact with air traffic control at about 6:17 a.m. on Sunday, about halfway through the flight from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore. The plane is thought to have crashed near the Indonesian island of Belitung, but search and rescue teams have yet to find any wreckage.

Satellite imagery from the area where the plane went missing showed severe thunderstorms around the time it disappeared:

CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam said “lines of very heavy thunderstorms” were present when the plane was in the air, but also pointed out that “turbulence doesn’t necessarily bring down aeroplanes.”

The search and rescue operation has been suspended overnight. Singapore’s air force and navy is helping with the operation to locate the plane.

Here’s where it lost contact with air traffic control:

155 Indonesians are on board the plane, along with three people from South Korea, and one from Singapare, Britain, Malaysia, and France. Of those passengers, 16 are children and one is an infant.

The missing plane is an Airbus A320-200, a popular and generally reliable model. The plane is about six years old and is operated by AirAsia’s Indonesian affiliate, which the Malaysia-based company holds a 48.9% stake in, CNN reports

SOURCE::: PAMELA ENGEL in http://www.busionessinsider.com.au

Natarajan

America to Australia in 6 Hours !!!

December 23, 2014NatarajanLeave a comment

From America to Australia in Under 6 Hours

Just 100 years ago, getting from America to Europe was a voyage that took several days by ocean liners. With the invention of airplanes, that travel time was significantly shortened to under 24 hours. At the apex of the era of transatlantic flight, the Concorde was able to fly 100 passengers at mach 2.0 speeds from New York to London in just over 3.5 hours.

Now, the European Space Agency (ESA) just greenlighted the next stage of modern transportation – the hypersonic flight. The ESA has approved a new round of funding to project LAPCAT (Long-Term Advanced Propulsion Concepts and Technologies).

Ignoring its funny name, the new plane will fly at mach 5.0 speeds (that’s five times the speed of sound!), using liquid hydrogen engines. The planes will be able to travel from England to Australia in four hours, carry 300 passengers and even fly to space in just 15 minutes.

The new kind of engine is being developed by the British company Reaction Engines, who is said to invest over 60 million GBP in the development, and are going to start builing a full-scale prototype engine.

Current jet engines require that airplanes carry liquid oxygen as a coolant because in speeds beyond mach 3.0 the engines cannot use external oxygen for cooling. The new type of engine can use external oxygen freely, allowing it to cool down its engines from over 1,000°c (1,832°f) to -150°c (-328°f) in a fraction of a second.

Experts are hailing this development as the biggest advancement in aviation since the invention of the jet engine. The cost of a single plane is estimated to be a whopping $1.1 Billion and will have no windows.

Hypersonic passenger plane LAPCAT A2 explainer

The Long-term Advanced Propulsion Concept and Technologies (LAPCAT) was developed by British company Reaction Engines Limited (REL) and funded by the European Space Agency (ESA). The 139-meter long hypersonic plane has four liquid hydrogen-powered Synergistic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine (SABRE) engines and can carry up to 300 passengers.
It can travel up to 6,100 kilometer per hour – five times faster than the Airbus A380. By using liquid hydrogen as fuel instead of fossil fuel it is also greener and would only produce water vapor and nitrous oxide instead of carbon emissions. SOURCE: Research and Technology Agency, Reaction Engines Limited (REL), Transport Research & Innovation Portal

SOURCE:::: http://www.ba-bamail.com and YOU TUBE

Natarajan

This Day in Science… Wright Brothers’ First Flight !!!

December 17, 2014NatarajanLeave a comment

December 17, 1903. On this date, two Ohio brothers – Wilbur and Orville Wright – made the first bonafide, manned, controlled, heavier-than-air flight. It was the first airplane, and it took off at 10:35 a.m. with Orville Wright on board as pilot. He flew their vehicle, called theFlyer, for 12 seconds over 120 feet (about 37 meters) of sandy ground just outside Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

One of the world’s most famous early photographs serves to commemorate the flight.

Two years later, the Wrights wrote in a patent application that their airplane design:

… provide[s] means for guiding the machine both vertically and horizontally … combining lightness, strength, convenience of construction, and certain other advantages.

Were the Wright brothers always destined for the skies? It’s known that their father gave them a rubber-band-powered flying toy when they were still children. The toy was made of cork and bamboo, with a paper body.

By 1899 – when Wilbur was 33 years old and Orville was 28 – the brothers were already learning everything they could about the science of aeronautics and the history of attempted human flight. Their first airplane were gliders, which they tested on the long, isolated beaches of Kitty Hawk. By 1902, they had built a glider that could be manned and controlled by a human pilot. It held a world record for gliding over 600 feet (nearly 200 meters).

Their first powered aircraft had a 40-foot (12-meter) wingspan, weighed 750 lbs, and had a 12-horsepower engine.

That first flight in December 1903 marked the beginning of a new era of global travel and relatedness.

By the way, at the time they received their patent for their airplane in 1906, several other aviators of the day claimed to have been the first to use the Wrights’ method of turning the airplane by warping or twisting the wings. But this part of the design, too, was included in the Wrights’ patent. In 2013, a story came to light about another would-be aviator, Gustave Whitehead, whose first flight supposedly beat the Wright brothers by two years. Thus far, that story has not been supported and is not accepted by aviation scholars.

Bottom line: The first airplane soared for 12 seconds over 120 feet (about 37 meters) of sandy ground just outside Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on December 17, 1903.

SOURCE:::: http://www.earthsky.org

Natarajan

Strange … But True !!!

December 14, 2014NatarajanLeave a comment

The U.S. Accidentally Dropped An Atomic Bomb On South Carolina In 1958 !!!

The Cold War is over, but there are still plenty of remnants from its troubles across the American landscape. One major reminder of this era is the crater in Mars Bluffs, South Carolina, where the Air Force accidentally dropped an atomic bomb in 1958. This site was one of the biggest military blunders of the entire Cold War. It’s a miracle that no one was killed.

Walter Gregg and his family were minding their own business on March 11, 1958. Suddenly, a giant explosion out of nowhere rocked the property and nearly destroyed their house. After Gregg accounted for his family members (none of whom were injured), he wondered what exactly happened.

Atlas Obscura

Unbeknownst to Gregg, on that same spring morning, a B-47 Stratojet was flying in the skies over his property. The bomber was on its way to the U.K. to take part in a war game exercise. At that time, all bombers in the air were required to carry an atomic payload. This was because of the off-chance that nuclear war broke out while they were in the air. This particular bomber carried a Mark 6 atomic bomb, like the one pictured below.

Wikipedia

Luckily, this particular Mark 6 bomb did not have its nuclear rod inserted. Otherwise, what happened would have been much, much worse.

Imgur

As the bomber passed over Gregg’s house, a warning light went off. Something was wrong with the bomb’s docking system. Apparently, the locking pin was not engaged properly. That’s when navigator Captain Bruce Kulka went to investigate. However, while he was trying to fix the locking pin, Kulka accidentally pressed the bomb’s emergency release.

Wikipedia

The weight of the 8,500 pound bomb forced the bay doors open. The bomb plummeted towards the woods of Mars Bluff. When the bomb landed, it left a 75-foot-wide, and 30-foot-deep crater in the forest near Gregg’s house. Here is what the impact site looks like today.

Wikipedia

Luckily, no one died in the explosion, but it did level several buildings on Gregg’s property and damage nearby houses. Just imagine how much worse it would have been if the bomb was armed with its nuclear material.

The military paid Gregg and his family $54,000 to rebuild what was destroyed by the bomb and to keep things quiet. It was also around this time when a new rule was put in place requiring planes to make sure that their payloads were locked before take-off.

Kelly Michals

You can still see some pieces of the original bomb dropped on Mars Bluff at a local museum.

Kelly Michals

Via: Atlas Obscura

Talk about a big “oopsie.” I can’t believe the flight crew didn’t think to check if the bomb was secured properly before taking off. This could have kicked off World War III if the bomb was actually armed with its nuclear rod. What a simple mistake. Luckily, we’re all around now to laugh about it.

” Miracles Of Aviation History …With Happy Endings” !!!

December 10, 2014December 10, 2014NatarajanLeave a comment

Dietmar Eckell travels the world to photograph plane wrecks where everyone survived. He told BBC Culture why he decided to find crashes with happy endings.

Fairchild C-82A Packet, Alaska

January 1965, Alaska. A Fairchild C-82 is flying above the Arctic Circle when it encounters trouble. “The plane’s electric system failed and they crash-landed in the night in the tundra forest, cutting down many trees. They survived at -45 degrees Celsius by making a big fire from the wood they had cut. It is very remote up there: they were really lucky that the fire was spotted by another plane three days later and they were rescued.” German photographer Dietmar Eckell is describing one of the stories he discovered while researching his Happy End project, which records plane crashes that had no fatalities. He has even been contacted by those who survived: raising the money to print a book of the photos last year, he was contacted by the pilot of this Fairchild C-82. “He sent me an email to thank me for writing down his story and documenting his plane almost 50 years after the crash.”

Cessna 310, Australia

Eckell became interested in documenting wrecks where everyone survived after he had his own crash: flying a paraglider with an engine to take aerial shots over the Mojave Desert in California, he went into a tailspin and landed alone with a broken ankle. “While recovering from surgery I had time to search the internet for crash landings in remote locations with no fatalities.” He makes sure they were happy endings before he documents them: “I found planes where all survived the landing but a few started walking and were never found – if [even] one passenger did not make it, the plane is not included in the series.”

Grumman Hu-16 Albatross, Mexico

He finds the planes online, via “pilot forums, archives, accident reports and websites about World War Two history”. Pinpointing the exact location can be tricky. “Once the story is confirmed I try to find it on Google Earth. If the resolution is not good enough I ask at the local airport and most of the time pilots can help. Sometimes I have to hire a plane to search from above. Then I hike out there.” This plane is on a beach 70km south of Puerto Escondido. Eckell photographed it in September 2010, six years after it crashed: “It was half sunk and already broken in two pieces. On the pictures I saw [online] from 2006 … the engines looked like they would still work. But in four years the Pacific had done massive damage.” He happened to be shooting when a storm was passing. “The clouds were changing every minute. The scenery looked unreal through the viewer of my camera … more like a painting – surreal – with different lines of clouds towards the horizon.” It might not be there for much longer. “With the force of the waves the wreck is disappearing fast.”

Bristol Type 170 Freighter, Northwest Territories, Canada

Eckell has even tracked down planes that locals don’t know about. “One time I needed a float plane to get to a lake 400km away and could not afford a charter. After three days I found a retired pilot who was willing to take me there – although he did not believe that I had the location of an abandoned plane that he had never heard of in his 30 years as a local pilot. He was very surprised when we found the plane in great condition resting on the side of the lake, where it had been since 1956.”

Avro Shackleton, Western Sahara

The journey on foot to a plane can be hard-going. “Physically the hikes through swamps with all your gear are tough because your feet are wet all day, there are mosquitos and every kilometre feels like 5km.” He remembers his attempt to reach this plane in Western Sahara as particularly dangerous. “It’s in an area that is controlled by Polisario rebels. After a 30-hour car ride from Morocco to Mauritania and a 26-hour ride on an ore train, I got to a mining town and there had to convince the local Polisario leader to take me over the border to the Western Sahara. I had the plane’s GPS location and we drove cross country to avoid getting caught by the Mauritanian military. We had a very old car and after an hour it developed a flat tyre; but everything worked out and I got great shots of an Avro Shackleton. What I found interesting was that the same rebel group also rescued the 19 passengers in 1994.”

Douglas C-53 Skytrooper, Australia

Happy End is part of a longer-term project, called Restwert. “It started in the days before GPS when I was riding my motorbike in the remote Sahara following track descriptions with a map and compass. Some of the described landmarks along the way were car wrecks.” After photographing these ‘landmark wrecks’, Eckell went on to document abandoned mobile homes in the Mojave Desert. “With my photography I try to create curiosity for the story behind the picture.” This is one of the planes he has photographed most recently. It was forced to land in 1942 when the pilot missed the airport and ran out of fuel.

Douglas C-47 Skytrain, Yukon, Canada

There is an eerie dissonance between the wrecks and the majestic landscapes in the background, one that Eckell exploits to tell his story. “My ‘restwert’ photography is about abandoned objects forgotten in nowhere. When viewers see a photograph of a plane resting on a mountain or a tank sitting on a coral reef they want to know what happened … ‘Restwert’ is German for ‘residual value’ – the material value is written off, but the beauty, stories, and associations they trigger remain. I document these objects before nature takes them back to preserve their memory.” Ten people survived when this plane flew into the side of a mountain in February 1950. Eckell has visited the site twice. “I spent two hours at the wreck and still cannot imagine how they survived in February 1950 with temperatures in the -40s up there.”

Curtiss C-46 Commando, Manitoba, Canada

He sees the wrecks as beautiful, both because they represent a happy ending and because many of the planes have survived the ravages of nature. “Old airplanes, like the DC-3 or Curtiss Commando, are design classics and timeless beauties. Aluminium does not erode so they still look pretty good even after 70 years in the bush.” Eckell draws on artists from a different age. “I was inspired by the shipwreck painters of the Romantic period and in my photography also look for dramatic skies, late light or fall colours.”

B-24 Liberator, Papua New Guinea

“The locals in Papua New Guinea called this wreck ‘Swamp Ghost’,” says Eckell, who photographed it in March 2013. “When we arrived a heavy rain started and we had to hide under the wing for over an hour.” Trying to get the shot he wanted from a high vantage point, he climbed a tree. “Soon after I noticed that it was the home of giant ants. By the time I could get to a decent shot position they were all over me and it was difficult to focus.” The B-24 was forced to land in a sago swamp in October 1943, after running low on fuel after a bombing mission. The crew successfully parachuted to the ground, and the two pilots were unhurt in the crash landing.

Curtiss C-46 Commando, Manitoba, Canada

“I was in Calgary documenting the abandoned Olympic Ski Jump,” says Eckell, describing his journey to photograph this plane, which crashed near Churchill in 1979. “I took my octocopter which got a lot of attention from the biologists on the train who work at the Polar Bear Research Centre in Churchill. It’s not a good idea to walk out to the wreck – this is polar bear country and they are hungry in summer because they haven’t eaten anything since the ice melted.” He got a lift from a local, and took the pictures quickly. “The plane is sitting on huge rocks – the crew was lucky to crash in November with snow softening the impact.”

SOURCE:::: Fiona Macdonald in http://www.bbc.com

Natarajan

” Hard Nut To Crack … ” !!!

December 9, 2014NatarajanLeave a comment

Korean Air flight delayed by bag of nuts

The nuts had been handed to her without a plate

Nut rage delays Korean Air flight

A flight was delayed after the daughter of Korean Air’s chief executive reportedly demanded an air steward be removed for offering her nuts

By Natalie Paris in The Telegraph UK

While some people are allergic to nuts, Cho Hyun-ah’s concern was more that the nuts – macadamias in this case – had been given to her without her asking for them.

She was also furious, reports claim, that the nuts had been handed to her without a plate.

Cho Hyun-ah, who had been travelling in first class, held up the plane while claiming that the steward in question was incapable of keeping passengers safe.

The man was subsequently taken off the flight which was due to travel from New York to Seoul on Friday

The plane was already taxing down the runway when the offending nuts were produced but the pilot then returned to the terminal JFK airport.

The switch in staff added an 11-minute delay to the journey for the plane’s 250 passengers.

Cho is the eldest daughter of Cho Yang-ho and herself an executive vice president of South Korea’s national carrier.

The airline told Korea Times that checking of quality of service was one of Cho’s jobs, as she is in charge of in-flight service for the carrier.

A spokesman for the main opposition party in South Korea said: “Why did she have to make all that fuss because of some stupid macadamia nuts? She soiled the reputation of our flag carrier.”

^{Cho Hyun-ah is executive vice president of Korean Air}

Korea’s transport ministry is apparently looking into the incident to determine whether Cho’s actions, in demanding the plane turn around, infringed aviation law.

source::::http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Natarajan

Top 10 Airports in the World in terms of PAX Movement …

December 5, 2014NatarajanLeave a comment

We’ve taken a look at the top 20 airports in the world in terms of passenger numbers, for December 2014.

What are the World's Top 20 Airports? December 2014 Network Update

The biggest change comes from Atlanta, which was top in December 2013 and despite reporting a 1.5% growth has been overtaken by Beijing Capital International Airport. Istanbul and Dubai International have seen big rises, while Shanghai Pudong is the fastest growing airport according to our analysis. The three main Asian hubs – Bangkok, Jakarta and Singapore have all seen declines. Denver International Airport reaches the top 20, which is the destination for Routes America’s 2015!

1. Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) – 4,794,291

The airport is the busiest airport in Asia, and is home to the second-largest passenger terminal in the world. Terminal 1 covers 60,000m2; Terminal 2 covers an area of 336,000m2 and is able to handle 26,500,000 passengers yearly. Terminal 3 covers a huge 986,000m2 (244 acres). The passenger numbers have risen a massive 10.5 percent in comparison to December 2013 figures.

2. Hartsfield – Jackson, Atlanta Airport (ATL) – 4,599,874

The terminal complex measures 130 acres or 6.8 million square feet and includes domestic and international concourses. The airport comprises of 207 gates – 167 of which are domestic, and 40 international. Hartsfield has its own underground system, which on average carries more than 200,000 passengers per day.

3. Haneda Airport, Tokyo (HND) – 4,433,928

A third terminal to allow for international flights was completed in October 2010 as well as a fourth runway, which was constructed to increase the airport’s operational capacity from 285,000 movements to 407,000 movements per year. The airport is the first in Japan to receive 5-star status in the Global Airport Ranking conducted by Skytrax.

4. Dubai International Airport (DXB) – 4,261,485

Dubai International has registered a 10.4 percent increase in passenger numbers in December 2014 in comparison to December 2013. Construction of a third terminal began in 2004, and the terminal opened in 2008 after a two-year delay. The airport constructed an extra 29 gates capable of handling the Airbus A380 before its arrival.

5. London Heathrow Airport (LHR) – 3,805,009

The five-terminal airport spans across 12.14 square kilometres. The first phase of a new Terminal 2 complex was opened in 2014, and Terminal 5 was voted Skytrax World’s Best Airport Terminal in the Annual World Airport Awards, 2014.

6. Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) – 3,581,733

The airport offers 692 daily flights to 85 domestic cities and 928 weekly nonstop flights to 67 cities in 34 countries. The airport has 119 gates spanning across nine terminals, one of which – the Tom Bradley International Terminal, which is named after the first African-American and longest-serving mayor of Los Angeles (20 years).

7. Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) – 3,482,573

Hong Kong International is undergoing some development, with the construction of a new 20 gate passenger concourse to be built in 2 phases for completion between 2015 and 2020. In 2013, HKIA handled 59.9 million passengers, 4.12 million tonnes of cargo and 372,040 flight movements.

8. Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) – 3,462,693

The eight-runway airport has a total of 189 gates across four terminals. The entire O’Hare International Airport complex spans over 7,000 acres and has the capacity to move 2,400 passengers per hour.

9. Dallas/Fort Worth Airport (DFW) – 3,283,093

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport has five terminals totalling 165 gates. The airport is currently undergoing renovation work with the replacement of infrastructure, and easier parking, security and baggage reclaim, with Terminal A nearing completion.

10. Soekarno–Hatta (Jakarta) International Airport (CGK) – 3,252,159

The airport is expected to serve 62 million passengers per year, with a third runway being built in 2015. There will be an increase in apron capacity from 125 airplanes to 174 airplanes. By 2015, additional upgrades are expected to increase the airport’s capacity to 75 million passengers.

11. Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) – 3,168,437

Changi Airport is a major air hub in Asia, Serving more than 100 international airlines flying to some 300 cities in about 70 countries and territories worldwide, the airport handled more than 53.7 million passengers in 2013. A flight takes off or lands at Changi roughly once every 90 seconds.

12. Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) – 3,116,072

The airport has three buildings that make up the terminal complex, the Satellite Building which handles international travellers, the Contact Pier which serves Malaysia Airlines passengers, and the Main Terminal.

13. Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport (CDG) – 3,113,579

There are three terminals at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, and in 2013, the airport handled 62,052,917 passengers and 497,763 aircraft movements. It is the second busiest airport in Europe after London Heathrow.

14. Shanghai Pudong Airport (PVG) – 3,046,694

The passenger complex consists of two terminals, with a third terminal expected to open in 2015. The airport is a hub for both Shanghai Airlines and China Eastern Airlines and hosts over 40 million passengers annually.

15. Istanbul Atatürk Airport (IST) – 2,970,455

Istanbul Atatürk Airport has four terminals and three runways, with plans for a fourth. The Istanbul greater metropolitan area is expected to have a demand of 35 million international passengers and 25 million domestic passengers annually by the year 2015.

16. Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN) – 2,907,632

In 2013, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport was China’s second busiest and world’s 16th busiest airport by passenger traffic, with 52,450,262 passengers handled. As for cargo traffic, the airport was the third busiest in China and the 18th busiest worldwide.

17. Suvarnabhumi Airport (Bangkok International – BKK) – 2,864,854

There are two runways and seven four-storey concourse buildings. The airport can accommodate 45 million passengers per year, 76 flights per hour, and three-million tons of cargo per year.

18. Frankfurt Airport (FRA) – 2,828,133

The airport sees over 52 million international passengers, and has two terminals, with a third under construction. Frankfurt Airport is the third busiest in Europe, after London Heathrow and Paris Charles De Gaulle.

19. John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) – 2,771,749

Over ninety airlines operate out of JFK. It is the base of operations for JetBlue Airways and is a major international gateway hub for American Airlines and Delta Air Lines. JFK covers 4,930 acres, including 880 acres in the Central Terminal Area. The airport has more than 30 miles of roadway.

20. Denver International Airport (DEN) – 2,552,974

The airport’s runway – 16R/34L is the longest public use runway in the United States. Denver Airport opened in 1995 and in less than 20 years has become a major transportation hub handling over 50 million passengers annually. The airport has a two-sided main terminal and three concourses, A, B and C. Denver will be host to the Routes Americas 2015 event. Now in its 8th year, Routes Americas is the essential event for all aviation based companies who wish to conduct business to, from and within the region.

SOURCE::::::www.routesonline.com

Natarajan

World’s Oldest Airports ….

December 2, 2014NatarajanLeave a comment

LaGuardia Airport opened in New York 75 years ago today, and has since handled countless millions of passengers – including Marilyn Monroe – and 26,722,183 in 2013. But it’s still some way off being the world’s oldest.

Albany International

Founded: 1928

Passengers in 2013: 2,393,506

While an airport was established in Albany, New York, in 1909, with early aviation pioneers such as Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh stopping there, the airport was moved to the current site in 1928.

Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, US

Founded: 1920

Passengers in 2013: 33,897,335

Visited by Howard Hughes on his round-the-world flight in 1938, Minneapolis-St. Paul is currently served by 14 airlines, with Delta being by far its biggest customer.

Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport, Australia

Founded: 1920

Passengers in 2013: 36,964,734

Established in 1920, with regular flights starting in 1924, Sydney Kingsford Smith remains the only major hub to serve the city and is the headquarters of Qantas.

Paris-Le Bourget Airport, France

Founded: 1919

Passengers in 2013: general aviation traffic only.

The French capital’s only airport until work began on Paris-Orly in 1932, Le Bourget is where Hitler began his one and only tour of Paris in June 1940. It closed to international traffic in 1977 and regional traffic in 1980, but hosts the Paris Air Show every two years. Pictured here is Charles Lindbergh.

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, The Netherlands

Founded: 1916

Passengers in 2013: 52,527,699

The busiest of the world’s elderly airports, Amsterdam Schiphol was established as a military airbase in 1916 and has been used by civilian aircraft since 1920.

Rome Ciampino Airport, Italy

Founded: 1916

Passengers in 2013: 4,749,251

Opened in 1916 and here seen welcoming Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, Ciampino suffered decades of stagnation following the opening of Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in 1960, but was revitalised by low-cost carriers. Ryanair now operates almost every service to and from the airport.

Picture: GETTY

Don Mueang International Airport, Bangkok, Thailand

Founded: 1914

Passengers in 2013: 16,479,227

A major US command hub during the Vietnam War, Don Mueang was closed for several months in 2011 due to flooding.

Bremen Airport, Germany

Founded: 1913

Passengers in 2012: 2,447,001

Early customers at Bremen included KLM, the world’s oldest airline. It was used as an airbase by the US army from 1945 until 1949.

Bucharest Aurel Vlaicu Airport, Romania

Founded: 1912

Passengers in 2013: 6,036 The hub for the airline TAROM during the communist period, Aurel Vlaicu is now solely used by charter flights and private jets.

Shoreham Airport, UK

Founded: 1911

Passengers in 2013: 1,500 (approximately)

Britain’s oldest continuously operating airport, found in Sussex, is now used solely by light aircraft.

Note: the site of Blackpool Airport was first used for aviation in 1909, but soon became a racecourse and then a military hospital. Flights did not resume until the 1930s.

Hamburg Airport, Germany

Founded: 1911

Passengers in 2013: 13,502,939

Opened in January 1911, Hamburg Airport was used as a staging area during the Berlin Airlift in 1948.

College Park Airport, Maryland, US

Founded: 1909

Passengers in 2013: general aviation traffic only.

Known as “the cradle of aviation”, this was where the first aeroplane – a Wright Type A biplane – was uncrated and assembled on October 7, 1909.

SOURCE:::: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Natarajan

Dubai to invest $32-billion to build world’s largest airport…

November 30, 2014NatarajanLeave a comment

APFile photo of Dubai Airport

To further secure its position as the world’s aviation hub, Dubai Airports is building a whopping USD 32—billion greenfield airport at the upcoming Dubai World Central, 30 km off the present international airport which already is the second busiest in the world.

The proposed new airport will become the world’s largest aviation facility on completion and will have five runways which all will be simultaneously operational, all A380-compatible with a length of 4.5 km each.

“We are planning a USD 32—billion brand new airport at the Dubai World Central at Al Maktoum, 30 km off the present Dubai facility. In the first phase, the new airport will be able to handle 120 million passengers, which will go up to 200 million by 2020, when the project is completed,” Dubai Airports Corporate Communications Head Julius Baumann told PTI.

“On completion, the new airport will be the world’s largest airport, with each concourse the size of seven football fields and have five runways which all will be simultaneously operational, all A380-compatible,” Mr. Baumann said.

The other features include 200 aircraft stands for wide bodied aircraft, four concourses connected via six airport trains to two terminals, which in turn will be linked to the city’s metro network. When complete, the mega-hub will have total annual capacity exceeding 200 million passengers and 12 million tonne of freight.

The existing Al Maktoum International opened its doors to passengers on October 27, 2013 and three airlines are operating from here. It has one A380 capable runway, 64 remote stands, one cargo terminal with annual capacity for 250,000 tonne and a fully operational passenger terminal building designed to accommodate 5 million passengers annually.

The Dubai International Airport is the world’s second busiest airport after the London Heathrow and is on course to become the global aviation hub, thanks to its geographical location and the availability of cheap fuel.

The first phase of the new airport includes a single A380 compatible runway, a passenger terminal with capacity of 5 million passengers which is expandable to 7 million; a cargo terminal with a capacity of 250,000 tonne per annum and expandable to 600,000 tonne and a 92-metre air traffic control tower.

The state-owned Dubai Airports already operates the Dubai International Airport in the heart of the Arabian megapolis and the Al Maktoum International Airport at the upcoming Dubai World Central (DWC).

The DWC is a 140 sq km new international city being built to de-congest the present city, Dubai Airports’ Marketing & Corporate Communications Manager Zaigham Ali said, adding the work on new airport will begin early next year.

Apart from the new airport plan, the Emirate is also expanding the Dubai International Airport with a USD 7.8 billion investment to take the capacity to 100 million by 2020. This project was started in 2011 and will be completed by 2016.

The expansion of the Dubai International include a new concourse (Concourse D), expansion of Terminal 2 to twice its current capacity, refurbishment of Terminal 1, and additional aircraft stands, taxiways and aprons among others.

Dubai International, Mr. Baumann said handled 66.43 million passengers in 2013, and has being growing 15.5 per cent per annum since its launch in 1960. In 2013, it was named the second busiest airport in the world after the London Heathrow.

Mr. Ali said India is the largest source market for the airport, with an airline network that connects Dubai with 18 cities in the country.

In 2013, the airport saw a 14.3 percent increase in passenger numbers from India at 8.5 million and in the first 9 months of this year, the number has already crossed 7 million.

Mr. Ali added the company is confident of crossing the last year’s mark this year.

Explaining the rationale for a gigantic new airport, Mr. Baumann said the airport’s forecast figures for unconstrained passenger traffic show 126 million passengers by 2020, and 300 million passengers by 2050.

Additionally, the Terminal 2 will double in capacity by 2015. Concourse D of the airport, slated to open by mid 2015, will provide for 100 more aircraft and taking the figure up to 80 million passengers.

In all, the expansion projects will take the airport’s passenger capacity to a little over 100 million passengers, Mr. Ali said.

With a built-up area of 1,972,474 sqm, the Dubai International Airport comprises three terminals and ranks among the world’s top two busiest airports for international passengers, serving over 125 airlines flying to over 260 destinations, as per the Airports Council International.

On the economic impact of the aviation sector in Baumann, quoting an Oxford Economics report said, aviation will contribute USD 53.1 billion to Dubai’s economy, which is 37.5 per cent to its GDP and will support over 750,000 jobs by the turn of 2020.

The aviation sector as a whole contributed USD 26.7 billion to the Dubai economy in 2013, which was almost 27 per cent of the national GDP and supported 416,500 jobs accounting for 21 per cent of the Emirates’ total employment.

Passenger traffic in September totalled 5,942,628 compared to 5,407,326 recorded in the same month last year, an increase of 9.9 per cent. January—September rose 6.2 per cent to 52,422,547, up from 49,379,165, while in 2013, the passenger traffic stood 66,431,533, up 15.2 per cent from 2012.

Keywords: Dubai airport, Dubai World Central

SOURCE:::: http://www.the hindu.com

Natarajan

Airports Remain… No Flights … A Precarious Situation … What Next ?

November 30, 2014NatarajanLeave a comment

Representative Image (Photo: AP/File)

Eight non-metro airports modernised using public money have no scheduled flights operating there, leading them to incur a total loss of about Rs 82 crore in the last three years.

As government pushes for air connectivity in remote areas, official figures show that these eight airports have jointly incurred a total loss of over Rs 25 crore in 2011-12, over 27 crore in 2012-13 and almost Rs 30 crore in 2013-14, official sources said.

Reacting sharply to the “precarious” situation prevailing at these airports, aviation industry experts said only market conditions and operational viability and “not political compulsions” should determine developing airports or creating new ones.

The airports, which were modernised and upgraded by state-run Airports Authority of India (AAI) but have no scheduled flights, are at Akola (Maharashtra), Bikaner and Jaisalmer (Rajasthan), Coochbehar (West Bengal), Cuddapah (Andhra Pradesh), Pathankot and Ludhiana (Punjab) and Puducherry.

Details regarding the cost of modernising these airports were not immediately available. Similarly, the figures on losses of Bhatinda and Jalgaon airports, also modernised by AAI with no scheduled flights operating from there, were also not available.

Asked why airlines were not flying to these places, official sources said it was up to the airline operators to provide air services to such places “depending on the traffic demand and commercial viability”, apart from the route dispersal guidelines.

However, industry experts disagreed saying airlines should be consulted first before investments are made for developing airports.

“It is a precarious situation. Airports should not be developed merely because of political compulsions, but only on the basis of operational feasibility and market conditions. Airports do not just mean plush terminal buildings like shopping malls. The apron and the runway are crucial for flight operations,” said Debashis Saha, senior executive of professional aviation body Aeronautical Society of India.

Therefore, detailed feasibility studies for short, medium and long term flight operations should be carried out, both for passenger and cargo operations, “before any decision is taken to upgrade an airport or create a new one,” he said.

Giving examples of other countries, he said airport operators like Changi in Singapore “attract airlines by offering special schemes including no or low charges and marketing budget”.

“Government should make available some funds to attract airlines to Tier-II and III cities at least for three years so as to enable airlines to achieve market capitalisation and help air traffic in these sectors grow,” Saha said.

Airlines should be consulted and asked to study the market potential of an airport in a remote or a non-metro city so that they can sustain day-to-day operations, Saha said, adding the airlines should also be asked to commit to launch operations if found viable.

Cost of day-to-day operations include those for maintenance of all technical equipment, the terminal, payment for staff, location of fire and security services.

Saha said the costs incurred in these areas have led to the eight airports to run into losses without having even a single scheduled flight. Though AAI was providing incentives like no landing or parking charges and priority of slots to flights between Tier -II and Tier-III cities, he said unless the airlines were consulted beforehand, these incentives would not work and “the AAI would continue to incur heavy losses”.

SOURCE:::: http://www.deccanchronicle.com

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Airports Remain… No Flights … A Precarious Situation … What Next ?