International Airport News

Tensator has unveiled what it claims is the smallest, most adaptable and best-value virtual airport assistant on the market. Launched in Dubai earlier this year, the Virtual Assistant Ultra has a mere 50 centimetres-square footprint.

Not sure this will attract welcoming arms...

Manchester's Airport is about to launch a personal guide service for passengers who need assistance making their way around the facility. It sounds nice but comes with a catch, a £50 price-tag. The so-called 'Friendly Guides' plan has attracted criticism as you would expect but airport officials stress that existing services already provided to disabled passengers will remain in place and, for them, no extra charge will be made. Friendly Guides is, instead, pitched at elderly passengers or those perhaps unfamiliar with the general layout of an airport.

A cancelled Air Canada flight to New York's La Guardia created confusion at customs, leaving everyone asking: 'had the passengers left Canada or not?'

The passengers did not physically departed the runway at Toronto Pearson International Airport, let alone Canada after being stranded. However, having already pre-cleared U.S customs, the passengers had theoretically 'entered' the United States. Both passengers and custom officers were left perplexed by the conundrum.

Busiest May for Chopin Airport

Apparently the Chopin Airport handled over 989,000 passengers in May 2013 representing a 0.8% increase year-on-year and of course, another record month for the airport set.

French air traffic control workers have started a three-day walk-out as they and others protest against an EU proposal to create a single airspace in Europe.

Apparently this happen in 2012...

Best European Airport Awards...

Airports Council International's (European) has announced the winners of its best European airports awards at an event that was held in Turkey. The awards recognised four airport categories that were based on size, with the goal of rewarding steps made to excel within security, retail, facilities, customer service, environmental performance and so on. Based on this, the recipient of the first award, for airports handling 1.5 million passengers or less per year, was London City Airport, in acknowledgement of its well-developed approach to customer service. The 5-10 million passengers ACI Europe Best Airport Award went to Edinburgh, no stranger to winning they are a three-time winner. The 10-25 million passengers award went to Hamburg Airport. In the the 25+ million passengers category the Best Airport Award had to be shared between London Heathrow and Schiphol in Amsterdam.

Going through Customs without a real passport gets you in trouble but how about a toy passport getting stamped? Nine-year-old Emily Harris was allowed through customs in Turkey with a toy passport for her stuffed unicorn. Turkish officials stamped Lily the unicorn's ID, specially made through the Build-A-Bear service. The misunderstanding occurred when mother Nicky mistakenly offered the wrong passport to Turkish officials. They obviously failed to recognize the golden teddy bears on the front of the "ID" and regarded it as authentic, granting Lily the unicorn access to the country. 43 year-old Nicky from Cwmbran, South Wales, said she didn't realise her error until she was putting the passports back in her bag. She experienced a moment of panic thinking that the officials would realise and come after them, but no such thing happened.

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To fly or not to fly? Coloured Wristbands for Christchurch Airport Fliers

Christchurch Airport is now instituting a colour-coded wrist-band system that will help distinguish genuine early flyers from those at the airport who do not intend to fly. Back In May, 2013, the New Zealand hub closed its doors to overnight visitors after some 200 travellers had been snoozing inside the international airport each night rather than booking accommodation.

Dubai Airport Aircraft Vortex Study

Dubai Airports Company has appointed a firm to explore the effect that air ripples have on airliners landing at Dubai International Airport. Expected to run in the least, 14 months, the contract has been given to Avtech Middle East. They will be tasked with examine aircraft wake, those invisible vortices that trail behind moving aircraft much like the wake from a boat. "The difference is that a trailing aircraft can't see that, whereas on the water you can, so a smaller aircraft flying into a very large aircraft wake could feel some bumps or some turbulence", explained Avtech project manager Ryan Ellison.

Monsoons Wash-out Delhi Airport

Early Monsoons left a Delhi Airport under water with passengers wading knee deep in water. Very persistent and heavy rains has resulted in flooding at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi Airport. The flooding has been so bad that the baggage handling system has been hampered. The monsoon came two weeks ahead of schedule for Delhi, recording about 36.6mm of rainfall. However, the airport itself seems to have been hit-hardest with unprecedented accumulation figures of 117.8 mm of rainfall in four and a half hours between 1PM and 5.30 PM.

This was seen at the Denver International Airport from the air...

Not International news but more small back-country airstrip news.

Seems like some small back-country airstrips in Colorado may be closed soon because of a rule change. The warning comes from the Recreation Aviation Foundation. Resource Management Plans or RMPs are now coming in place and could threaten the existence of these airstrips in Colorado. Airstrips potentially on the axe-list include; Dolores Point, Hubbard, Little Dolores, West Creek Bluff, Arrow Head Camp, Calamity Camp, Flattop Mesa and Blue Mesa Airstrip.

The Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin today joined M.A.G chairman, Mike Davies OBE and Stansted Airport MD, Andrew Harrison to launch the start of an £80 million project to transform Stansted’s iconic terminal building and meet the demands of modern air travel. Stansted’s state-of-the-art Lord Foster designed terminal building will be enhanced by making better use of existing space and providing passengers with new security facilities and an enlarged departure lounge.

Plane spotting at Heathrow...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9UbpvjVASQ&NR=1&feature=endscreen

Civil aviation regulators in Poland have cleared Warsaw-Modlin Airport to reopen next month. Since the start of 2013, Warsaw-Modlin Airport has been out of action on account of runway repair work.

Los Angeles International Airport's (LAX) newly renovated terminal is expected to provide flying passengers with a myriad of ways to enjoy their terminal time. The newly revamped terminal should fully open its doors in August. Sprawling over 150,000 square feet, the Great Hall in the vast Tom Bradley International Terminal will aid in Los Angeles' posh lifestyle with the outfitting of luxury-oriented boutiques such as Gucci and Hermes among others.

Terminal 2 at Munich's International Airport has reached a milestone. That milestone of having been in existence and operation for 10 years has allowed it to see 225 million passengers pass through it. Terminal 2 – jointly planned, financed and operated by FMG and Lufthansa – was officially opened on June 29, 2003.

Terminal 2 at Munich's International Airport has reached a milestone. That milestone of having been in existence and operation for 10 years has allowed it to see 225 million passengers pass through it. Terminal 2 – jointly planned, financed and operated by FMG and Lufthansa – was officially opened on June 29, 2003.

If you are in the United States then you may soon benefit from a venture that will look to bring FREE Wi-Fi to at least 20 American Airports in the near future. A select group of 20 American airports will soon be providing the service as part of a collaboration with digital advertising firm MediaShift.