International Airport News

Mexican woman found to be living in Cancun Airport for a week

A woman has been found living at Mexico's Cancun Airport for over a week, according to officials. The Mexican lady arrived at the seaside resort on a flight from the US on June 30, and has not since left the terminal. Apparent while officials were carrying out a 'routine inspection', the woman was found to be carrying a Mexican passport with the name Marcela Silvia Montano Mancera on it. Authorities are baffled as to why she hasn't headed home after arriving. While Marcela Silvia Montano Mancera cannot be arrested because she has her passport and has not committed a crime, Federal Police officers are keeping an eye on her.

Most on time and most delayed international airports?

Looks like Beijing's airport turned up last on a list of international airports rated for on-schedule performance. 18.3 percent of commercial passenger services departing on time. This was followed by Shanghai Pudong International Airport, with a not much better on-time departure score of 28.72 percent out of 35 major international hubs. Tokyo's Haneda topped the charts with an on-time performance score of 95.04 percent.

Heathrow is exploring options of creating a third full-length runway perhaps just under 11,500-feet long. The new runway option is aimed at trying to remedy the airport's additional capacity problem. If done, it would be located off to the west of the airport and would help cut noise by raising the height of the glidepath over the city.

This year's increase in flights has helped O'Hare International in Chicago reduce the lead with the current number 1, in Atlanta at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. If the trend continues, O'Hare may win back the title of the "world's busiest airport". O'Hare has not seen that coveted title since 2005. Atlanta processed 453,000 landings and takeoffs, while O'Hare handled 426,800, according to a preliminary FAA totals.

Man in wheelchair detonates device at Beijing Airport

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-23388448

London Gatwick's operator has put forward a serious proposal for the construction of a parallel second runway, to the south of the airport, which -if approved- could open in 2025. The cost for such a runway would be in the region of $7.5-13.6 billion.

Man caught with 146 bars of gold in plastic bag

A man has been arrested after customs officials discovered 17-kilograms of gold in his bag, at Chittagong's Shah Amanat International Airport. Mir Mohammad Shahnewaz Morshed was going to Dhaka from Muscat, Oman when he arrived at Chittagong on a United Airways flight at about 9:30AM to connect to another flight.

According to the Assistant Commissioner of Chittagong's airport customs, Sushanta Pal, Morshed was the only passenger heading to Dhaka via the airport. After behaving suspiciously on board the aircraft, the airline's crew passed him over to customs officials.

Change is coming to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The nation’s air traffic control system is getting a much-needed overhaul, transitioning from an outdated system based on radar to one that relies on GPS.

Appropriately, the overhaul is called NextGen, and it’s designed to meet the future demands of the nation’s growing air traffic. NextGen is at the core of the FAA’s plans to accommodate an estimated 50 percent growth in air traffic projected over the next decade.

Under the current system, planes are guided to their destinations through a series of handoffs from one regional control tower to another. Radar can take up to 36 seconds to provide an accurate read on a plane’s position. This may seem like an eternity considering the distance a plane covers when travelling at 500 miles per hour. As a result, air traffic controllers must guide planes with conservative buffer zones of 5 miles between planes in the air and 3 miles on landings.

http://allthingsnav.navigation.com/article/faa-switching-radar-gps?utm_campaign=Q32013&utm_medium=media&utm_source=outbrain

There was a bit of a scare recently at Florida's Opa Locka Executive Airport. It was partially evacuated after depleted uranium supplies were discovered on site. The uranium was found inside an unsealed drum along with redundant aircraft parts and hazardous materials handlers were quickly on the scene. They later reported that only a limited radiation level had been observed but not before officials had imposed a 150 foot-wide exclusion zone around the uranium drum.

The Transportation Safety Administration commonly known as the TSA is offering an $85 pass and a background check. In effect this may well exclude you from the embarrassing security check and uncomfortable pat-down. Starting in Autumn, 2013, persons may fill in an online application, providing verified ID, surrendering your fingerprints and writing a $85 check for the federal agency. If it works, after a 2 or 3 week period, you will receive a "Known Traveller Number". This can be input every time you book a flight, and is valid for five years.

Apparently, the leader of North Korea is planning to build a new commercial airport from an existing military one. The project would cost some 200 million if it is indeed to go ahead. If the South China Morning Post is to be believed A Hong Kong-based architecture and planning firm will take on the large project and transform the military airport to a commercial type.

Greek civil aviation workers plan to disrupt flights for three days next week in protest at government plans to fire 300 airport staff, their union said on Friday.

Aéroports de la Côte d’Azur (ACA) announced that it has acquired some 99.9% of shares of AGST (Saint-Tropez Airport), previously owned by the Reybier group for the past 15 years. ACA ranks second in French commercial traffic after Aéroports de Paris (Roissy-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly) with 11.2 million passengers in 2012, and is the second French airport for Business Aviation traffic after Paris-Le Bourget with over 42,500 movements in 2012.

Another record for Dubai International Airport (DXB)

Dubai International’s passenger traffic hit 32.6 million in the first half of this year, making it the busiest six months in the airport’s record-studded history, according to the traffic report issued today by airport operator Dubai Airports.

Here is a look at the work currently going on at the Argyle International Airport, situated in Argyle on the south-east side of St. Vincent, in the Caribbean. If you do not know where it is, it is 100 miles West of Barbados or about half that south of St. Lucia. The Argyle International Airport is being built to replace their outdated and small airport in Arnos Vale.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zpgyW-mhQfs

Here is something interesting coming out from New Zealand. In what is being termed a world-first, Auckland's Airport is trialling biosecurity that uses x-ray pictures to vet airline luggage before it makes its way into New Zealand. Passengers travelling with Air New Zealand to Auckland, NZ from Melbourne, AUS, will have their baggage x-rayed by aviation security before they leave and the biosecurity will assess them on the other side, all before the plane touches down. If on examining the transferred images, a bag is discovered to pose a biosecurity risk, the relevant travellers will be matched up and further questioned after their journey ends. So I believe it is all about early-warning detection.

Apparently I have been hearing that a large fire hit the Kenyatta airport in Nairobi, Kenya...delaying alot of people. Will...check on this.

More on the consequences of this fire....

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/07/business/kenyan-airport-fire-disrupts-billion-dollar-transport-hub/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

A NetJets operated Cessna Citation Sovereign had an accident at the Robert L. Bradshaw Airport in St. Kitts (Caribbean) this morning. Somehow it got away from where it was parked and rolled down a grassy slope stopping just short of the perimeter fence. From what I can see in photos taken by friends on the island, the nose-gear looks twisted 90-degrees and some other minor damage. Investigations are going on.

http://www.labourspokesman.com/newsitem.asp?more=local&NewsID=7366

Some international flights have resumed service at Nairobi’s international airport one day after fire gutted the arrivals hall. The Nairobi airport is a regional hub serving more than 16,000 passengers daily and its closure caused widespread disruption.