International Airport News

The bizarre fatal crash of a Cessna 172 at Nashville International Airport (KBNA) that went undetected for up to six hours took another strange twist when the pilot turned out to be a convicted Canadian bank robber.

Atlantic Airways announces its return to Stansted

Atlantic Airways, the Faroe Island based airline, has decided to move its UK flight operations back to Stansted and will launch new direct services on 5th June 2014.

DFW was named the favorite airport of business travelers in a recent survey conducted by USA Today.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=755926404434094&set=a.122819071078167.18752.122783807748360&type=1&theater

More than 400 tortoises were found by surprise at a major airport in Thailand on 7 November 2013. The reptiles were discovered in a pair of bags that had been discarded on Suvarnabhumi Airport's luggage carousel, officials have reported.

Judging the two bags to be exceptionally weighty, the officials concerned carried out x-ray scans and established that, inside them, were no less than 423 radiated tortoises, along with some 50 other types of tortoise or turtle. Native to Madagascar, radiated tortoises are classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). (AI)

A day in the life of Atlanta's International Airport.

http://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2013/11/travel/atl24/?sr=fb112113atlairport5p

I know some of you out ther are into the various international airports around and you might very well be interested in what new airports are currently competing for the title of largest.

http://gizmodo.com/6-new-mega-airports-that-will-compete-for-the-worlds-b-1470892771?utm_campaign=socialflow_gizmodo_facebook&utm_source=gizmodo_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

A theft at Russia's second-largest airport saw camouflaged armed robbers snatch $2.7 million from a passenger on 27 November 2013. The Russian airport robbery occurred at Sheremetyevo International, at 0700hrs local time. According to local news reports, the man involved had recently arrived at Sheremetyevo International Airport from Istanbul, Turkey.

Tales from a Control Tower...

http://edition.cnn.com/video/?/video/living/2013/11/05/natpkg-orig-atl24-tower.cnn&video_referrer=#/video/living/2013/11/05/natpkg-orig-atl24-tower.cnn

Birmingham Airport has announced a new partnership with a Chinese travel specialist, in a bid to attract more Chinese visitors to the region. The partnership with Caissa forms part of the wider ‘China Welcome Campaign’ being launched by VisitBritain, the national tourism body, which aims to make the UK the most welcoming destination in the world for Chinese visitors.

The founding partners of the campaign include some of the UK’s leading tourism and consumer brands such as Hilton, EasyJet, Harrods and John Lewis. Birmingham, Manchester and London are the only destinations to have signed up to become founding partners of the new agreement.

UK air travel is now back in full swing after the nation's key air traffic control centre experienced technical problems. The airports affected included London Heathrow, Glasgow, Cardiff, Dublin and Stansted after NATS' facility in Swanwick suffered what the group termed 'difficulty switching from night time to daytime operation'.

Officials in China have instructed pilots flying into Beijing's hazy airports to ensure they're appropriately-qualified in instrument landing system use. Referencing the Chinese civil aviation regulator, the China Daily reports that, from 1 January onwards, only ILS-qualified pilots will be allowed into the Chinese capital's major airports on days when visibility is 400 metres or less.

More foggy news...

Flight operations at India's busiest airport have been severely affected by fog, with sub-50m meter visibility causing some 140 flight diversions and delays. Passengers have had to endure waits of up to three hours while waiting for conditions at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International to improve.

British Airways says...

As a result of a power failure at Gatwick North, we have delays to flights & some shorthaul cancellations.

This is the height of madness!

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-incidents/outraged-indonesian-official-orders-runway-blocked-after-merpati-nusantara-airlines-refuses-to-give-him-a-seat-20131224-2zv8v.html

Yet another U.S airport breach...

http://news.yahoo.com/man-climbs-fence-phoenix-airport-runs-plane-143037280.html?vp=1

Helsinki Airport celebrated as the airport’s annual passenger volume increased to a record-breaking 15 million. At the same time, the airport is preparing to reach the 20 million passenger landmark. "Reaching the magical 15 million passenger milestone is a significant accomplishment for us. The positive development of passenger volumes shows that we have done good work to promote a smooth travelling experience in cooperation with airlines and our other partners," says Helsinki Airport director Ville Haapasaari at Finavia. The 15th millionth passenger arrived on Thursday afternoon, 19 December. He was travelling from Amsterdam to Shanghai. His name is Jiayang Zhuo.

Dubai International, the world’s second busiest international hub, is set to surpass the traffic forecast for the year, as the airport recorded another month of high growth this November, according to the monthly traffic report issued by Dubai Airports.

With traffic in November reaching 5,337,544, up 9.5 per cent compared to 4,875,003 in the corresponding period in 2012, the airport has registered 12 consecutive months with monthly traffic exceeding 5 million passengers. The year to date (November) totalled 60,384,407 passengers compared with 52,363,589 recorded during the same period last year, an increase of 15.3 per cent.

German Drivers In Glasgow Airport Security Breach

A recent security incident at Glasgow Airport, Scotland, saw German holidaymakers enter the airport's live-side, after managing to drive beyond its North Gate checkpoint. Apparently, the visitors told the Glasgow Airport security that they were not trying to breach the airport's infrastructure. They continued to say that they were only heading to nearby Loch Lomond and were innocently following their satnav's driving instructions precisely and somehow led them onto the wrong side of the airport premisses.

US airport gun seizures soared 20 per cent between 2012 and 2013, newly-published figures show. The gun captures peaked at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, where 110 firearms were confiscated throughout the year. However, if the figures across the United States airport framework were assessed, the firearm seizure rate averaged out at five per day, according to the Medill National Security Journalism Initiative's repor. Totally there were more than 1,800 confiscations which represents a total that has risen for the third year in a row. However, the last years 20 per cent year-on-year increase was the biggest leap so far creating a big cause for concern.

A look at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in India...

http://www.airport-technology.com/projects/chhatrapati/