Airports, Americas, Asia, Europe, In the News, Weekly

This week: Beijing’s new airport, cancellations at SFO and BOS & more

Wow, we’re back in business as this week has been a super busy one with lots of interesting airport news. So here’s our selection for this week in the overview:

This one has only just come in: According to CBS a storm and “traffic management program” caused flights delayed as long as four hours and 26 minutes at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) on Friday. Seventy-seven departures and 78 arrivals have been canceled, said airport the duty manager and added that delays were about 60 to 90 minutes around midday.

The Standard reported this week from the United Kingdom that a £200 million (US$300 million) expansion of London City airport (LCY) was hailed as a “vital boost to London’s aviation capacity” as it was given planning approval. The local council gave the green light to an extended terminal, a new taxi-way and additional parking stands for larger aircraft at the airport in east London. A new six-storey four-star hotel with up to 260 bedrooms will also be built on site.

Earlier in the week MassLive.com, an online news site for Massachusetts reported that dozens of airlines scheduled to travel from Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) have canceled 250 flights, as of noon Monday. Flights scheduled to arrive in Boston from domestic and international locations have also been canceled as Winter Storm Linus covers Massachusetts communities in a fresh coat of snow.

Back to the British Isles where on Monday the Telegraph reported from Edinburgh Airport (EDI) that a raft of sick days were reportedly taken by employees at the Scottish airport yesterday, marginally jumping the gun by a few hours on the day that has been dubbed National Sickie Day. Passengers were apparently told that almost all of the airport’s security staff members had called in ill, creating a “massive queue” at security after check-in. Some travellers wondered if there was any connection between the Old Firm derby between Celtic and Rangers which took place at the same time as the reported absences:

Zaha Hadid Architects this week unveiled its plans for Beijing’s new Airport terminal building which it says will be the world’s largest (see title image). According to Gizmag it’s early days yet, and the architect hasn’t revealed the exact size of the terminal building, merely stating that it will be the world’s largest. However, Building Design online has reported that the terminal will measure 700,000 sq m (7,534,737 sq ft), and that the entire airport will be completed in 2018, for a total budget of £9 billion (roughly US$13.8 billion).

And to finish the week off something that made us lough. The Bangkok Post reported that a picture of a Chinese tourist’s underwear drying on a chair in the passenger terminal at Chiang Mai airport (CNX) has sparked a sharp warning from tourism authorities that tour agencies should curb such inappropriate behaviour. The image of a pink bra and woman’s black underpants draped over  on the back of a chair at Chiang Mai airport was widely circulated on social media over the weekend, and met mostly with criticism that it was inappropriate.

That’s all for this week – safe travel!

[Title photo of new Beijing Airport terminal design by Zaha Hadid Architects – some rights reserved]