For the last airport news of the year now though, we start with the most recent news which reached us from New Zealand. There CNN’s Breaking News Twittter Account alerted us yesterday of another earthquake in Christchurch only 10 months after the last, devastating 6.4 magnitude quake in February. This time CNN reported that the tremors have injured at least two people and resulted in the closure of the Christchurch airport (IATA: CHC). The airport later reopened and Chief Executive Jim Boult said through the airport’s media release that there has been no damage to the airport’s runways, which are open for landings and departures again.

Over in Europe France made it in to the news on an almost daily basis but this time not because of the Euro crisis, but because of a continued strike by French airport security staff in French airports causing delays at security checks. The strikes started the previous week on Saturday (we wrote about it) and kept continuing. On Wednesday Reuters informed us that the French government threatened to deploy police at airports to ensure that striking security staff do not paralyse flights in the travel rush ahead of the December 25 Christmas holiday and end-of-year festivities.

And finally some great news for our American friends and those who plan travelling to the States in the next few days. The Huffington Post announced on Tuesday that Skype offers free Wi-Fi for travellers at US airports. From December 21 through 27, the company will offer free Wi-Fi to fliers at more than 50 airports across the U.S. The airports participating in the holiday giveaway include New York’s JFK (IATA: JFK) and LaGuardia Airports (IATA: LGA), Boston’s Logan Airport (IATA: BOS), San Francisco International Airport (IATA: SFO) and Chicago’s O’Hare international (IATA: ORD).

With that we would like to leave you with a little festive video from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport (IATA: AMS) and thank all of you for reading LateDeparture throughout 2011. We wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and a Happy New (travel disruption free) Year!

[Photo shows Prague Airport in December 2008, by Flickr - Some rights reserved by Cem K. (iyiinsan); video from Schiphol Airport, all rights reserved]

First up, Edinburgh Airport in Scotland (IATA: EDI) made it into the headlines this week when Scotsman.com reported that 60,000 people were without power on Wednesday night and about 60 passengers were left stranded at the airport after the storms caused havoc to transport, schools and city centres across much of Scotland. In addition, hundreds of air passengers faced disruption after 100 flights were cancelled at Edinburgh and some 45 at Glasgow (IATA: GLA).

2 days earlier, a different kind of environmental impact hit another airport a few thousand miles to the East. The New York Times reported that Capital International Airport in Beijing (IATA: PEK) was forced to cancel hundreds of flights on Monday because of heavy smog and weather conditions. The article concluded that the cancellations were the latest sign that pollution in China’s largest cities, among the worst in the world, is leading to significant economic losses.

In Australia, the two airports of the ever competing cities of Melbourne and Sydney played cat and mouse this week. First the Sydney Morning Herald broke the story that Sydney Airport (IATA: SYD) is proposing a major overhaul under which terminals would be divided by what airline passengers are flying with, rather than where they are travelling to. The story continued by outlining that under the plan, the current domestic terminals would accommodate Qantas, its international partners and Jetstar, and the current international terminal would take Virgin Australia and other international airlines.

Two days later, the Melbourne based newspaper The Age answered Sydney’s challenge with the story that Melbourne Airport (IATA: MEL) is set to expand, with plans to build a $300 million passenger terminal and improve freeway access. And to score the match making goal against its arch rival, the news report said Melbourne is gearing up to have a new interconnected domestic terminal running by mid-2014, a mere 5 years prior to Sydney’s proposed terminal shuffle expected to be completed by 2019.

For the final two stories this week, we travel to the United States. First up was the story from Reno, Nevada where according to FOX News a woman fired about three weeks ago for refusing to load an emaciated hunting dog on a plane at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport (IATA: RNO) is taking her job back. The news said Lynn Jones, who had worked more than five years as a baggage handler for St. Louis-based Airport Terminal Services, accepted her employer’s offer to give her the job back, and said she hopes to put the flap behind her.

And finally to Mr. Alec Baldwin who made headlines this week for getting kicked off a plane at Los Angeles International Airport (IATA: LAX). According to The Scoop the incident happened on Tuesday when Mr. Baldwin boarded an American Airlines flight. In the same article Baldwin’s rep Matthew Hiltzik explained what went down: “Alec was asked to leave the flight for playing ‘Words with Friends’ on his iPad, while parked at the gate. Alec is so in love with ‘Words with Friends’ that he would risk getting thrown off a flight to play. He’s already been re-booked on another American Airlines flight.”
That’s all we have for this week – safe travels everyone!

[Picture from Wikipedia - some rights reserved]

The plane is an A380 from Singapore Airlines and I’m standing right under its left wing between the two Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines. Above me I can see an open wing panel with two large pipes connected to the wing. Beneath all this the comparatively small refuelling truck and Will, a jokingly happy 36 year old Filipino who came to Australia when he was 10, holding what they call the deadman device firmly in his hand.

Refuelling the Singapore bound Airbus A380 with registration 9V-SKI will take Will about an hour. During this time he can’t leave the site, nor can he sit down or do anything other than holding the safety device permanently in his hand not forgetting to let go of the lever every now and then for a brief moment in order to confirm that he is – well – still alive. It’s not a joke, but rather one of a number of cleverly thought through safety features. If he let go of the ‘deadman’ device, the system would immediately stop the refuelling process.

On this sunny Thursday morning the captain of the Singapore flight requested the Airbus to be filled with about 10% more fuel than on other days. Will tells me that’s likely due to anticipated weather patterns that require more fuel en route to Singapore. Fuel orders are radioed to the company’s operation centre, located just outside the airport perimeter. From there the order is directed to an available refuelling truck driver for execution. Sometimes initial orders are provisional only and the drivers fill the planes up to a certain, safe amount before they get the final numbers. But since it can take a long time to refuel (e.g. a Los Angeles bound A380 can take about 2 hours to fill up), getting started with the job is essential for a timely operation.

Earlier in the day another refuelling truck driver, 29-year-old Adam, who is refuelling domestic planes today tells me that it’s not uncommon to see differences in fuel loads on the same route. If a few planes take similar amounts but one requests less, he would notify the flight engineer so that they can double check the numbers, weather patterns and so on. In a way the refuelling guys add another safety layer to the system.

Adam after he finished refuelling the JetStar plane

With Adam who started at 5am this morning and recently relocated from Darwin where he used to work for the competition, I witness the refuelling of a Qantas Link Dash-8. This aircraft type is tricky for the refuelling guys as its fuel panel displays the fuel amount in pounds but the orders come in kilograms and – to make matters worse – the invoice is issued in litres. So again, double-checking the numbers is important and a little math affinity goes a long way in this job. The system of course has redundancy checks in place and at the end of each refuelling job the flight engineers check the numbers and sign the receipt.

The panel of a Dash-8 Q400 series

A little later I have lunch with the self proclaimed aviation super nerd Bruce, 43, who got introduced to the job through a friend in 2005 back in Sydney. Bruce who has a pilot license himself is in charge of training up the newbies and making sure procedures are followed to the letter. He says this is his dream job because he gets to work around planes all day long. When it’s safe and he has a moment, Bruce will take every opportunity to photograph and write about the planes at the airport. His Flickr collection is impressive.

But Bruce isn’t just running around taking pictures of planes. His experience and extensive knowledge makes him what you would call the libero in soccer for the operation as he is filling in the gaps where and when needed. He tells me his employer has about 40 staff, 17 trucks and runs a 24-hour operation in Melbourne. With that they go through about 4 Million litres of A1 Jet Fuel per day.

Happily chatting away, we suddenly get a radio call with an order to refuel a Qantas Boeing 747-438/ER. The VH-OEH registered plane only ordered a small amount of fuel because it will be flying empty to Sydney as part of a relocation flight. In this business a small amount is relative though, the amount of fuel ordered would still fill about 400 cars.

When we get to the Jumbo Bruce positions the truck right under its wing, secures the area around the truck with traffic cones, connects the anti static device then links the pipes to the ground outlet before connecting it up to the wing. He then checks the fuel panel on the aircraft, enters the total required fuel load and starts the refuelling itself.  Most aircraft handle inflow distribution to the various tanks automatically but sometimes manual adjustments are needed in order to make sure the load is evenly distributed.

After the desired amount is filled, Bruce disconnects the pipes from the wings, closes the panel, removes the ground pipe and static device, prints the receipt and gets the engineer to sign it before removing the traffic cones. He then radios the operations centre for getting the details of the next job.

Bruce and his truck before going to his next task

For me it is the end of the day. Before I leave I need to ask Bruce one last burning question: where do the refuelling trucks get refilled? He laughs and points to a small diesel pump on the edge of the car park where the refuelling trucks are parked.

[All pictures except the one of the Dash-8 fuel panel are copyright LateDeparture; Dash-8 Fuel Panel is copyright BruceK68]

With the US Thanksgiving long-weekend only days away, headlines about airports preparing frantically for a storm of passengers keep increasing on a daily basis. One particular airport caught our attention though: Los Angeles International (IATA: LAX). The Los Angeles Times wrote that shortages of customs and immigration agents have been causing significant delays for thousands of travelers, forcing them to wait on their planes or stand in line for up to three hours before being processed.

Over in Singapore, Changi Airport (IATA: SIN) makes it into the LateDeparture headlines for a second time this week. The first time was when we wrote about their noble efforts of teaming up with Singapore Polytech to provide a real-world experience for students through SPELL, a retail store wholly run by students (read the full story here). The second time isn’t quite so rosy. The Sydney Morning Herald wrote about a Hong Kong Airlines Airbus 330 flight carrying 159 passengers that had been delayed in Singapore for almost nine hours due to a technical fault and a fracas between two groups of passengers which left an old Chinese women with an injured hand. The story continued when the furious Chinese passengers refused to leave the same plane at Hong Kong airport (IATA: HKG) for several hours until they were paid compensation for flight delays. Accused with mishandling the situation in Singapore, Changi Airport responded with an official statement saying “while the passengers were awaiting updates from the airline on their flight arrangements, Changi Airport worked with the airline’s ground handling agent, SATS, to facilitate meal arrangements for the affected passengers. Customer service agents were also deployed to provide assistance such as distributing mineral water to passengers and assisting them in checking on alternative flights to Hong Kong. Airport police officers were also present to assist with crowd control.”

Over in Australia Boeing made some dream headlines this week when its new 787 Dreamliner visited Sydney and Melbourne for the very first time ever. LateDeparture was lucky enough to witness the landing in Melbourne – watch the video on YouTube.

Crossing back to the Northern Hemisphere, in the United Kingdom Passenger Terminal Today wrote that the new-look North Terminal at Gatwick Airport (IATA: LGW) was officially opened by former Prime Minister John Major following the completion of the £73 million (US$115.5 million) project to extend the building to accommodate 20 million passengers per year by 2020.

And finally we finish with a bit of technology news coming from Russia. According to the Wall Street Journal Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport  (IATA: SVO) will launch a service it says will be the first in the world — video flight check-in via Skype. The airport forecasts that between 15% and 20% of all the passengers will be using the Internet-based video phone service.

Have a great week everyone and remember to follow us on Twitter for all the latest up-to-date stories during the week.

[Photo from Flickr - Some rights reserved by cobalt123]

Then in other news this week, Canada’s airports caught our attention twice: First up was Canada’s 8th busiest (and probably the one with the longest name), Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport (IATA: YWG). This week the airport unveiled its new 51,000 square-meter terminal replacing the 46 year old former structure. In a Winnipeg Sun article Barry Rempel, president and CEO of Winnipeg Airports Authority, called the day “momentous.”

The second Canadian news was a bit less serious but surely equally if not more interesting: Over in Vancouver, 29 year old Jaeger Mah finished his 80 day stay at Vancouver International airport (IATA: YVR). The Canadian won the gig in an airport contest to mark its 80th year. Read the full story in our feature report from Friday: 80 days at the airport without flying anywhere.

The other side of North America also had its news moment this week when during the last days of October an unprecedented winter storm hit the east coast. According to the L.A. Times, power outages were affecting more than 2.3 million residents and businesses from Maryland to Massachusetts, including more than half a million in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. As you can imagine, airports across the region were also severely affected. MSNBC.com quoted the tracking site Flightaware.com which reported nearly 600 flights to Northeastern airports canceled, including destinations such as Philadelphia (IATA: PHL), New York (IATA: JFK), Newark (IATA: EWR), Boston (IATA: BOS) and others.

And finally we received note from a remote area where over 2,000 tourists got stranded due to bad weather: the Himalayan or more precisely Tenzing-Hillary Airport (IATA: LUA) in Lukla, Nepal. According to the Indian Express, the foreign tourists, most of them from the US, UK and Germany have been stranded near a Mount Everest base camp for the last six days facing a shortage of food and medicines. Authorities had to close the only airstrip serving Lukla due to bad weather.

Have a great new, delay-free week, everyone!

[Picture from Wikipedia - some rights reserved]

When you get past the fairly efficient passport control, the international terminal presents itself as a large but light-filled structure facing the runways. The first shop that presents itself to you is a large-ish duty free shop with a fairly good range of all the usual stuff. You then discover a semi-circled walkway on either side of this shop leading to additional stores that range from Sunglass Hut or Rip Curl to more unique outlets like the Rainbow Serpent. Then on either end of the walkways you’ll get to food and beverage outlets. On one side you find the Moreton Bay Ale House (yes, it’s a pub) and several fast food outlets. On the other side there’s Coffee Club and a few others.

Because my flight to Papua New Guinea received a two hour delay that day, it left me with plenty of time to explore the airport. It could have even been more time hadn’t Coffee Club been flooded with passengers that morning. With my coffee at hand I then got slightly more adventurous and discovered the airport offered more than just the usual things you see at every airport: at Brissie you also find some interesting art on display and even free wifi if you know where to go to. First, the art is displayed in form of two large sculptures by Stephen Killick (partially pictured above) on either side of the large glass-sided part of the terminal towards the gates. It’s well worth looking at it for a moment! Secondly, the free wifi, even though this really is a cheeky one, can be found in front of the Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer lounge as was helpfully pointed out by one Foursquare tipper.

Overall, here are my usual top “time wasting” tips:

• Check the departure board and uncover some unusual destinations (e.g. ever heard of Honiara?)
• Shop for some last Australiana at the “Around Australia” store next to the pub (e.g. they offer a neat Qantas plane toy kit)
• R.M. Williams is the store to go for your true Aussie outdoor hinterland kit
• Buy (or just look at) an original, certified Aboriginal canvas painting at the “Rainbow Serpent” store
• Get up to date on your emails by using the cheeky free wifi in front of the KrisFlyer Singapore airlines lounge
• And if you then must, use the smoker’s balcony behind the Coffee Club for that one last drag before your flight (well if this isn’t a time wasting activity, then I really don’t know!!)

Airport Name	Brisbane Airport – International Terminal
Website	http://bne.com.au/
IATA Code	BNE
Design
Shopping
Toilets
Overall
	AUD 175
	AUD 65.99

[Picture by LateDeparture - all rights reserved]

The airport overall is split up into 2 terminals: international and domestic. In all fairness, the domestic terminal is actually quite frequented by locals even though airfares to fly within PNG are high as I was told by local expats. However, flying is oftentimes the only way of getting to another town as roads are bad and sometimes even nonexistent.

But let’s get back to the international terminal: While you are advised not to walk around Port Moresby unless accompanied by a local and definitely never at night, the airport feels save with plenty of guards who only allow travelers into the terminal building. Having said that, the sound of the alarm from the metal detector upon terminal entry didn’t seem to bother the guards when we entered. Luckily there is another, more serious security check before you get to the airside area.

After you checked in, don’t expect to find many shops within the terminal building. However, there are a few places you can spend some time at. Here our suggestions:

• If you have a lot of time before your flight and have a car, go to the “Airways Hotel”. It’s on a hill only a few kilometers from the airport and offers all the facilities you’d want including a supervised children’s area, a restaurant and a fantastic view down towards the airport. It even features an old Air Niugini DC3 which was converted to an internet cafe (see photo).
• In the terminal: go on a bargain hunt and buy locally produced coffee and vanilla seed pots (you are allowed to bring both into Australia as long as they are properly sealed)
• Buy postcards, flags or other souvenirs from one of the small shops before immigration
• In the same area, visit the Melanesian gift shop (PNG is part of Oceania’s sub-region “Melanesia”) or the jewelry shop which has more than just shiny objects: for example, you will there also find the typical, local bags called “Bilum”
• Grab a last SP, SP gold, Ice Beer or Export in the Airport Café (they have non-alcoholic beverages as well as some snacks too)
• After entering the airside area, you’re restricted to one small souvenir and duty-free shop (you can also buy duty free before immigration and get it sent to your gate) and a tiny snack bar. On one of the walls there is, however, a nice infograph of the famous , 96km long Kokoda track which is well worth spending a few minutes looking at. Who knows you might get some ideas for your next trip to Papua New Guinea?

Airport Name	Jacksons International Airport
Website	n/a
IATA Code	POM
Design
Shopping
Toilets
Overall

[Picture from LateDeparture - all rights reserved]

This week for me has certainly been one surrounded by planes. However, it didn’t involve any flying. Puzzled? Alright, let me fill you in: I visited the 2011 Avalon International Airshow on 3 days. Where is Avalon? Glad you ask – Avalon (IATA: AVV) is a small regional airport about 60km South of Melbourne, Australia’s second largest city. Every other year Avalon hosts Australia’s largest International Airshow attracting Hundreds of Thousands of public and hundreds of industry & trade visitors from around the country and abroad. While I was hoping for a lot more civil aircraft demonstrations, the airshow otherwise lived up to the motto of “feel the power”: From a jet-engine-equipped glider, the always impressive Mustangs to the newest Royal Australian Air Force plane, the F/A-18F Super Hornet, if it had an engine and made a lot of noise, it was on display. My favourite bit though was the transport aircraft C27-J Spartan (pictured) flown by the Italian Air Force performing jaw-dropping manoeuvres and even included a roll!

Outside of my airshow runs, the week was dominated by the BA bed bugs story and the interview with Zane Selkirk I published on Monday. LateDeparture subsequently received additional web hits, quite a few comments and even a handful tips on how to avoid those nasty creatures altogether. One of those tips suggested to use a product that according to the manufacturer’s website is “the clean, green, non-toxic way to eliminate bedbugs, deer ticks, and other arthropods”. For other tips, I urge you to (re-)read Zane’s website and the follow-up comments from her readers.

Other aviation news this week were rather boring if you ask me: there was Tulsa International Airport (IATA: TUL) that launched its own rewards program,  USA Today writing about the Top 10 airport restaurants in the US (actually, this one is not that boring! I might even try their recommendation for LAX, “Encounter at LAX” next week when I’m there and compare notes…) or the reminder from London City Airport (IATA: LCY) that it won’t be affected by a potential industrial action (read: strike).

That’s it for this week. Next week you’ll see the part 2 of the LAX research I started before I actually fly there for real. Stay tuned and have a good week!

[Photo by LateDeparture - all rights reserved]

I’ve been in two minds over reviewing this airport. On one hand, Cairns is only the 7^th busiest airport in Australia and can I highly doubt anyone outside of Australia can actually name 7 cities on this continent, or am I wrong? But then for comparison, the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Dallas Houston [corrected; apologies for the mistake], Texas (IATA: IAH) is the US 7^th busiest airport and I’d certainly wouldn’t hesitate writing about that one.

Cairns also has recently been in the international news with the incredibly scary category 5 cyclone Yasi hitting the area on the 3^rd February. The airport subsequently shut for more than a day but luckily didn’t suffer any major damage.

On the other hand, and on a more personal note, Cairns is special to me as it has been my first port of call when I came to Australia for the very first time years ago. I subsequently went back there a number of times as it’s a really nice little city in Far North Queensland. Cairns is also one of the main gateways to the magnificent Great Barrier Reef and with that an important airport for thousands of tourists.

The airport (IATA: CNS) operates an International and a Domestic terminal which are about 200m apart from each other. My review focuses on the Domestic terminal which has just been completed after a AU$200 Million redevelopment.

My very first impression of the terminal wasn’t very good but this had not much to do with the actual terminal, it was because the rental car return signs were inconsistent and partially missing altogether making your way to the drop zone ridiculously very confusing. The actual terminal is pleasant, even though it slightly resembles an over-sized tin shed. Outside, there are a few excellent sculptures (see photo) and inside, the terminal building is light and airy. Furthermore, it even features an air-side outdoor area which means you can continue to enjoy the warm, tropical climate, if that’s your thing, even after you’ve  passed through security. This is also a welcome change for smokers who can find a separate smoking corner in that area too.

Inside there are a few shops and cafes and all look still very new. The one thing I couldn’t quite understand is why the shops closed before all flights left. Could this have to do with the very relaxed attitude of the people who live that far north? Anyway, overall I enjoyed the experience and will certainly come back. Maybe more because of the reef than the airport though. But that’s an unfair comparison. Really.

Finally, here are my favourite things to do:

• Go to the Coffee Club and try a piece of date & honey loaf. How good is it?!!
• Play with the latest toy for little and not so little boys: buy a “Hexbug” at the Newslink store while… (continue reading the next bullet point…)
• Girls, enjoy browsing through the latest Ugg boot styles at the “Purely Merino” store
• Shop for your last souvenirs at the “Discover Australia Store”. My favourites are the fridge magnets; they stockthe classic super tacky style we all know and love plus a great range of uber modern ones.
• And finally, have a look at the wonderful Australian photographs exhibited in the Ric J. Steininger Photography Gallery

Airport Name	Cairns Domestic Terminal
Website	http://www.cairnsairport.com.au
IATA Code	CNS
Design
Shopping
Toilets
Overall
	no duty-free available in the domestic terminal
	no duty-free available in the domestic terminal

[Picture from LateDeparture - all rights reserved]

Luckily we won’t have to wait for the expensive dinner to finish (a table for 10 costs a whopping $35,000) to know the winners were already released a few weeks ago. Here they are:

Airline Of the Year:
Emirates Airline

Regional Airline Of the Year:
Air Nostrum Iberia Regional

Aviation Technology Achievement:
GE Aviation GE90

Passenger Service:
Virgin America

Market Leadership:
Turkish Airlines

Airline Technology Leadership:
Alaska Airlines

Phoenix Award:
Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings

Nothing overly surprising here. Emirates has already won countless awards, yet personally I don’t think it’s the best airline out there. You do have to give them credits for their financial achievements and their oftentimes leading approach in customer service and innovation which is then later copied by other airlines. My favourite is the Phoenix award as it “acknowledging airlines that have gone through a life-changing transformation”. This year, Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings wins this price for its highly successful turnaround to achieve consistent profitability and operational reliability. Since they are a cargo airline, I can’t add any further colour to that. My apologies

Here’s the ATW’s full press release:

EMIRATES NAMED AIRLINE OF THE YEAR BY AIR TRANSPORT WORLD MAGAZINE

NEW YORK, NY (January 18, 2011) – Penton Media’s Air Transport World®, the leading monthly magazine covering the global airline industry, announced the selection of Emirates Airline as its Airline of the Year for 2011. The Dubai, UAE-based carrier is being honored for its strong commitment to safety and operational excellence, its trendsetting customer service and its superb financial performance including a 22-year consecutive annual profit streak.

Since launching service in 1985, Emirates has grown into one of the largest and most dynamic airlines in the world and has transformed Dubai into a major connecting hub for global air travel. It is also a leader in developing flexible air routings that save fuel and reduce CO2 emissions.

The editors noted that Emirates was the first airline to introduce personal seatback entertainment units and the first to enable passengers to make authorized onboard mobile phone calls. Its Airbus A380s feature showers for first class passengers.
The editors selected Spain’s Air Nostrum as the Regional Airline of the Year, citing its superb safety record and longstanding commitment to delivering excellent customer service. The editors applauded Air Nostrum’s sterling financial performance including 13 consecutive years of profitability through 2008 as it grew to become Europe’s second-largest independent regional airline. Additionally, the editors were impressed by Air Nostrum’s swift and decisive response to the 2009 downturn in the Spanish economy that has positioned the carrier for renewed success going forward.

The Aviation Technology Achievement Award was presented to GE Aviation for the development of the GE90, the world’s most powerful aircraft engine family and the exclusive powerplant for Boeing’s largest and longest-range versions of the 777. As the first commercial powerplant to feature a composite fan blade, the GE90 broke new ground in engine technology and is among the most fuel efficient and reliable engines in service today. The 115,000-lb. thrust version of the GE90 has no equal in the world.
Virgin America received the Passenger Service Award. Since launching service in 2007, the San Francisco-based airline has raised the bar for passenger service in North America with its stylish, high-tech product featuring leather seats and cabin mood lighting. Passengers can enjoy 18 channels of live TV, up to 30 on-demand pay per view movies, Wi-Fi and a music library containing 3,000 MP3s. They can order food from their seats via their interactive video screens.

Turkish Airlines received the Market Leadership Award. The Istanbul-based airline has taken full advantage of its hub astride the historic East-West trade routes to become Europe’s fastest growing network airline and among the world’s most profitable carriers, with income of $370 million in 2009. Earnings through the first nine months of 2010 totaled $169 million. The airline’s route network covers 169 destinations, up from 101 in 2003.

The Phoenix Award, acknowledging airlines that have gone through a life-changing transformation, was presented to Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings for its highly successful turnaround to achieve consistent profitability and operational reliability. Even as the global air cargo market severely contracted in 2009, Atlas boosted net income 22%, following a strategy focused on cost-cutting and operating efficiency rather than sheer size.

For the second time, Seattle-based Alaska Airlines was selected to receive the Airline Technology Leadership Award owing to its extensive track record of innovation in cockpit, safety and customer service technology and systems, such as Required Navigation Performance and the Airport of the Future in Anchorage and Seattle that has led to dramatic reductions in passenger check-in times.

The awards will be presented on February 8 in Washington, D.C., at ATW’s gala dinner and celebration at the Renaissance Hotel. Further information about the award winners is available in the February issue of ATW and at www.atwonline.com.
Air Transport World (www.ATWOnline.com) is the leading monthly magazine serving the airline and commercial aircraft manufacturing and support industries. It launched its awards program in 1974. ATW is published by Penton Media.

[Photo from Emirates]