Events

Earthquake: Oakland Int’l Airport OK, Napa County Airport not

Events,

Clean-up is still underway in the wake of the 6.0 magnitude earthquake that shook the Bay Area early Sunday morning, causing at least two hundred injuries, power outages for thousands of customers and damage to many buildings.

In a tweet, officials at the Port of Oakland reported that the South Napa Earthquake (it already has a name), which had its epicenter about 9 miles south of Napa, did no damage to the Oakland International Airport.

Capture

But damage was sustained at the Napa County Airport.

“The earthquake blew out most of the windows in the Napa air traffic control tower and the facility is unusable,” said Ian Gregor, the Pacific Division spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration. “It could take several weeks to get new windows manufactured and installed.”

Gregor said while there is no obvious damage to the structure, “We will have an engineering assessment done to ensure it is safe. We are also working to secure the equipment inside to prevent it from being damaged by wind or other weather.”

Gregor added that for now the airport will operate as it does when the control tower is closed at night.

“Pilots will get takeoff and landing clearances from Oakland Center, and communicate with each other on the uniform airport frequency to broadcast their positions and intentions,” he said.

He added that efforts are underway to set up a temporary tower to Napa until the permanent tower is repaired and explained that controllers use temporary towers, “which are small cabs on the top of trailers,” at some air shows, while helping out with wildfire fighting operations, and when a permanent tower at a general aviation airport is unusable due to damage or refurbishment or modernization.

(My story about the South Napa Earthquake first appeared on USA TODAY)

Reno-Tahoe Int’l Airport ready for Burning Man fans

Events, Festivals, ,

Burning Man Mini Man at Reno-Tahoe Airport
Burning Man 2014 runs from August 25 through September 1 and Reno-Tahoe International Airport is ready to welcome the more than 15,000 “Burners” who will be flying in to attend the festival.

The airport welcomes the Burnes with a welcome area set up in the Baggage Claim to dispense travel information, an eight-foot-tall Mini-Man in the terminal and an art exhibit courtesy of Black Rock Arts Foundation in the depARTures Gallery, which is on the second floor.

Burning Man is the single largest annual event to pass through the airport and has a big impact on the airport’s bottom line: Burners spend more than $10 million on airline tickets, car rentals and on food and gifts in the airport’s restaurants and retail shops.

burning-man-display-courtesy-weststudio

Customer Appreciation Week at Lambert-St. Louis Airport

Airports, Events,

STL - luggage tags

Here’s a great new trend at airports: Customer Appreciation Week.

From May 4-10, Lambert-St. Louis International Airport will be celebrating passengers with a wide variety of events, giveaways and appearances.

There will be a “selfie station” in the baggage claim with large photo backdrops where travelers can have photos of themselves pretending to climb the Gateway Arch or petting a sea lion from the Saint Louis Zoo. Those who tweet their selfies (#STLfies) have a chance of winning a pair of St. Louis Cardinals baseball tickets.

Monday and Tuesday, assorted local mascots and characters will be making appearances in both Terminals 1 and 2, including Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny from Six Flags, Fredbird from the St. Louis Cardinals, Rampage from the St. Louis Rams and Louie from the St. Louis Blues.

Wednesday is Airlines Day, when airlines will be handing out candy and other surprises at the gates and all week there will live music events in both terminals.

Have fun!

Delta rolls beverage carts into city streets

Events, Free Stuff, ,

Not content with simply spicing up their in-flight safety video this holiday season, Delta Air Lines has made its beverage cart the star of a new music video in which flight attendants and pilots team up with musicians and performance artists for a tune that makes use of seatbelts, cups, spoons and other familiar, and usually less theatrical, in-flight items.

The airline is also taking the carts off planes and into city streets.

Through Dec. 21, Delta flight attendants and pilots will be bringing the “Cheer Carts” to popular locations in New York City, Seattle, Atlanta and Los Angeles, along with live music and complimentary treats, including coffee, those tasty Biscoff cookies and assorted giveaway items.

For exact locations and hours, check Facebook.com/Delta or follow @delta on Twitter.

World Kindness Day – at the airport

Events

November 13 is World Kindness Day.

You’re kind everyday, I’m sure, but today is a good day to be especially mindful of doing something nice for someone else. Here are some ideas. from the Random Acts of Kindness folks.

Some airports are doing their part to mark the day.

World Kindness Day

At airports in Munich, Rome, Paris and Lyons, France, daisies and gummi bears are being handed out to travelers by the volunteer Airport Helpers who help travelers find their way everyday.

Austin airport revs up for US Formula 1 Grand Prix

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Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas, United States of America. Sunday 18th November 2012. World Copyright:Andrew Ferraro/LAT Photographic ref: Digital Image _79P7324

Austin is hosting the United States Formula 1 Grand Prix again this year and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is revved up and ready to deal with the crowds that will begin arriving on Wednesday, November 13.

On deck: everything from extra customer service representatives in “Feel the Rush” t-shirts to special post-race live music send-offs and a race-specific website.

LAX will open new TBIT Terminal on Sept 18, 2013

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LAX GATE 134

Gate 134 at LAX TBIT. Photo by harriet baskas

Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) has announced that September 18th will be the first day of flight operations at the new $1.9 billion Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT).

City officials will be on hand for the festivities, which mark the completion of Phase I of the project and include 18 new boarding gates designed to accommodate larger, new-generation aircraft such as Airbus A380 and Boeing 747-8. Phase I also includes new shopping and dining outlets, a children’s play area, a spa and other passenger amenities.

Kick off of the event is scheduled for 1 pm with the welcome of the first arriving flight. But which flight is a bit, uh, up in the air.

“We have the possibility of two different airlines arriving at the 1 pm time-frame,” said Nancy Castles, spokeswoman for Los Angeles World Airports, “However, we also have a B-747-8 at 12:45 a.m. and a B-787 at 1:30 pm. So, depending upon whether or not the A380s actually arrive on time, we may change to the other new-generation aircraft from Boeing. Who knows whether the airlines and the tailwinds cooperate that day.”

And there’s a bit of mystery to the festivities themselves. In preparation for the party, the airport asked the public for ideas on how to celebrate. Some of the unusual suggestions included:

· A giant piñata in the shape of an A380 filled with red confetti in various lengths.

· Marathon runners of all ages running through to break the ribbon.

· A giant “Jack-in-the-box” to pop out.

· A “Medieval Times” ribbon-cutting with kings and queens.

· Dance, strut and follow a New Orleans Rebirth Brass type of band in to the New TBIT

· And a buffet with foods of many countries set up on one or two runways.

What did the airport decide to do? “A combination of several,” said Castles, “All of which were modified to some degree to make the ideas work as much as we could.”

Reno-Tahoe Int’l Airport loves the Burners

Events,
reno miniman

Mini Man at Reno-Tahoe Int’l Airport

 

The 2013 Burning Man Festival has wrapped up and by now most of the 61,000 “Burners” are on their way home from Nevada’s Black Rock Desert.

At least 15,000 of the revelers passed through Reno-Tahoe International Airport, which is more than happy to have them: according to airport officials, Burning Man is the single largest annual event to pass through the airport, bringing with it an estimated economic impact of $11 million from airline ticket sales, car rentals and money spent in the restaurants and retail shops.

To make the Burners feel welcome, the airport had a eight foot tall Mini-Man in the terminal and, in the airport gallery, an exhibit of art from the Black Rock Arts Foundation.

And the airport was well-prepared after the event:

Because Burners must take out everything they brought into the Black Rock Desert, many of them bring their trash to the airport and dump it there. “We place extra large trash repositories on the curb for this purpose,” said airport spokeswoman Heidi Jared.

And because everyone’s stuff is covered in dust and sand from the desert, airlines wrap all checked bags in plastic or place them in a tub. “If luggage were not treated this way, the sand would clog up the airline bag belt system,” said Jared.

Pop-up dining at Copenhagen Airport

Events, Food, ,

CPH Nording Dining open kitchen

Oh to be stuck at Copenhagen Airport sometime sometime before the end of September!

As part of this year’s Copenhagen Cooking event, which is taking place all over the city, the Copenhagen Airport is hosting a pop-up restaurant –CPH Nordic Dining – right in the terminal through September 29th.

A summer-inspired Nordic menu of Michelin caliber meals is being cooked up by 3 well-known Danish chefs in open kitchens right in the terminal – and they’re serving the meals on Royal Copenhagen, Holmegaard and Rosendahl tableware.

The chefs are taking turns running the restaurant and creating menus, but each is putting together a Nordic Tasting menu of a light starter, main dish and dessert that will cost you 279 DKK – about $50 US – and be available starting each day at 11:30 a.m.

Those passing through the airport earlier in the day might try the Nordic breakfast being served at the pop-up restaurant. A small breakfast (99 DKK; about $18 US) includes a pot of curd with oats and Danish honey, curd with sprinkling of rye bread and cane sugar, Jarlsberg and Kornblomst cheese, marmalade, bread and butter. The large breakfast  (149 DKK; about $26) includes everything in the small breakfast plus meats and a sandwich.

Find more details – and the tasting menus (which appear to be only in Danish) here.

 

Opening day: San Diego Int’l Airport expanded Terminal 2

Airports, Architecture, Events, Openings, ,

The expanded Terminal 2 at San Diego International Airport (SAN) becomes operational today – August 13, 2013 – offering travelers a faster, smoother and far more amenity-rich trip from the curb to their flights.

San Diego lobby photo T2

Dubbed “The Green Build” in reference to it’s focus on the environment, the transformed Terminal 2 is opening on schedule and, at $907 million, $45 million under budget with all the latest in sustainable features, including solar panels, reflective roofs and parking spaces with chargers for up to 40 electric vehicles.

“We’ve added a lot of new features that business travelers, especially, will appreciate” said airport spokeswoman Katie Jones, “including separate arrival and departure roadways and 27 curbside self-service check-in kiosks under a canopy out front.”

SAN does not yet participate in the TSA’s PreCheck program offering expedited passage through security, but with a possible 12 lanes (up from 6) at the checkpoint, “there will be shorter lines everywhere,” she said.

Inside the terminal, travelers will find 10 new gates, $6 million worth of fresh art and at least 800 new seats equipped with cup holders, power outlets and USB ports.

San Diego Airport new seats

Club lounges for United and Delta Air Lines, each with a view of the airfield, are a floor above Sunset Cove, the greatly expanded concessions area. For those traveling with their pets, there’s also an indoor pet-relief area with faux grass and a red hydrant by Gate 46.

Dining options include Saffron, Bubbles Seafood & Wine Bar, Seaside Stack Shack, Stone Brewing Co., Phil’s BBQ and the first Jack in the Box to open in an airport. New service and retail outlets include branches of the Be Relax Spa and Warwick’s of La Jolla, a locally-owned bookstore.

United Airlines, which was operating out of Terminal 1, has moved its operations over to Terminal 2, but unfortunately, passengers flying on airlines that currently use the Commuter Terminal or Terminal 1 (Alaska Airlines/Horizon Airlines and Southwest) won’t have access to the new Terminal 2 amenities.

“But those terminals will be getting some upgrades and new concessions as well,” said Jones.