World Airport CodesFor some, flying can be a scary experience at the best of times, even if it’s just from Gatwick to Madrid, with normal runways and landing paths. So imagine how much worse it’d be if you were landing somewhere like The Ice Runway in Antarctica, or the once infamous Kai Tak in Hong Kong… Not heard of them? Well how about we show you why they are amongst our rundown of The World’s scariest airport runways!
Blizzards hit North East Coast Airports!
Over the weekend, the North East Coast of America was subject to “Snowmageddon”, a massive snowstorm that crippled cities and brought life to a standstill. Fortunately, (or maybe unfortunately depending on how much you love the snow) things are now slowly starting to get back to normal, after all, it’s not an easy task to get rid of 3-4 foot of snow!
Reports suggest that Washington received around 30 inches of snow and an unofficial report stated that a rural area in West Virginia had an incredible 40 inches of snowfall! American airports are usually renowned for their ability to deal with heavy snowfall, but even they were defeated this time, with 7000 flights cancelled over the weekend.
Brazil Airports Nowhere Near Ready for World Cup
There have been a series of reports in the media throughout April forecasting difficult times ahead for the airports which are supposed to handle the bulk of the World Cup 2014 air passenger traffic.
View in arrivals area at Brasilia airport today. Whole place is a job site. #WorldCup2014 just over 2 months away. pic.twitter.com/bIR6v6SLQ0
— Paulo Prada (@pauloprada) March 20, 2014
BBC reported that most of Brazil’s airports being improved for this big sporting event will not be ready in time. According to the government-backed Institute for Applied Economic Research (Ipea) at least 10 out of 13 terminals being upgraded are unlikely to be completed.
Brazil’s São Paulo’s Congonhas airport’s surprise for Neymar fans. [PORTUGUESE] https://t.co/5oDnxK3QPN MT @DonnaBow pic.twitter.com/pxFENfpODS
— Brazil Character Lab (@scharlab) April 24, 2014
London Heathrow To Open Terminal 2 in June 2014
The world’s third busiest airport with the traffic figures reaching 72.3 million in 2013, London Heathrow is anticipating an exciting moment in its history – the opening of Terminal 2 in June this year.
We look at some of the more interesting facts and figures surrounding this new exciting addition.
What’s in the name: Terminal 2 is The Queen’s Terminal, recognising the 60 year relationship that the airport has had with Her Majesty the Queen.
Art: T2 will feature the Europe’s largest privately funded sculpture, called Slipstream, consisting of 23 bespoke pieces and created to resemble the shape and movement of a jet’s vapour trail. The sculpture designed by Richard Wilson weighs 74 tonnes, is over 70 metres long and hangs suspended up to 20 metres above the ground.
Richard Wilson’s NEW Sculpture SLIPSTREAM 2B unveiled @HeathrowAirport Terminal 2 https://t.co/Jer6MG9aok @Sutton_PR pic.twitter.com/nMfLBIXFgL
— FAD (@fadwebsite) January 21, 2014
Know your airports & airlines, which ones are the best?
Here at our offices of World Airport Codes, we are frequent flyers. And every time we take a flight, whether it’s for work, leisure or paying a visit to the family, the same question pops up into our heads: ‘Which airline should I choose?’
There’s no easy anwser to this question, but we will try to give you three important key factors to keep in mind for the next time you have to choose one.
Of course, the first thing we all look for is the price. Booking in advance or online are some of the best known tips for saving that bit of money when we fly, also choosing a less well known lowcost airline over an international more expensive brand is usually our choice. This can be a disadvantage to us, since the trend shows that when making a booking, we tend to always look at the same type of airlines, forgetting completely about the other ones, and sometimes lowcost can get as expensive as a normal one.
That’s why unlike any other guides out there, we strongly recommend that you look at any possible airline that flies to your destination. ‘And how do I know which airlines fly to my destination?’ It’s easy, let’s say you want to fly from Malaga (AGP) to Paris (CDG), all you have to do is go to our detailed airport page and click on ‘Destinations’ in the left menu and search for your destination airport, as simple as that! And now that you’re aware of which airlines fly from your outbound airport, you can check the websites of the airlines, or check them through our own airport pages on the ‘Services’ section, under the tab ‘Flights’.
Finding Your Way Around Airports with Google
You can now visit some of the world’s biggest airports without stepping out of your house, and know exactly where the currency exchange point or a cling film luggage wrapping kiosk is situated, and where the shuttle bus would drop you off should you decide to fly from that airport.
As of November 2013 Google maps offer virtual walks past the shops, check-in counters and meeting points at 16 airports worldwide, such as Madrid’s Barajas, London Gatwick and Tokyo International Airport. You can even explore the inside of an Emirates Airbus A380 at Dubai Airport.
This interactive map shows all the new Street View transit locations worldwide, that are not limited to just airports; the tool will let you virtually explore over 50 train and subway stations, as well as a cable car station in Hong Kong.
So if you would like to know how far you’d need to walk from the main entrance to the escalators, or from the lifts to the nearest WC, you can have a quick look around the airport buildings, find where to drop off your oversized luggage, explore the architecture, look at what the locals are wearing or see the range of cafes, restaurants and shops if you still have to grab that last box of chocolates or a souvenir fridge magnet for someone special.
Airports across Spain and Japan are the most featured on Street View. Here’s a few examples of what you can find.
London Gatwick Airport, North Terminal, UK: Google Maps
Mexico International Airport, Mexico: Google Maps