Comments 701 to 750 of 5,167
Hard airport to love
This is a hard airport to love, which is sad, since it serves one of North America's nicest cities. Everything seems to be badly organized: when you transfer from an international flight to a domestic one, you have to exit and reenter security, which is non-trivial when you might have to line up for an hour. In customs, they keep opening and reopening dividers to make new lines, so people who've just gotten off a plane might be let through ahead of people who have been waiting 20 minutes. The whole airport seems a bit dingy and run-down, there's not much good food (in *Montreal's* airport!!!), and nothing's particularly well organized.
I wouldn't use YUL as a connector airport if I had the choice, but if you're visiting Montreal itself, it's worth putting up with the hassle to visit such a great city. If you're coming from Toronto, though, take the train instead.
re: Airport OK; getting to it, not so much
Actually, one problem with the airport was very long security lines for the C and D gates. That might have been just because it was a Saturday around spring break, but make sure you arrive very early for your flight -- don't assume you'll be through security in 10 or 20 minutes.
Airport OK; getting to it, not so much
Just flew through MIA with my family for a spring break trip. The airport itself is fine, but getting to it, not so much. Unlike every other major city I've visited, Miami barely bothers to put any signs on the freeways and roads telling you how to get to the airport (even if you're following signs, they might suddenly disappear before you get there), so it's very important to study a map or get Google directions beforehand. Even then, the same street may have a couple of different names, so write down *all* of them.
The rental car return is the worst part -- there are some signs, but they don't take you all the way to the lots, most of which are in twisty little industrial streets to the east of the airport. I'm usually comfortable walking alone through the tougher parts of bigger cities, but I have to admit that I was a little nervous driving around there (the packs of apparently ownerless dogs living on the streets were one clue that all wasn't well).
Final verdict: the airport itself is fine, but the state and city seem not to care much about people using it, despite the fact that the area economy relies heavily on tourism, and so many visitors have fallen victim to crime driving to and from MIA. I guess it's a nice airport located in a dysfunctional city and state.
Awful airport for visiting NYC
This is a great airport for visiting northern New Jersey, but a truly awful one for visiting NYC. It is a very long, expensive cab ride into Manhattan from EWR -- I once spent 90 minutes stuck in Hoboken in rush hour before even trying the tunnels. The tunnels themselves (Holland or Lincoln) are both very slow.
The worst part, though, is trying to get *back* to EWR from Manhattan. New York cabbies hate doing the drive, since they can't take a fare back and will end up losing an hour or two of their day. The worst time is mid- to late-afternoon, near shift change. I once had to bribe a cabbie with an extra $50 just so that he'd take me in time to get my suppertime flight. Seriously, if you have any choice at all, fly into LaGuardia instead, where it's a cheap and reasonably quick NYC cab ride into Manhattan.
Customs and LGA
LaGuardia has customs available for general aviation, but unlike EWR and JFK, it doesn't have a separate international section with customs lines, etc. As a result, it handles only domestic U.S. scheduled airline flights, as well as a few from Canadian airports that have U.S. customs preclearance facilities. A lot of its traffic is shuttles up and down the east coast and out to Chicago.
It was a huge deal for me when Ottawa added customs preclearance in the late 1990s, because then I could fly from YOW straight to LGA and take a cheap, fast taxi ride into midtown for business meetings, instead of having to fly to Newark and take a long, slow cab ride in, then try to bribe a NYC cabbie to take me all the way back out to Newark for a late afternoon flight home.
re: Double mark
Done -- there's just one Kasimovo Air Base now.
Under redevelopment
This is a former NATO, French, and USAF base. It's currently being redeveloped as a charter and cargo hub.
re: WiFi
In the U.S., isn't a "flying club" a few people who get together to buy and operate a plane or two? In Canada, it's often a big, non-profit FBO and flight school (sometimes with a pilot shop as well), because that's the way flight training got started in Canada in the 1920s and 30s.
re: Accueil
Sounds great! I've flown over this airport a few times on trips from Ottawa to the Gulf or the Maritimes, but never thought of landing. Riding a rented bicycle around a quiet island in the summer sounds very relaxing.
re: Uncle
Thanks -- I've corrected the name, and updated the Wikipedia link.
Under redevelopment
This is the former Shtruklovo Air Base, closed in 1999 and now under redevelopment as a civilian airport to serve Ruse.
re: Location
Thanks -- I've updated the page with the correct name (and a link to the airport's web site).
Closed to all traffic?
According to the Wikipedia article, this airport closed in 2006 when airline traffic moved to La Isabela, and the military blocked the runway. There are a lot of planes on the apron in the Google satellite photo, though β could the photo really be three years old? More info would be appreciated.
Principal air base of the Dominican Air Force
This is the main base for the Dominican Air Force. It originally opened in 1953 as Trujillo Air Base, and was renamed to San Isidro Air Base in 1961. According to Wikipedia, most of the fixed- and rotor-wing fleet is based here.
Is this airport closed?
The markings are nearly worn off the pavement, and at least one road or path seems to cross it.
Continental Connection/Colgan Air Crash
On 12 February 2009 Colgan Air 3407, a Dash 8 Q400, crashed into a house six miles short of runway 23, killing everyone on board and one person in a house on the ground:
Turkish Airlines Crash
This morning, Turkish Airlines flight 1951, a Boeing 737, made what appears to be a forced landing in a field 1.5 nm short of runway 18R at Schipol. Most of the passengers survived, but there were nine fatalities:
To be privatized?
The state of Connecticut is considering privatizing this airport, along with Waterbury/Oxford, Groton, Danielson, and Hartford Brainard:
To be privatized?
The state of Connecticut is considering privatizing this airport, along with Waterbury/Oxford, Groton, Hartford Brainard, and Windham:
To be privatized?
The state of Connecticut is considering privatizing this airport, along with Waterbury/Oxford, Hartford Brainard, Danielson, and Windham:
To be privatized?
The state of Connecticut is considering privatizing this airport, along with Hartford Brainard, Groton, Danielson, and Windham:
To be privatized?
The state of Connecticut is considering privatizing this airport, along with Waterbury/Oxford, Groton, Danielson, and Windham:
Mainly flight training
This is the home of the Qatar Aeronautical College. Here's a video shot from the cockpit of a Socata TB20 landing at the airport:
Airport closed 30 April 2008
The airport was closed on 30 April, 2008, with plans to develop a business park. A heliport will stay open, however, for police and medevac use only.
Closed?
I've marked this closed for now, based on the state of the pavement, and what seems to be bushes growing through the cracks on the runway. Does anyone know otherwise?
Principal air base
This is the main air base of the Irish Air Corps, which is a small organization for a country this size (about 850 people and 30 aircraft).
Oldest airport in the Czech Republic
According to Wikipedia, this is the oldest airport in the Czech Republic, built during World War I by the Austro-Hungarian empire, then used by the Germans in World War II for an aircraft factory. In 1918, when Czechoslovakia was created, it was the country's only airport. The city bought it from the military in 2004.
Former RAAF base
This airport is a former RAAF base, originally opened in 1940, and the only RAAF base built in Tasmania.
Bare Base
This is one of the RAAF's three "bare bases", ready for activation in case of a crisis.
Bare Base
This is one of the RAAF's three "bare bases", with all the infrastructure in place to be activated in case of a crisis.
Bare Base
This is one of the RAAF's three "bare bases" -- it's empty, but has all the infrastructure in place to be activated quickly in case of a crisis.
Main airport Nagorno-Karabakh
Stepanakert is the chief city in the breakaway republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is not currently under effective Azerbaijani government control, though it is still internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan. There are plans to bring in a scheduled flight between this airport and Yerevan, Armenia.
re: A little information about Beja airport
This image gallery shows that the passenger terminal building was still in the early stages of construction in late November 2008:
Cold War History
BodΓΈ was a major NATO air base during the Cold War. In 1960, it was the point of departure for the U2 spy plane flown by Gary Powers that was shot down over the Soviet Union.
Temporarily closed
This is Kiev's original, smaller airport (Boryspil, further out of town, is the main one).
As of 2009-01-22, the airport is still temporarily closed for repairs and upgrades (with all scheduled flights shifted to Boryspil), but is scheduled to reopen on 1 February.
Now used by the Coast Guard
The naval base closed in 2000, and the heliport is now used by the Singapore Coast Guard.
Mainly helicopters
The Wikipedia article mentions only helicopter squadrons based here now, but the satellite photos still show well-maintained runways, so there might be some fixed-wing traffic as well.
Formerly Gerald's Airport
The airport was renamed in 2008, according to the Wikipedia article. This appears to be the only airport in Montserrat.
re: New or old?
I think you're right, Paul. I've added the new airport and move the codes over there. Do you happen to have an elevation for the new airport (MMCC)?
Sort-of open
The Wikipedia article for this airport is interesting -- it used to provide access to a secret luxury retreat for Communist leaders. The airport is no longer officially maintained, but some pilots still use it (though some drivers also use it for racing).
re: Wrong ID?
OK, I've removed the code for now. I can't find the right code for this airport, so perhaps it has been closed or delisted.
re: Formerly MMTG/TGZ
Paul: according to the Wikipedia page, it's GA-only now -- no scheduled airline service. I don't know how Mexico has sorted out identifiers, since the ICAO Guide gives only the city name, not the airport name.
Formerly MMTG/TGZ
This airport handled scheduled airline service into Tuxtla GutiΓ©rrez until May 2006, when it was superceded by Angel Albino Corzo International Airport. The new airport took over the ICAO and IATA identifiers from this airport. If you visited central Chiapas before May 2006, this is the airport you flew into.
New Airport
This airport opened in May 2006, replacing Francisco Sarabia National Airport for scheduled airline service into Tuxtla GutiΓ©rrez in Chiapas. It took over the ICAO and IATA identifiers from Francisco Sarabia at that time.
U.S.-built in 2005
According to this story, the base a unit of the U.S.A.F. built this base in only a few days as part of Operation Bright Star (2005), to simulate setting up an emergency air base in combat conditions. Presumably, it was then handed over to the Egyptian Air Force:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2005/11/mil-051101-afpn01.htm
Home of the Egyptian Air Academy
This is where new Egyptian Air Force pilots train, according to the Wikipedia article.
Voronezh Aircraft Production Association
This is the home airport of the Voronezh Aircraft Production Association, one of the largest aircraft manufacturing complexes in Russia. It is closed to the public.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voronezh_Aircraft_Production_Association
Disputed territory
This airport is operated by the Russians as part of their claim on the disputed Kuril Islands, near Japan.
Once a busy airport
This was a busy regional passenger airport during the Soviet era, but fell on hard times afterwards, and stopped operations about 10 years ago.
Alternative airport for Mogadishu
π Mon, 23 Mar 2009
β @david at K50 Airstrip, Somalia
This airport is 50 km from Mogadishu (hence the name), and is used as an alternative for scheduled airline service because of the danger around Mogadishu's main airport, Aden Adde International Airport (MGQ). It has a single sand runway.