Asiana Airlines

(www. flyasiana. com)

Asiana Airlines have won numerous accolades in the recent years. The Seoul based Airlines have been voted by passengers and experts alike for their excellent quality flight experience and faultless service. In 2010, Asiana was placed best airline in the world in the category “in-flight services” by the major travel magazine ‘Global Travelers’, “best airline in Northern Asia”, as also  “Airline of the Year Award” by Skytrax for 2010.

Singapore Airlines

(www. singaporeair .com)

Singapore Airlines has ensured highest levels of quality, service and comfort in all classes. Special attention has been provided to all details, and an excellent experience is guaranteed while flying with Singapore Airlines. Considered by many as the most professional and efficient air carrier, Singapore’s ten A380 air planes have exclusive suites on board, including comfortable leather seats resembling armchairs, a complete length wardrobe as well as an independent bed.

Dining and wining aboard Singapore Airlines is taken care of by a panel of celebrity chefs, and offers excellent fare involving multiple cuisines.

KrisWorld, a personal in-flight entertainment system, ensures in-flight entertainment.

Qatar Airways

(www. qatarairways. com)

Another airline that believes in commitment to quality and service, Qatar Airlines provide a wide range of personalized services, like the delicious Qatari tidbits that are offered on entry, and excellent luxurious seats. Dining is also superior, and the airlines boast an exhaustive wine list, although alcohol is not provided during the Islam Holy periods.

There is a Premium Terminal at Doha for business and first class passengers, with a range of services, including gratis meals, drinks, spa facilities and comfortable beds. There are also video games and movies.

Cathay Pacific

(www. cathaypacific. com)

Cathay Pacific is much appreciated among fliers due to their efficiency and organization. The Hong Kong hub is another great point, with a range of services. Cathay Pacific offers 81 inch long beds for first class, flat beds for business and even the economy section has excellent shell seats which ensures that the seats, while reclining, do not provide discomfort to the passengers behind. In flight food is also fantastic, and the galley also provides great snacks for everybody.

Malaysian Airlines

(www. malaysiaairlines .com)

Comfortable seats, irreproachable service, and good food make for a great experience while flying Malaysian Airlines. The food is also excellent, fresh salads and delicious blue cheese a hot favorite.

San Francisco International Airport is used as a chief hub, or transfer point for passengers by United Airlines and is its only maintenance hub. Virgin America uses the airport as its main center of operations. SFO is also a transfer point (focus city) for Alaska Airlines.

LOCATION

San Francisco International Airport is situated at a distance of 21 kilo meters from the city center of San Francisco, California, United States. The airport borders the cities Millbrae and San Bruno, in San Mateo.

PROVISION OF FACILITIES

San Francisco International Airport has a big list of passenger facilities and amenities. These include a huge variety of refreshment joints, assistance for marooned or lost commuters, public shower facilities, a clinic for medical help and first aid, storage capacity for luggage. The airport also houses the Louis A Turpen Aviation Museum, which showcases numerous artifacts, exhibits and photographs related to aviation and its history. The purpose of the museum is to increase awareness among the people about the achievements, history and records of commercial aviation. There is also the San Francisco Airport Commission Aviation Library containing an extensive collection of titles. There are also many art exhibitions held at different locations in the terminals. Many are permanent exhibitions, while some are temporary. Free internet usage through wireless fidelity access is also available to the commuters through out a major part of the terminal area.

THE TERMINALS

The San Francisco International Airport has four terminals. There are seven concourses placed in a circle. Terminals 1 and 3 are responsible for handling domestic transport and Canada flights which have been cleared.  The International Terminal manages the international flights.  Terminal 2 is right now undergoing refurbishment and will be opened in 2011.

TERMINAL 1

Terminal 1 was previously known as the South Terminal. It comprises of Boarding area B, which includes gates 20 – 31, 32 – 32 B, 33 – 36 and Boarding Area C consisting of gates 40 – 48. The third boarding area, which was called Rotunda A, was knocked down in 2007.

TERMINAL 2

Terminal 2 is currently closed for a thorough overhaul and now serves as a passage between Terminals 1 and 3. Earlier known as Central Terminal, the Terminal 2 was launched in 1954 and was the chief terminal of the Airport for years. It has the Boarding area D. The control tower and operation procedures are housed in the top floors.

The U S $ 383 million project for renovation comprises a new control tower, use of environment friendly materials and add-ons that will help prevent earthquakes. The terminal will open in 2011.

TERMINAL 3

Terminal 3 was known before as North Terminal. It consists of Boarding Area E and Boarding Area F.

Boarding Area E is made up of gates 60-60A, 61, 62A-B, 63, 64-64A, 65-65A, 66-66A, 67.

Gates 68-72, 73-73A, 74-75, 76A-76B, 77A-77B, 78A-78B, 79-86, 87-87A, 88-90 is encompassed by Boarding Area F.

INTERNATIONAL TERMINAL

The International terminal at S F O is the largest international terminal in entire North America. Its excellent design was the brainchild of renowned architect Craig W Hartman from the firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill and was launched in 2000. The contracts for designing the airport were given out after holding a competition among architects.

Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, , Micheal Willis Associates, Del Campo and Maru Architects, Gerson / overstreet Architects and Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum were the architecture firms involved in the design and construction of the International terminal.

Prior to the launch of the International Terminal, the International Departures in terminal 2 was used to handle international traffic. Now, it has been replaced by the International terminal, which handles departures and arrivals from all locations, except those with pre clearance of customs.

Bengaluru International Airport serves the city of Bengaluru. The Airport started handling passengers on 23 May 2008, and replaced the old HAL Bangalore International Airport. Expected to be handling upto 17 million passengers by 2015, Bengaluru International Airport is the fourth busiest airport in India. In the year 2009, the airport handled about 9.3 million passengers. 10 domestic airlines and 19 international airlines ply in the Bengaluru International Airport.

In 2007, a World Airport Traffic report placed Bengaluru Airport in the fourth position in a list of fastest growing international airports.

The airport occupies a total area of 4 050 acres and is capable of handling an annual passenger traffic of 11 million people with 27 aircraft movements in one hour.

Location

Bengaluru International Airport is situated about 4 kilo meters south of Devanahalli town and is 40 kilo meters from the heart of Bengaluru.

The Terminals

The Passenger terminal, with a total floor area of 760 000 sq ft, is housed in a single building and can accommodate international and domestic operations. The terminal is fully air conditioned and has four levels. The arrival and departure areas are divided by a simple straight ahead flow system. The basement is used for storing retail goods, resting rooms and services. The domestic and international departure lounges and retail outlets are on the first floor (level 2). While check in and baggage is on level 1. The terminal building has a capacity of 3 000 passengers at any given time.

Bengaluru International Airport has a total of 20 gates, 8 aero bridges and 19 remote bus bays. There are 42 aircraft stands, which are enabled with underground fuelling pits, which make it possible for the aircraft to fuel from there. The parking area has a capacity of 2000 cars.

Runway

Bengaluru has one runway which is capable of handling all types of air planes, including the Airbus A380.

Duty free shopping

The International and domestic departure sections have a large number of duty free shops.

Facilities

The following facilities are provided for the benefit of passengers at the Bengaluru International Airport:-

• Food and Beverages
• Car Parking Area
• Duty free shopping areas
• Restaurants offering multiple cuisines
• Play areas
• Day care and baby sitting services
• Bus facility
• Air rescue
• Fire fighting services
• Large shopping space

Future plans

Refurbishment and expansion plans are on the cards. Construction of the new terminal is going on. A five star 321 room hotel is also being built as part of the airport complex.

Business centers, tax free shops, entertainment centers, malls and office space are also in the state of development.

Contact Details

Bengaluru International Airport limited,
118, Gayathri Lakefront,
Outer Ring Road,
Hebbal,
Bengaluru – 5 6 0 0 2 4.
Phone: – + 91 (80) 235 40 000
Fax: -     + 91 (80) 233 33 400
E mail: – feedback@bialairport.com
24 hour Enquiry (General and Flight) – + 91 (80) 66 78 22 51 /22 55.

At first, Haneda was the only airport for the region. Due to over crowding of passengers the Narita International Airport was established. With the introduction of Narita International airport, the heavy traffic was distributed more evenly. Nearly all of the domestic traffic to and from Tokyo is handled by Haneda along with some amount of international traffic.

The authorities in Japan have a plan to increase Haneda’s international air traffic with the introduction of more regional flights and of peak charter services. Already scheduled charter flights are operating to Seoul (S. Korea, Shanghai (P. R. C.) and Hong Kong.

The Haneda Airport is the busiest airport in Japan with a total of 62 100 754 passengers traveling in the year of 2009. With the new runway and international terminal structure being completed, Haneda will handle an even larger international traffic from 2010 October. A brand new complex with the latest facilities will house the international terminal instead of the small building it is running in now from October 2010. There are a total of 46 jet ways at the Haneda airport.

The Terminals

There are three terminals at Haneda Airport. The two main one’s, namely the domestic terminals 1 and 2, have an under ground walk way connecting them. Also a shuttle bus service consisting of one bus runs between these terminals and the small international terminal building once in five minutes.

The airport functions 24 hours. Terminals 1 and 2 opens only at 5 A M and closes at 11:30 P M. 24 hour operation may begin any time now, as certain late night and early morning services have been introduced.

The Terminals 1, 2 and 3 are run by the private company Japan Airport Terminal Co. Ltd (Nippon Kuko Birudigu Kabushikigaisha). The government of Japan manages the other parts of the airport.

Terminal 1

The first terminal complex was launched in 1993 and was built to replace the older terminal building which was a lot smaller. The building structure is linear. The complex has a huge restaurant which extends up to six stories. Shopping area is provided in the center part of the building. A large observation deck runs at the roof of the building. This terminal is given the nick name “the Big Bird”.

Terminal 2

The Terminal 2 building opened on the 1st of December 2004. It is a magnificent structure and has many attractions. An open air restaurant is featured at the roof top. There is also the Haneda Excel Hotel, with 387 guest rooms. A shopping area filled with eateries and stores occupies six floors.

Finance for constructing Terminal 2 building was made possible by the introduction of a ¥ 100 charge, the so called Passenger Service facilities Charge (PSFC), the first of its kind in Japan.

International Terminal

Mainly charter flights are handled by the International terminal in Haneda, as the Narita Airport handles a very large part of the scheduled international flight traffic. There are charter flights scheduled to and from Hong Kong, Seoul and Shanghai. Other flights are held during late nights and early mornings, when the Narita Airport is closed.

The international terminal building is set for replacement in October 2010, by a new 5 story structure along with cargo facilities which will be completed at the said date.

Means of access

The Haneda Air port is served by the Tokyo Mono rail, the Keikyu railways and various limousine bus services.

Tokyo Mono rail

The Haneda Airport is connected to the Hamamatsucho Station, which comes on the JR Yamanote Line by the Tokyo Mono rail.

Keikyu Railways

Haneda is accessible from Shinagawa Station and the Asakusa Subway Line, as also the Yokohama and Kanagawa Prefecture via Keikyu Railways.

Limousine Bus

There are many bus companies that offer drops top various points in Tokyo and near by prefectures and major hotels. This is a much used convenience.

Cochin International Airport

Also known as Nedumbassery Airport, Cochin International Airport is located at Nedumbassery, near Kochi. It is the fourth busiest airport in India in number of international passengers and the busiest airport in Kerala for both domestic and international flights.

The Airport is the first international Airport in India which is incorporated as a public limited company. It has been a joint venture and people from various walks of life have helped in the establishment. The Government of Kerala, along with a large number of non resident Indians hailing from Kerala, as also various large companies have invested in it.

The Airport is built in the traditional Kerala style of architecture. The total cost of the entire project was approximately $ 68.5 million. The airport has two terminals, one for international flights and one for domestic flights. The ground control is under the management of Air India and WFS. The government owned Bharat Petroleum supplies the fuel.

Airport fees are not charged for international passengers and the processing time for customs is quick. The Airport is stylish and clean.

With a 3400m long runway, the airport is suitable for all types of airplanes.

The Flights

In addition to flights through out India, Cochin International Airport has direct flights to many places in the Middle East and South East Asia.

The Terminals

The domestic terminal

The 100,000 square feet domestic terminal is divided into two blocks for arrivals and departures. There is a corridor that connects both these blocks. The departure hall has 20 check in counters. 5 of them are premium. There are 5 security gates and a waiting lounge with a capacity of up to 400 passengers. Business class travelers can avail of the premium waiting room.

The International terminal

The International terminal is 478 square feet in area. The departure and arrival halls can take up to 1200 passengers at one time. Non passengers have to take a guest ticket.

The waiting lounges are spacious enough to accommodate 1500 passengers at a time. There are two lounges for first class and business class travelers. 7 gates with 5 aero bridges are over here.

Shopping

C. I. A. L. has put up quite a large number of stores. The Duty-free shops at the International terminal are one of the largest in India. They are also the first full scale duty free shops in India. There is a shopping area of 13000 square feet in the arrival area, spreading over to two floors. The departure duty free is under construction.

Facilities

Both the domestic and international terminals are enabled with wireless fidelity, giving passengers free access to the internet.

A business center operates in the departure hall of the international terminal.

There are 7 retiring rooms for the convenience transit and early passengers.

A large child care room is available in the International terminal.

Free local calls can be made and postal counters are also available.

The waiting rooms have been equipped with large flat screen televisions for entertainment.

Restaurants

A large restaurant offering several cuisines is operated by Saj inside departure hall of International terminal.

The domestic and international terminals are dotted with several cafes, stalls and snack stands.

A food court is under construction in the international terminal, and a there is a large café in the domestic waiting lounge.

Future Plans

The C.I.A.L. is in possession of 440 acres of prime land. The Company has decided on a 35 billion dollar plan for commercial development. The new development will involve an 18 hole golf course, hotel chains, malls, business centers, I T parks, industrial estates and logistics centers.

Additional revenue is generated through renting advertisement space in the terminals.

Airports have always been a target for terrorists and other criminals. Due to the sheer large number of people that go through airports everyday, coupled with the possibilities with a hijacked air craft, terrorists are attracted to use airports as their home base.

What is Airport security?

The procedures used to prevent crime in airports and airplanes are collectively known as airport security. The main aims of airport security are prevention of attacks on airports and airplanes, prevention of dangerous materials being carried into airports and airplanes and primarily to ensure the safety and security of passengers.

Defense factors

The airport security has a defense mechanism of trying to prevent potential terrorists, suicide bombers or hijackers from entering the airport premises with their explosives and weapons. Luggage is scrutinized scrupulously. About 800 million people travel by air annually, and more than 700 million bags and other luggage are screened to detect potentially dangerous items.

Metal detectors, sniffer dogs, random body frisking are all used to check passengers. The airports mostly have tall fences and strong barriers that enclose the entire premises. Areas like fuel depots which are extra sensitive is given more security attention. All entry and exit gates are manned by security as well as surveillance cameras.

To avoid the danger from various types of vehicle bombs, several steps have been taken. If a vehicle carrying a bomb is driven into the airport, the damage would be enormous, as also the loss of lives. Strong obstructions made of concrete are places to prevent something like this. Vehicles are not allowed beyond a certain point in the airport. Loading zones are also restricted for vehicles.

Identification and Biometrics

Governments are in possession of certain lists of people who might be terrorists. Therefore conformation of identity of passengers is very important. For this purpose, identity proof is asked for, and for international travelers, passport is a must to be shown.

Besides this, biometrics is used for further checking. Finger print checks and scans of the retina are done using hi-end gadgets. Facial patterns are also observed.

Screening before issuing tickets

The United States and some other countries have a system in place where people are asked to provide more details about themselves at the time of booking tickets. Passengers are then assesses in terms of risk, and persons found in the high risk category undergo further screening.

Dos and don’ts on your side

Do not receive any article or object from any person. Do not lose sight of your luggage before checking in. This is because a common terrorist tactic is to pass on objects which could be an explosive to unsuspecting public.

Do not believe in false rumors and panic, and do not spread them. The primary objective of a terrorist is to spread terror, and he would be successful at this, if people are afraid.

What makes airports potentially unsafe?

The Main issue connected with airport safety is the runway length. Many airports in India and other parts of Asia do not meet the required runway length of 9000 feet, which is the safety norm. Infrastructure has not developed in comparison to air traffic in most airports.

In addition to this, experienced pilots are considerably less in number, considering the number of “tricky” airports.

There are many airports that are in the special criteria as many difficulties are encountered in landing and taking off from these airports due to geographical situations.

Let us have a look at five Asian airports which have the worst reputations with respect to safety.

• Mangalore International Airport,Mangalore
  Made famous by the air crash on 22nd May 2010 which killed 158 people, this airport is known to be difficult for inexperienced pilots. The airport has a table-top runway which means that it is situated on a hill and the runway is built on a flat surface of land, while the ends of the runway slope downwards. Therefore, any error of judgment in landing or take-off will cause the airplane to topple down the hill, which is what happened in May.

• Jaya Prakash International Airport, Patna
  This airport has been classified as restricted international Airport by Airport Authority of India. It also has been in the news due to a reputation of being dangerous for landing. Insufficient runway length and obstructive vegetation are matters of concern.
• Kathmandu International Airport, Kathmandu
  This is considered as one of the top most in dangerous airports of the world, the location and special difficulties associated with landing and take-off are chiefly responsible. During landing a constant monitoring of both the altitudes as well as the proximity of mountains is required and any slips by the pilot guarantee death.

• Gilgit Airport ,Pakistan
  Gilgit is a major hub for mountaineers in Pakistan. The airport is known to be unsafe due to its precarious location on the edge of a slope. It also has a very short runway.

• Tenzing Hillary Airport, Lukla
  As Lukla is the starting point for most people wishing to climb Mt. Everest, this airport is quite popular. Several accidents have occurred due to the peculiar location, most happening after 2004. While landing one encounters an uphill runway and during take-off the runway is short with a deep valley below.

Pilots flying in these areas undergo specialized training as well as regular check up. The pilots should have a deep knowledge of the topography, the lie of the land,as well as the unique climatic conditions.

In the last few years , the aviation industry has witnessed an “unprecendented growth, and the key driver for this has been the strong global and local economies”. It is not known if the industry would continue to grow in the same pace during the time of “anticipated financial and oil crisis and the most recent the influenza outbreaks”.

Out of all these, the only factor which is certain is that the airport operators and owners will be continue to face the “ever demanding environments in which they are doing their business”.

In this response there are many airports, who have recognized the value of diversifying their current revenue streams “through a different kinds of landside property and infrastructure developments inside the airport boundary”.

At this point of time in Australia, it is the rite time for private airport corporations and the surrounding municipalities to take the decision to move towards this change.

The Airports Act of 1996, administers the aim of the preliminary research which says, “ to categorize an airport development occurring at the twenty-two privatized Australian Airports”.

It is believed that this new knowledge will benefit the and will assist the airport and the municipal planners to understand the current extent and the category of “on- airport land use, allowing them to make better decisions when proposing development both within airport master plans and beyond the airport boundary in local town and municipal plans”.

The demand for seats is on the rise and people are traveling a lot these days. According to a report by the USA Today, Giovanni Bisignani, “The global economy is recovering from the depths of the financial crisis much more quickly than could have been anticipated”.

In the year 2009, marked the downfall of the global airline industry and suffered an $81 loss of revenue, which marks a drop of around 14.3 % from the year 2008. This made the seats a bit cheaper, but it slashed out on all the routes and the amenities which were provided by the airlines. The IATA expects that the revenues this year would be $62 billion, which still leaves a lot of space for the airlines to make up for the losses. According to Bisignani, $2.5 billion sounds like a lot of money, but it only amounts to 0.5% of the total revenue of the industry.

Bisignani says, “The industry remains fragile”. The reasons for this fragility are dubbed as being a rather slow recovery from the dipped profits that were adversely affected by recession and the recent stalling of flights on account of the Icelandic ashes. All in all, the debt situation that Europe had been brought to has disappeared even before you could say the word ‘shoo’.

There have been many incidences when because of a failure in proper ground operation duty an entire lapse has taken place. The results are at times absolutely not known. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau have taken several measures to take control and find out about the occurrences. But unfortunately, they have not been able to figure out what can be the probable reasons.

There are many factors which have been attributed to the reason for poor ground operations and the reasons are – no proper communication between the pilots, ground crews and air traffic control room. These are the few reasons which have come to the forefront.

Other than these, the ATSB( Australian Transport Safety Bureau) has not been able to come up with anything as of now.

Investigations are still on and there are possibilities that they might be able to understand what is the main reason behind it. This is not only the case with Australia but many other countries, specially the Asian and the European countries.