1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
Geographic coordinate system
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Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
2.
Aquitaine
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Aquitaine, archaic Guyenne/Guienne was a traditional region of France, and was an administrative region of France until 1 January 2016. It is now part of the new region Nouvelle-Aquitaine and it is situated in the south-western part of Metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. It is composed of the five departments of Dordogne, Lot-et-Garonne, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes, in the Middle Ages, Aquitaine was a kingdom and a duchy, whose boundaries fluctuated considerably. This has been demonstrated by various Aquitanian names and words that were recorded by the Romans, whether this Aquitanian language was a remnant of a Vasconic language group that once extended much farther, or whether it was generally limited to the Aquitaine/Basque region is not known. The original Aquitania at the time of Caesars conquest of Gaul included the area bounded by the Garonne River, the Pyrenees, the name may stem from Latin aqua, maybe derived from the town Aquae Augustae, Aquae Tarbellicae or just Aquis or as a more general geographical feature. In 392, the Roman imperial provinces were restructured and Aquitania Prima, Aquitania Secunda, accounts of Aquitania during the Early Middle Ages are a blur, lacking precision, but there was much unrest. The Visigoths were called into Gaul as foederati, legalizing their status within the Empire, eventually they established themselves as the de facto rulers in south-west Gaul as central Roman rule collapsed. Visigoths established their capital in Toulouse, but their tenure on Aquitaine was feeble, in 507, they were expelled south to Hispania after their defeat in the Battle of Vouillé by the Franks, who became the new rulers in the area to the south of the Loire. The Roman Aquitania Tertia remained in place as Novempopulania, where a duke was appointed to hold a grip over the Basques and these dukes were quite detached from central Frankish overlordship, sometimes governing as independent rulers with strong ties to their kinsmen south of the Pyrenees. As of 660, the foundations for an independent Aquitaine/Vasconia polity were established by the duke Felix of Aquitaine, a united Basque-Aquitanian realm reached its heyday under Odo the Greats rule. Odo was required to pledge allegiance to the Frankish Charles Martel in exchange for help against the advancing Arabic forces, Basque-Aquitanian self-rule temporarily came to a halt, definitely in 768 after the assassination of Waifer. Seguin, count of Bordeaux and Duke of Vasconia, seemed to have attempted a detachment from the Frankish central authority on Charlemagnes death, the new emperor Louis the Pious reacted by removing him from his capacity, which stirred the Basques into rebellion. Before Pepins death, emperor Louis had appointed a new king in 832, his son Charles the Bald, however scarce, some Frankish population and nobles settled down in regions like Albigeois, Carcassone, Toulouse, and Provence and Lower Rhone. After the death of the king Dagobert I, the Merovingian tenure south of the Loire became largely nominal, with the power being in the hands of autonomous regional leaders. The Franks may have largely assimilated to the preponderant Gallo-Roman culture by the 8th century. Still, in the Battle of Toulouse, the Aquitanian duke Odo is said to be leading an army of Aquitanians, on the other hand, the Franks didnt mix with the Basques, keeping separate paths. Recorded evidence points to their deployment across Aquitaine in a capacity as a mainstay of the Dukes forces. Romans are cited as living in the cities of Aquitaine, as opposed to the Franks, in 1058, the Duchy of Vasconia and Aquitaine merged under the rule of William VIII, Duke of Aquitaine
Aquitaine
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Landscape in Dordogne, Aquitaine
Aquitaine
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Flag
Aquitaine
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Situation in the duchies of Vasconia and Aquitaine (760)
Aquitaine
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Landscape in Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Aquitaine
3.
Runway
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According to the International Civil Aviation Organization, a runway is a defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft. Runways may be a surface or a natural surface. Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally the magnetic azimuth of the heading in decadegrees. This heading differs from true north by the magnetic declination. A runway numbered 09 points east, runway 18 is south, runway 27 points west, when taking off from or landing on runway 09, a plane would be heading 90°. A runway can normally be used in both directions, and is named for each separately, e. g. runway 33 in one direction is runway 15 when used in the other. The two numbers usually differ by 18, Runway Zero Three Left becomes Runway Two One Right when used in the opposite direction. In some countries, if parallel runways are too close to each other, at large airports with four or more parallel runways some runway identifiers are shifted by 10 degrees to avoid the ambiguity that would result with more than three parallel runways. For example, in Los Angeles, this results in runways 6L, 6R, 7L. At Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, there are five parallel runways, named 17L, 17C, 17R, 18L, for clarity in radio communications, each digit in the runway name is pronounced individually, runway three six, runway one four, etc. A leading zero, for example in runway zero six or runway zero one left, is included for all ICAO, however, most U. S. civil aviation airports drop the leading zero as required by FAA regulation. This also includes some military airfields such as Cairns Army Airfield and this American anomaly may lead to inconsistencies in conversations between American pilots and controllers in other countries. It is very common in a such as Canada for a controller to clear an incoming American aircraft to, for example, runway 04. In flight simulation programs those of American origin might apply U. S. usage to airports around the world, for example, runway 05 at Halifax will appear on the program as the single digit 5 rather than 05. Runway designations change over time because the magnetic poles slowly drift on the Earths surface, depending on the airport location and how much drift takes place, it may be necessary over time to change the runway designation. As runways are designated with headings rounded to the nearest 10 degrees, for example, if the magnetic heading of a runway is 233 degrees, it would be designated Runway 23. If the magnetic heading changed downwards by 5 degrees to 228, if on the other hand the original magnetic heading was 226, and the heading decreased by only 2 degrees to 224, the runway should become Runway 22. Because the drift itself is slow, runway designation changes are uncommon
Runway
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A runway at
Brussels Airport
Runway
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Runway of
Chennai International Airport,
Chennai, India
Runway
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Runways at
Stockholm-Arlanda Airport
Runway
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Runway sign at
Madrid-Barajas Airport, Spain
4.
Asphalt
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Asphalt, also known as bitumen is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in deposits or may be a refined product. Until the 20th century, the term asphaltum was also used, the word is derived from the Ancient Greek ἄσφαλτος ásphaltos. The primary use of asphalt/bitumen is in construction, where it is used as the glue or binder mixed with aggregate particles to create asphalt concrete. Its other main uses are for bituminous waterproofing products, including production of roofing felt, the terms asphalt and bitumen are often used interchangeably to mean both natural and manufactured forms of the substance. In American English, asphalt is the carefully refined residue from the process of selected crude oils. Outside the United States, the product is often called bitumen, geologists often prefer the term bitumen. Common usage often refers to forms of asphalt/bitumen as tar. Naturally occurring asphalt/bitumen is sometimes specified by the crude bitumen. Its viscosity is similar to that of cold molasses while the material obtained from the distillation of crude oil boiling at 525 °C is sometimes referred to as refined bitumen. The Canadian province of Alberta has most of the reserves of natural bitumen, covering 142,000 square kilometres. Additionally, most natural bitumens contain organosulfur compounds, resulting in a sulfur content of up to 4%. Nickel and vanadium are found in the <10 ppm level, as is typical of some petroleum, the substance is soluble in carbon disulfide. It is commonly modelled as a colloid, with asphaltenes as the dispersed phase, and it is almost impossible to separate and identify all the different molecules of asphalt, because the number of molecules with different chemical structure is extremely large. Asphalt/bitumen can sometimes be confused with tar, which is a visually similar black. During the early and mid-20th century when town gas was produced, coal tar was a readily available byproduct, the addition of tar to macadam roads led to the word tarmac, which is now used in common parlance to refer to road-making materials. However, since the 1970s, when natural gas succeeded town gas, other examples of this confusion include the La Brea Tar Pits and the Canadian oil sands, both of which actually contain natural bitumen rather than tar. Pitch is another term used at times to refer to asphalt/bitumen
Asphalt
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Natural asphalt/bitumen from the
Dead Sea
Asphalt
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refined asphalt/bitumen
Asphalt
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The University of Queensland
pitch drop experiment, demonstrating the
viscosity of asphalt/bitumen
Asphalt
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Bituminous outcrop of the Puy de la Poix,
Clermont-Ferrand, France
5.
Bayonne
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Bayonne is a city and commune and one of the two sub-prefectures of the department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France. Archaeological studies have confirmed the presence of a Roman castrum, a stronghold in Novempopulania at the end of the 4th century before the city was populated by the Vascones. In 1023 Bayonne was the capital of Labourd and, in the 12th century, extended to, at that time the first bridge was built over the Adour. The city came under the domination of the English in 1152 through the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine, it became militarily and, above all and it was separated from the Viscount of Labourd in 1177 by Richard the Lion Heart. In 1451 the city was taken by the Crown of France after the Hundred Years War, the loss of trade with the English and the silting up of the river as well as the movement of the city towards the north weakened it. The district of Saint-Esprit developed anyway thanks to the arrival of a Jewish population fleeing the Spanish Inquisition, from this community Bayonne gained its reputation for chocolate. The course of the Adour was changed in 1578 under the direction of Louis de Foix, in the 17th century the city was fortified by Vauban. In 1951 the Lacq gas field was discovered whose extracted sulphur, Bayonne was, in 2014, a commune with over 45,000 inhabitants, the heart of the urban area of Bayonne and of the Agglomeration Côte Basque-Adour which includes Anglet and Biarritz. It is an important part of the Basque Bayonne-San Sebastián Eurocity, modern industry—metallurgy and chemicals—are established to take advantage of procurement opportunities and sea shipments through the harbour. It is now mostly business services which today represent the largest source of employment, Bayonne is also a cultural capital, a city with strong Basque and Gascon influences and a rich historical past. Its heritage lies in its architecture, the diversity of collections in museums, its gastronomic specialties, the inhabitants of the commune are known as Bayonnais or Bayonnaises. Bayonne is located in the south-west of France on the border between Basque Country and Gascony. It developed at the confluence of the Adour and its tributary on the left bank, the commune was part of the Basque province of Labourd. Bayonne occupies a territory characterized by a relief to the west and to the north towards the Landes forest, tending to slightly raise towards the south. The city has developed at the confluence of the Adour and Nive 6 kilometres from the ocean, the meeting point of the two rivers coincides with a narrowing of the Adour valley. Downstream from this point the river has shaped a large bed in the dunes creating a significant bottleneck at the confluence. The occupation of the hill that dominates this narrowing of the valley developed through a gradual spread across the lowlands by building embankments, the drainage network of the western Pre-Pyrenees evolved mostly from the Quaternary from south-east to northwest oriented east-west. The Adour was then captured by the gaves and this system, together with the Nive, led to the emergence of a new alignment of the lower Adour and this capture has been dated to the early Quaternary
Bayonne
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The city hall
Bayonne
Bayonne
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Petit Bayonne, a view across the
Nive River
Bayonne
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The Château Vieux
6.
Anglet
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Anglet is a French commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern France. Anglet lies in the province of Labourd of the Northern Basque Country while its inhabitants have traditionally spoken Gascon. The inhabitants of the commune are known as Angloys or Angloyes, Anglet commune is part of the urban area of Bayonne-Anglet-Biarritz located south-west of the city and part of the Basque province of Labourd. The commune is 10% covered with forests, including those of Pignada, Lazaretto. The sandy coast starts 200 km north at the Pointe de Grave on the shore of the estuary of the Gironde and it is punctuated by numerous seawalls cutting the shore. At Anglet the outline of the maritime domain has been updated. With its many bays and inlets this area is a laboratory for monitoring techniques for studying coastal erosion, the Anglet coast is about 4. The French Basque Coast designates the part of the Aquitaine coast between the Chambre dAmour cave at Anglet and the Spanish border, Anglet has an airport Aéroport de Biarritz-Anglet-Bayonne some 2 kilometres south of the town accessible from the D810 road. It has flights to destinations across France as well as Europe, Anglet is served by the A63 autoroute, the D810 road from Bayonne to Anglet town, and the D260 road from Bayonne to the northern part of the commune and continuing south-west towards Biarritz. The Adour flows into the Atlantic Ocean between Anglet on the bank and Tarnos on the right bank. Michelena who affirmed that low terrain applies to all the sandy beach-front in the commune, the Basque name of the commune is Angelu and the Gascon name is Anglet. The inhabitants are known as Anglòi in Gascon and Angeluar in Basque, the following table details the origins of the commune name and other names in the commune. Sources, Raymond, Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees,1863, various flint tools characteristic of the Mousterian period have been discovered. The use of splinters on both faces to make sharp points allows working on skins and making axes with wooden handles. Around Anglet, including the Tower of Lannes, Brindos, and Sutar, the sites in the Rue du Colombier and the Tower of Lannes are referenced to as prehistoric sites of refuge which also refers to occupation in proto-historic times. At that time, the regional Roman capital was Aquae Augustae, furthermore, there is evidence that outside these walls, there were many potters who worked for the Roman cohort. The history of Anglet actually appears from the Middle Ages where it was discovered that the core of the oldest settlement is located in an area called Berindos which is Brindos. There are some remains of a mill, dating to the 12th century, two grindstones for wheat and the mule barn are still present
Anglet
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Town Hall
Anglet
Anglet
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Beach on the Chambre d’Amour at Anglet and Biarritz lighthouse
Anglet
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Chronoplus Bus Terminus for the Anglet beaches.
7.
Mean sea level
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Mean sea level is an average level of the surface of one or more of Earths oceans from which heights such as elevations may be measured. A common and relatively straightforward mean sea-level standard is the midpoint between a low and mean high tide at a particular location. Sea levels can be affected by factors and are known to have varied greatly over geological time scales. The careful measurement of variations in MSL can offer insights into ongoing climate change, the term above sea level generally refers to above mean sea level. Precise determination of a sea level is a difficult problem because of the many factors that affect sea level. Sea level varies quite a lot on several scales of time and this is because the sea is in constant motion, affected by the tides, wind, atmospheric pressure, local gravitational differences, temperature, salinity and so forth. The easiest way this may be calculated is by selecting a location and calculating the mean sea level at that point, for example, a period of 19 years of hourly level observations may be averaged and used to determine the mean sea level at some measurement point. One measures the values of MSL in respect to the land, hence a change in MSL can result from a real change in sea level, or from a change in the height of the land on which the tide gauge operates. In the UK, the Ordnance Datum is the sea level measured at Newlyn in Cornwall between 1915 and 1921. Prior to 1921, the datum was MSL at the Victoria Dock, in Hong Kong, mPD is a surveying term meaning metres above Principal Datum and refers to height of 1. 230m below the average sea level. In France, the Marégraphe in Marseilles measures continuously the sea level since 1883 and it is used for a part of continental Europe and main part of Africa as official sea level. Elsewhere in Europe vertical elevation references are made to the Amsterdam Peil elevation, satellite altimeters have been making precise measurements of sea level since the launch of TOPEX/Poseidon in 1992. A joint mission of NASA and CNES, TOPEX/Poseidon was followed by Jason-1 in 2001, height above mean sea level is the elevation or altitude of an object, relative to the average sea level datum. It is also used in aviation, where some heights are recorded and reported with respect to sea level, and in the atmospheric sciences. An alternative is to base height measurements on an ellipsoid of the entire Earth, in aviation, the ellipsoid known as World Geodetic System 84 is increasingly used to define heights, however, differences up to 100 metres exist between this ellipsoid height and mean tidal height. The alternative is to use a vertical datum such as NAVD88. When referring to geographic features such as mountains on a topographic map, the elevation of a mountain denotes the highest point or summit and is typically illustrated as a small circle on a topographic map with the AMSL height shown in metres, feet or both. In the rare case that a location is below sea level, for one such case, see Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
Mean sea level
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This marker indicating sea level is situated between
Jerusalem and the
Dead Sea.
Mean sea level
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Sea Level sign seen on cliff (circled in red) at
Badwater Basin,
Death Valley National Park
8.
Darwin Airline
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Darwin Airline SA is a Swiss regional airline with its head office in Bioggio, Lugano. It operates scheduled domestic and international services throughout some western European countries using the brand name Etihad Regional since January 2014 as well as on behalf of Alitalia and its bases are Geneva Airport and Lugano Airport. Darwin Airline was established on 12 August 2003 and operations started on 28 July 2004, by October 2013 it had 220 employees. On 25 November 2010, Darwin Airline announced its plans to take over some Baboo operating assets by early 2011, under the plan, some parts of the combined airline would continue to be marketed under the Baboo name, while Darwin would be able to substantially expand their operations. Later both DHC-8-Q400 were sold as they had too much capacity for the Darwin Airlines network, on 2 September 2013, Darwin Airline opened a base at Cambridge with flights to Amsterdam, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Milan Malpensa and its Geneva base using Saab 2000 aircraft. These services were suspended in early 2014 due to low demand, on 17 November 2013, Etihad Airways announced that it had bought a 33% stake in Darwin Airline. Four ATR 72-500s leased to Etihad Regional will be painted in the new livery as soon as they are delivered to the company. In early 2014, Etihad Regional leased four ATR 72-500s from Nordic Aviation Capital to expand routes from Geneva and it was previously possible for Darwin Airline to fly these routes thanks to a derogation from the Italian Civil Aviation Authority, however, this was not renewed. In February 2014 Etihad Regional cancelled the planned routes from Berlin to Poznań and Wrocław, by October 2014, several more destinations like Lyon, Turin, and Stuttgart were also cancelled. Additionally, services between Lugano and Zurich, which were flown on behalf of Swiss International Air Lines until 30 October 2014, were terminated as Swiss cancelled the contract. However, by February 2015 the company cancelled further destinations like Linz and Toulouse, on 18 February 2015, Etihad Regional ceased two thirds of its scheduled routes without further notice, amongst them all services to Germany and several to France. Etihad Regional blamed competitors as well as the Swiss aviation authorities for their failed expansion, on 11 March 2015, Darwin Airline confirmed it would start operating some of their Saab 2000s on behalf of Air Berlin, in which Etihad Airways also holds a stake, from April 2015. On 29 March 2015, it was also announced that Darwin Airline will operate all of its four ATR72 on several domestic routes for Alitalia. In November 2015, SkyWork Airlines announced the termination of their ACMI contract with Darwin by December 2015 due to crew shortage at Darwin. The operations on behalf of Air Berlin also ended by 30 April 2016, formerly its head office was on the grounds of Lugano Airport in Agno, near Lugano
Darwin Airline
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A former
Baboo DHC-8 in Darwin colors resting at
Lugano Airport
Darwin Airline
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Darwin Airline
Saab 2000 in Etihad Regional colors
Darwin Airline
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Darwin Airline
Saab 2000 in the airline's own livery
Darwin Airline
–
Interior of a Darwin Airline
Saab 2000
9.
Geneva Airport
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Geneva Airport, formerly and still unofficially known as Cointrin Airport, is the international airport of Geneva, the second most populous city in Switzerland. It is located 4 km northwest of the city centre and it reached 15 million passengers for the first time in December 2014 and serves as a hub for Swiss International Air Lines, easyJet Switzerland and Etihad Regional. Its northern limit runs along the Swiss–French border and the airport can be accessed from both countries, the freight operations are also accessible from both countries, making Geneva a European Union freight hub although Switzerland is not a member of the EU. The airport is partially in the commune of Meyrin and partially in the commune of Le Grand-Saconnex, Geneva airport was created in 1919 as a simple field in Cointrin, near the city of Geneva covering an area of 54 hectares. From 1926 to 1931, the sheds were replaced by three concrete ones. At the time, there was an amount of air traffic, with Lufthansa flying from Berlin to Barcelona via Halle, Leipzig, Geneva. Swissair also flew the Geneva–Lyon–Paris route in a codeshare with Air Union, in 1930 there were six airlines that flew to Geneva Airport, flying seven different routes. 1937 saw construction of the first concrete runway, it measured 405 by 21 metres, in 1938 eight airlines were flying to Geneva, Swissair, KLM, Lufthansa, Air France, Malert, AB Aerotransport, Alpar and Imperial Airways. A further 200 metres of runway was added near the end of the war as well as provision for expansion to a length of 2,500 metres. As part of the Federal Governments post-war planning for the nations airports, Cointrin was noted as being well suited for extension and did not require a triangular runway arrangement as the prevailing winds are very regularly along a single axis. In 1947 the first service to New York started with a Swissair Douglas DC-4, on July 17,1959, the first jet aircraft landed in Geneva, an SAS Caravelle, and it was followed,11 years later, by a TWA Boeing 747 which landed in 1970. To provide for jet traffic, in 1960 the runway was extended to its current length of 3,900 m and this is unusually long for an airport of this size, and could only be built after some territory was exchanged between France and Switzerland. The northeastern end of the 1946 runway had also been the frontier between Geneva and the neighbouring French commune of Ferney-Voltaire, in this way, Switzerland remained exactly the same size, and its neutrality remained unsullied. In the process, the old hamlet of La Limite disappeared, in 1968 the construction of a second runway and a mid-field round terminal were proposed, but ultimately the concept was never realised. On May 7,1968, Geneva Main Terminal was inaugurated and this number was reached in 1985. Despite there never being a regular Concorde service in Switzerland, the aircraft twice landed in Geneva. On August 31,1976, more than 5000 people came to see the Concorde land, in 1987, Geneva airport was linked to the Swiss rail system, with a new station built close to the main terminal. Since then, a number of changes have been made, two of the three in-field terminals have been upgraded with jet bridges, and a new terminal has been built in front of the main terminal with 12 jet bridges, plus two ground floor gates
Geneva Airport
Geneva Airport
–
The main terminal building
Geneva Airport
–
Apron overview
10.
Air France
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Air France, stylized as AIRFRANCE, is the French flag carrier headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance. The airlines global hub is at Charles de Gaulle Airport with Orly Airport, Air Frances corporate headquarters, previously in Montparnasse, Paris, are located on the grounds of Charles de Gaulle Airport, north of Paris. During the Cold War, from 1950 until 1990, it was one of the three main Allied scheduled airlines operating in Germany at West Berlins Tempelhof and Tegel airports. In 1990, it acquired the operations of French domestic carrier Air Inter and it served as Frances primary national flag carrier for seven decades prior to its 2003 merger with KLM. Between April 2001 and March 2002, the airline carried 43.3 million passengers and had a revenue of €12. 53bn. In November 2004, Air France ranked as the largest European airline with 25. 5% total market share, Air France operates a mixed fleet of Airbus and Boeing widebody jets on long-haul routes, and uses Airbus A320 family aircraft on short-haul routes. Air France introduced the A380 on 20 November 2009 with service to New York Citys JFK Airport from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, the carriers regional airline subsidiary, HOP. operates the majority of its regional domestic and European scheduled services with a fleet of regional jet aircraft. Of these airlines, SGTA was the first commercial company in France. The constituent members of Air France had already built extensive networks across Europe, to French colonies in North Africa, during World War II, Air France moved its operations to Casablanca. In 1936, Air France added French-built twin engine Potez 62 aircraft to its featuring a two compartment cabin that could accommodate 14 to 16 passengers. A high wing monoplane, it had a fuselage with composite coating while the wings were fabric covered with a metal leading edge. Equipped with Hispano-Suiza V-engines, they were used on routes in Europe, South America, on 26 June 1945 all of Frances air transport companies were nationalised. On 29 December 1945, a decree of the French Government granted Air France the management of the entire French air transport network, Air France appointed its first flight attendants in 1946. The same year the airline opened its first air terminal at Les Invalides in central Paris and it was linked to Paris Le Bourget Airport, Air Frances first operations and engineering base, by coach. At that time the network covered 160,000 km, claimed to be the longest in the world, Société Nationale Air France was set up on 1 January 1946. European schedules were initially operated by a fleet of Douglas DC-3 aircraft, on 1 July 1946, Air France started direct flights between Paris and New York via refuelling stops at Shannon and Gander. Douglas DC-4 piston-engine airliners covered the route in just under 20 hours, in September 1947 Air Frances network stretched east from New York, Fort de France and Buenos Aires to Shanghai
Air France
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The inauguration of the Aérogare des Invalides on 21 August 1951
Air France
–
Air France
Douglas DC-3 at
Manchester Airport in 1952
Air France
–
Lockheed Super Constellation of Air France at London (Heathrow) Airport in April 1955
Air France
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Passengers disembarking from a Sud-Est SE-161
11.
Orly Airport
–
Paris Orly Airport is an international airport located partially in Orly and partially in Villeneuve-le-Roi,7 NM south of Paris, France. Prior to the construction of Charles de Gaulle Airport, Orly was the airport of Paris. Orly Airport covers 15.3 square kilometres of land, originally known as Villeneuve-Orly Airport, the facility was opened in the southern suburbs of Paris in 1932 as a secondary airport to Le Bourget. Before this two huge airship hangars had been built there by the engineer Eugène Freyssinet from 1923 on, the 50th Fighter Group flew P-47 Thunderbolt fighter-bomber aircraft from the airport until September, then liaison squadrons used the airfield until October 1945. The USAAF diagram from March 1947 shows the 6140-foot 27/207 runway with 5170-foot 81/261 runway crossing it at its north end. The November 1953 Aeradio diagram shows four runways, all 197 feet wide, 03L7874 ft, 03R6069 ft, 08L5118 ft. The American United States Army Air Forces 1408th Army Air Force Base Unit was the operator at Orly Field until March 1947 when control was returned to the French Government. The Americans left in 1967 as a result of Frances withdrawal from NATOs integrated military command, in May 1958 Pan Am DC-7Cs flew to Los Angeles in 21 hr 56 min, TWA, Air France and Pan Am flew nonstop to New York in 14 hrs 10-15 min. Air France flew to Tokyo in 31 hr 5 min via Anchorage or 44 hr 45 min on a seven-stop 1049G via India, Air Frances ten flights a day to London were almost all Viscounts, the only other London flight was Alitalias daily DC-6B. Paris-Orly Airport features two passenger terminal buildings, Terminal Sud and Terminal Ouest, The brick-style southern terminal building consists of six floors. The airside area and departure gates are located on the upper level 1, the waiting area, which features several shops as well, houses gates A1-A10 and A40-A42 and is furthermore connected to the gate areas Hall A and Hall B to each side of the building. 15 of the departure gates are equipped with jet-bridges, some of them are able to handle wide-body aircraft. The western terminal has a different layout than Terminal Sud, consisting of two floors and a area of four fingers rather than a brick-style layout. The ground level 0 features the arrivals facilities including 8 baggage reclaim belts as well as several service facilities, the departures area is located on level 1 with more stores and restaurants located here. This central departures area is connected to four areas named halls 1-4 which contain departure gates 10A-10P, 20A-20L, 31A-31F. 23 stands at this terminal are equipped with jet-bridges, with several of them able to handle wide-body aircraft. AOM French Airlines had its office in Orly Airport Building 363 in Paray-Vieille-Poste. After AOM and Air Liberté merged in 2001, the new airline, Air Lib, Orly Airport is connected to the RER B train line at Antony train station by the Orlyval automatic shuttle
Orly Airport
Orly Airport
–
Paris Orly Airport Aéroport de Paris-Orly
Orly Airport
–
Terminal South at Orly Airport. Hundreds of photographs of people and the word Bienvenue (Welcome) covers the facade.
Orly Airport
–
Terminal South
12.
Marseille Provence Airport
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The airports hinterland goes from Gap to Arles and from Toulon to Avignon. It is the fifth busiest French airport by traffic and third largest for cargo traffic. In 2012 the airport achieved the fourth highest European passenger traffic growth, marseille Provence Airport serves as a focus city for Air France. In summer 2013, the airport served 132 regular destinations, the largest offer in France after the Parisian airports, formerly known as Marseille–Marignane Airport, it has been managed since 1934 by the Marseille-Provence Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In the 1920s and 1930s, Marignane was one of Frances main points of operation for flying boats and it even briefly served as a terminal for Pan American World Airways Clipper flying boats. Other flying boat operators were Aéropostale and Air Union, the latter moving over from Antibes in 1931, Marignane was also a production site for hydroplanes by Lioré et Olivier. In September 2006, the airport opened its new terminal MP2 for budget airlines, in 2013 the airport expanded its shopping and dining options, with 30 new shops and restaurants, among which is the first Burger King shop in France since 1997. The Marignane airport is also the base of the aerial firefighting division of Civil security. The head office of Airbus Helicopters is located on the airport property, on 4 February 1948, SNCASE Languedoc P/7 F-BATK of Air France was damaged beyond economical repair. On 30 July 1950, SNCASE Languedoc P/7 F-BCUI of Air France was damaged beyond repair when its undercarriage collapsed on landing. On 6 February 1989 Inter Cargo Service Flight 3132, operated by Vickers Vanguard F-GEJE crashed on takeoff, three crew died, no passengers were being carried. Data current as of October 2006, current weather for LFML at NOAA/NWS Accident history for MRS, Marseille–Marignane Airport at Aviation Safety Network
Marseille Provence Airport
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Marseille Provence Airport Aéroport de Marseille Provence Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) Y-14
Marseille Provence Airport
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Terminal 2 and control tower
Marseille Provence Airport
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Check-in hall
13.
British Airways
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British Airways, often shortened to BA, is the flag carrier and the largest airline in the United Kingdom based on fleet size. When measured by passengers carried, it is second-largest in the United Kingdom behind easyJet, the airline is based in Waterside near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. On 31 March 1974, all four companies were merged to form British Airways, after almost 13 years as a state company, British Airways was privatised in February 1987 as part of a wider privatisation plan by the Conservative government. The carrier soon expanded with the acquisition of British Caledonian in 1987, followed by Dan-Air in 1992, British Airways is a founding member of the Oneworld airline alliance, along with American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, and the now defunct Canadian Airlines. The alliance has since grown to become the third-largest, after SkyTeam, IAG is listed on the London Stock Exchange and in the FTSE100 Index. A long-time Boeing customer, British Airways ordered 59 Airbus A320 family aircraft in August 1998, in 2007 it purchased 12 Airbus A380s and 24 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, marking the start of its long-haul fleet replacement. The centrepiece of the airlines fleet is the Boeing 777. British Airways is the largest operator of the Boeing 747-400, with 51 registered to the airline, on 1 September 1972 the management service functions of both BOAC and BEA were combined under the newly formed British Airways Group. British Airways was established as an airline on 31 March 1974 by the dissolution of BOAC, British Airways and Air France operated the supersonic airliner Aerospatiale-BAC Concorde, and the worlds first supersonic passenger service flew in January 1976 from London Heathrow to Bahrain. Services to the US began on 24 May 1976 with a flight to Washington Dulles airport, service to Singapore was established in co-operation with Singapore Airlines as a continuation of the flight to Bahrain. The final commercial Concorde flight was BA002 from New York JFK to London Heathrow on 24 October 2003, in 1981 the airline was instructed to prepare for privatisation by the Conservative Thatcher government. Sir John King, later Lord King, was appointed chairman, while many other large airlines struggled, King was credited with transforming British Airways into one of the most profitable air carriers in the world. The flag carrier was privatised and was floated on the London Stock Exchange in February 1987, British Airways effected the takeover of the UKs second airline, British Caledonian, in July of that same year. The formation of Richard Bransons Virgin Atlantic Airways in 1984 created a competitor for BA and this campaign included allegations of poaching Virgin Atlantic customers, tampering with private files belonging to Virgin and undermining Virgins reputation in the City. As a result of the case BA management apologised unreservedly, Lord King stepped down as chairman in 1993 and was replaced by his deputy, Colin Marshall, while Bob Ayling took over as CEO. Virgin filed an action in the US that same year regarding BAs domination of the trans-Atlantic routes. In 1992 British Airways expanded through the acquisition of the financially troubled Dan-Air, British Asia Airways, a subsidiary based in Taiwan, was formed in March 1993 to operate between London and Taipei. That same month BA purchased a 25% stake in the Australian airline Qantas and, with the acquisition of Brymon Airways in May, in September 1998, British Airways, along with American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, and Canadian Airlines, formed the Oneworld airline alliance
British Airways
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A
Boeing 747-100 in BOAC-British Airways transition livery
British Airways
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A British Airways
Hawker Siddeley Trident in transitional scheme with BEA livery but with British Airways titles
British Airways
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British Airways' first
Concorde at Heathrow Airport, on 15 January 1976
British Airways
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British Airways and Iberia merged in January 2011, forming the International Airlines Group, one of the world's largest airlines.
14.
Heathrow Airport
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Heathrow Airport is a major international airport in London, United Kingdom. In 2016, it handled a record 75.7 million passengers, Heathrow lies 14 miles west of Central London, and has two parallel east–west runways along with four operational terminals on a site that covers 12.27 square kilometres. London Heathrow is the hub for British Airways and the primary operating base for Virgin Atlantic. In September 2012, the UK government established the Airports Commission, in July 2015, the commission backed a third runway at Heathrow and the government approved a third runway in October 2016. Heathrow is 14 mi west of central London, near the end of the London Borough of Hillingdon on a parcel of land that is designated part of the Metropolitan Green Belt. The airport is surrounded by the areas of Harlington, Harmondsworth, Longford and Cranford to the north and by Hounslow. To the south lie Bedfont and Stanwell while to the west Heathrow is separated from Slough in Berkshire by the M25 motorway, Heathrow falls entirely under the TW postcode area. As the airport is west of London and as its runways run east–west, for a chronicled history of Heathrow Airport, see History of Heathrow Airport. Heathrow Airport originated in 1929 as an airfield on land south-east of the hamlet of Heathrow from which the airport takes its name. At that time there were farms, market gardens and orchards there, there was a Heathrow Farm about where Terminal 1 is now, a Heathrow Hall and a Heathrow House. This hamlet was largely along a lane which ran roughly along the east. Development of the whole Heathrow area as a much larger airport began in 1944. But by the time the airfield was nearing completion, World War II had ended, the government continued to develop the airport as a civil airport, it opened as London Airport in 1946 and was renamed Heathrow Airport in 1966. Heathrow Airport is used by over 80 airlines flying to 185 destinations in 84 countries, the airport is the primary hub of British Airways and is a base for Virgin Atlantic. It has four terminals and a cargo terminal. Of Heathrows 73.4 million passengers in 2014, 93% were international travellers, the busiest single destination in passenger numbers is New York, with over 3 million passengers flying between Heathrow and JFK Airport in 2013. As the required length for runways has grown, Heathrow now has two parallel runways running east–west. These are extended versions of the two east–west runways from the original hexagram, from the air, almost all of the original runways can still be seen, incorporated into the present system of taxiways
Heathrow Airport
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Aerial view of Heathrow Airport
Heathrow Airport
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A
Qantas Boeing 747-400 on approach to London Heathrow 27L runway.
Heathrow Airport
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Central waiting area in Terminal 5
Heathrow Airport
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Concorde G-BOAB in storage at Heathrow
15.
EasyJet
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EasyJet is a British airline, operating under the low-cost carrier model, based at London Luton Airport. It operates domestic and international scheduled services on over 820 routes in more than 30 countries, EasyJet plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE100 Index. EasyGroup Holdings Ltd is the largest shareholder with a 34. 62% stake and it employs nearly 11,000 people, based throughout Europe but mainly in the UK. EasyJet has seen expansion since its establishment in 1995, having grown through a combination of acquisitions, the airline, along with associate company easyJet Switzerland, operates more than 200 aircraft, mostly Airbus A319. It has 28 bases across Europe, the largest being Gatwick, in 2014 the airline carried more than 65 million passengers, making it the second-largest airline in Europe by number of passengers carried, behind Ryanair. EasyJet was featured in the television series Airline broadcast on ITV which followed the operations at London Luton. In November 2016, ITN Productions announced a new TV series to be broadcast on ITV in 2017 exploring what it takes to become a pilot at the airline. The current working title of the series is easyJet, Inside the Cockpit and will feature unprecedented access to the pilot training scheme using unique. The airline was established in 1995, the first company in what would become the easyGroup conglomerate. It was launched by Greek Cypriot businessman Stelios Haji-Ioannou with two wet leased Boeing 737-200 aircraft, initially operating two routes, London Luton Airport to Glasgow and Edinburgh. In April 1996, the first wholly owned aircraft was delivered to the airline, enabling its first international route, until October 1997, the aircraft were operated by GB Airways and subsequently by Air Foyle, as easyJet had not yet received its Air Operators Certificate. EasyJet was floated on the London Stock Exchange on 5 November 2000, in October 2004 the FL Group, owner of the airlines Icelandair and Sterling, purchased an 8. 4% stake in the airline. Over the course of 2005, FL increased its share in the company periodically to 16. 9%, however, in April 2006 the threat of takeover receded as FL sold its stake for €325 million, securing a profit of €140m on its investment. In November 2005, Ray Webster stood down after 10 years as executive officer and was replaced by former RAC plc CEO. EasyJet has expanded since its establishment, driven by demand from both the United Kingdom and continental Europe, as part of this, the airline has also purchased several rivals, including GB Airways. In March 1998, easyJet purchased a 40% stake in Swiss charter airline TEA Basle for three million Swiss francs, the airline was renamed easyJet Switzerland and commenced franchise services on 1 April 1999, having relocated its headquarters to Geneva International Airport. This was easyJets first new base outside the United Kingdom, in 2002, rival airline Go Fly was purchased for £374 million, the airline inherited three new bases from Go, at Bristol Airport, East Midlands Airport and London Stansted Airport. The acquisition of Go almost doubled the number of Boeing 737-300 aircraft in the easyJet fleet, in 2002, the airline opened its base at Gatwick Airport, and between 2003 and 2007 opened bases in Germany, France, Italy and Spain, establishing a presence in continental Europe
EasyJet
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Go Fly Boeing 737-300 in 2004
EasyJet
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Hangar 89 at
London Luton Airport, EasyJet head office
EasyJet
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EasyJet
Airbus A320 at
Ben Gurion Airport
EasyJet
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EasyJet
Airbus A319 wearing the new livery (2015)
16.
Charles de Gaulle Airport
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Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, also known as Roissy Airport, is the largest international airport in France. It is named after Charles de Gaulle, leader of the Free French Forces during the Second World War, founder of the French Fifth Republic, Charles de Gaulle Airport is located within portions of several communes 25 km to the northeast of Paris. The airport serves as the hub for Air France as well as a European hub for fellow SkyTeam alliance partner Delta Air Lines. In 2016, the airport handled 65,933,145 passengers and 472,950 aircraft movements, thus making it the worlds ninth-busiest airport and it is also the worlds tenth-busiest and it is Europes second-busiest airport in aircraft movements. In terms of traffic, the airport is the twelfth-busiest in the world. The incumbent director of the airport, Franck Goldnadel, was appointed to his position on 1 March 2011, Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport covers 32.38 square kilometres of land. Management of the airport lies solely on the authority of Paris Aéroport, which also manages Orly, Le Bourget, Marsa Alam in Egypt, the planning and construction phase of what was known then as Aéroport de Paris Nord began in 1966. On 8 March 1974 the airport, renamed Charles de Gaulle Airport, Terminal 1 was built in an avant-garde design of a ten-floors-high circular building surrounded by seven satellite buildings, each with six gates allowing sunlight to enter through apertures. The main architect was Paul Andreu, who was also in charge of the extensions during the following decades, the Frutiger typeface was commissioned for use in the airport and implemented on signs throughout the building in 1975. Initially called Roissy, it was renamed after its designer Adrian Frutiger, until 2005, every PA announcement made at Terminal 1 was preceded by a distinctive chime, nicknamed Indicatif Roissy and composed by Bernard Parmegiani in 1971. The chime can be heard in the Roman Polanski film Frantic, the chime was officially replaced by the Indicatif ADP chime. Charles de Gaulle Airport has three terminals, Terminal 1 is the oldest and situated opposite to Terminal 3, Terminal 2 is located at another side with 7 sub-terminal buildings. Terminal 2 was originally exclusively for Air France, since then it has been expanded significantly. Terminals 2A to 2F are interconnected by elevated walkways and situated next to each other, Terminal 2G is a satellite building connected by shuttle bus. Terminal 3 hosts charter and low-cost airlines, the CDGVAL light-rail shuttle connects Terminal 2 to Terminals 1/3 and their parking lots. Refer to Ground Transportation below for inter-terminal transfers and transport to central Paris, the first terminal, designed by Paul Andreu, was built in the image of an octopus. It consists of a terminal building which houses key functions such as check-in counters. Seven satellites with boarding gates are connected to the building by underground walkways
Charles de Gaulle Airport
Charles de Gaulle Airport
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Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport Aéroport Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle Roissy Airport
Charles de Gaulle Airport
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Aerial view of Terminal 1
Charles de Gaulle Airport
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Aerial view of Terminal 2A and 2B
17.
Lille Airport
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Lille Airport is an airport located in Lesquin,7 km south-southeast of Lille, a city in northern France. It is also known as Lille-Lesquin Airport or Lesquin Airport, Lille is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the capital of the Nord-Pas de Calais region and the prefecture of the Nord department. The airport is 15 minutes from the city centre of Lille and it is the 12th busiest French airport in number of passengers, around 970,000 passengers in 2001 and 1,397,637 passengers in 2012. In terms of shipping, it ranks fourth, with almost 38,000 tonnes of freight pass through each year. Airport Passenger Traffic Media related to Lille Lesquin International Airport at Wikimedia Commons Current weather for LFQQ at NOAA/NWS Accident history for LIL at Aviation Safety Network
Lille Airport
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Lille Airport Aéroport de Lille (Advanced Landing Ground B-51)
18.
Gatwick Airport
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Gatwick Airport is a major international airport in south-east England,29.5 miles south of Central London and 2.7 nautical miles north of Crawley. It is the second-busiest airport by passenger traffic in the United Kingdom. Gatwick is the eighth-busiest airport in Europe, Gatwick opened as an aerodrome in the late 1920s, and has been in use for commercial flights since 1933. The airport has two terminals, the North Terminal and the South Terminal, which areas of 98,000 m2 and 160,000 m2 respectively. It operates as a airport, using a main runway with a length of 3,316 m. A secondary runway is available but, due to its proximity to the main runway, in 2016,43.1 million passengers passed through the airport, a 7. 1% increase compared with 2015. The land on which Gatwick Airport stands was first developed as an aerodrome in the late 1920s, the Air Ministry approved commercial flights from the site in 1933, and the first terminal, The Beehive, was built in 1935. Scheduled air services from the new terminal began the following year, major development work at the airport took place during the 1950s. The airport buildings were designed by Yorke Rosenberg Mardall between 1955 and 1988, further rapid growth of charter flights at Gatwick was encouraged by the Ministry of Aviation, which instructed airlines to move regular charter flights from Heathrow. Following the takeover of BUA by Caledonian Airways at the beginning of the following decade, while continuing to dominate scheduled operations at Gatwick for most of the 1980s, BCal was also one of the airports major charter airlines until the end of the 1970s. Following the demise of Air Europe and Dan-Air in the early 1990s and these moves resulted in BA becoming Gatwicks dominant airline by the turn of the millennium. BAs subsequent decision to de-hub Gatwick provided the space for EasyJet to establish its biggest base at the airport, BAA Limited and its predecessors, BAA plc and the British Airports Authority, owned and operated Gatwick from 1 April 1966 to 2 December 2009. From 1978 to 2008, many flights to and from the United States used Gatwick because of restrictions on the use of Heathrow implemented in the Bermuda II agreement between the UK and the US. US Airways, Gatwicks last remaining US carrier, ended service from Gatwick on 30 March 2013 and this leaves Gatwick without a scheduled US airline for the first time in nearly 40 years. On 17 September 2008, BAA announced it would sell Gatwick after the Competition Commission published a report about BAAs market dominance in London, the sale was completed on 3 December. The sales were part of GIPs strategy to syndicate the equity portion of the acquisition by issuing bonds to refinance bank debt. Although this entails bringing additional investors into the airport, GIP aims to retain management control, the Californian state pension fund CalPERS acquired a 12. 7% stake in Gatwick Airport for about $155 million in June 2010. This transaction completed GIPs syndication process for the airport, reducing its stake to 42%, the airport is owned and operated by Gatwick Airport Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ivy Holdco Limited
Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport
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Gatwick's North Terminal building and transit station
Gatwick Airport
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South Terminal international arrivals concourse
Gatwick Airport
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The airport control tower opened in 1984.
19.
Luton Airport
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In 2016, over 14.6 million passengers passed through the airport, a record total for Luton making it the fifth busiest airport in the UK. It is the fourth-largest airport serving the London area after Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, the airport serves as a base for EasyJet, Monarch, Thomson Airways, Ryanair and Wizz Air. The vast majority of the routes served are within Europe, although there are some charter and scheduled routes to destinations in Northern Africa, the airport is 2 mi from Junction 10 of the M1 motorway. In 2016 Luton Airport handled a record 14,551,837 million passengers, an airport was opened on the site on 16 July 1938 by the Secretary of State for Air, Kingsley Wood. During World War II, it was a base for Royal Air Force fighters, percival Aircraft had its factory at the airport until the early 1960s. From the mid-1960s, executive aircraft have been based at the airport and these activities have grown and several executive jet operators and maintenance companies are now based at the airport, handling aircraft from all over the world. It became the base for charter airlines such as Autair, Euravia, Dan-Air. In 1972, Luton Airport was the most profitable airport in the country and it suffered a severe setback in August 1974 when major package holiday operator Clarksons and its in-house airline Court Line were liquidated. In the 1980s the airport was seeing a decline in customer numbers, the council responded to lobbying and focused again on developing the airport, first by operating the airport at arms length via an independent management team. As a result, necessary infrastructure work was undertaken, the original runways had been grass tracks 18/36 and 06/24, and then a concrete runway 08/26. By the end of the 80s, there was only one runway, the 18/36 grass runway had disappeared under a landfill, while 06/24 had effectively become a taxiway. To remain a viable airport it was necessary to update airfield services and this meant updating ILS, glidepath and localiser and removing the hump in the runway, even a six-foot person could not see one end of the runway from the other. During the course of work, the airport would re-open for flights during the day. While developing the infrastructure, various business partners were courted. The process envisaged a centre, an airport railway station. In 1990, the airport was renamed London Luton Airport to re-emphasise the airports proximity to the UK capital, in 1991, another setback occurred when Ryanair, which had flown from the airport to Ireland for a number of years, transferred its London operating base to Stansted. Later in the 90s, MyTravel Group began charter flights from the airport, using the Airtours brand and new low-cost scheduled flights from Debonair and EasyJet, the latter making Luton its base. AGI was a specialist airport management and development company owned by Lockheed Martin Corp. of USA
Luton Airport
Luton Airport
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Apron at London Luton Airport
Luton Airport
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First Capital Connect train at
Luton Airport Parkway
20.
EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg
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It is located in France, on the administrative territory of the commune of Saint-Louis near the Swiss and German borders. The airport serves as a base for easyJet Switzerland and Belair, which operates on behalf of Air Berlin, plans for the construction of a joint Swiss–French airport started in the 1930s, but were halted by the Second World War. In 1946 talks resumed and it was agreed that an airport would be built 4 kilometres north of Blotzheim, France would provide the land and the Swiss canton of Basel-Stadt would cover the construction costs. Basel-Stadts Grand Council agreed to pay the costs for a provisional airport even before a treaty was signed. Construction began on 8 March 1946 and an airport with a 1. The first enlargement project was approved by referendum in Basel in 1960 and, over the following decades, the north–south runway was extended further to 3,900 metres in 1972. In 1984, a total of 1 million passengers was reached. In 1987, the trademark name EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg was introduced, in 1992 a total of 2 million passengers used the airport. By 1998, this number rose up to 3 million, a decision was made to enlarge the terminals again with a new Y-finger dock. The first phase was completed in 2002 and the phase in 2005. Crossair was based at Basel and was its largest airline, in 2004 the low cost carrier EasyJet opened a base at Basel and the passenger totals rose again, reaching 4 million in 2006. From 2007 until 2009, Ryanair also flew to the airport for the first time, however, as result of a dispute over landing fees, the airline closed all eight routes. More recently Ryanair announced it would return in April 2014, with the resumption of Basel–Dublin route as well as the new route Basel – London–Stansted, since then, Ryanair has hinted at the possibility of adding new routes in the foreseeable future. In December 2014, Swiss International Air Lines announced it would cease all operations at Basel by 31 May 2015 due to competition from low-cost carriers. Swiss faced direct competition on five out of its six Basel routes, the Lufthansa Group announced it would set up Eurowings first base outside Germany at the EuroAirport as a replacement. However these plans were cancelled in favour of Vienna International Airport. In January 2017, it has announced that Air Berlin including its Swiss subsdiary Belair are cancelling Basel/Mulhouse from their schedules entirely as part of restructuring measures. EuroAirport is one of the few airports in the world operated jointly by two countries, in this case France and Switzerland and it is governed by a 1949 international convention
EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg
EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg
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Main terminal building
EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg
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Swiss International Air Lines head office at EuroAirport
21.
Finnair
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Finnair is the flag carrier and largest airline of Finland, with its headquarters in Vantaa and its main hub at Helsinki Airport. Finnair and its subsidiaries dominate both domestic and international air travel in Finland and its major shareholder is the government of Finland, with 55. 8% of the shares. Finnair is a member of the Oneworld airline alliance, in 2015, it transported over 10 million passengers to over 60 European,13 Asian and 4 North-American destinations. At the end of 2016, the airline employed 4,937 people, Finnair is the fifth oldest airline in the world with uninterrupted existence. With no fatal or hull-loss accidents since 1963, Finnair is consistently on the list of safest airlines in the world, in 1923, consul Bruno Lucander founded Finnair as Aero O/Y. The company code, AY, originates from this, AY stands for Aero Yhtiö, Lucander had previously run the Finnish operations of the Estonian airline Aeronaut. In mid-1923 he concluded an agreement with Junkers Flugzeugwerke AG to provide aircraft, the charter establishing the company was signed in Helsinki on 12 September 1923, and the company was entered into the trade register on 11 December 1923. The first flight was on 20 March 1924 from Helsinki to Tallinn, the seaplane service ended in December 1936 following the construction of the first aerodromes in Finland. Air raids on Helsinki and other Finnish cities made World War II a difficult period for the airline, the Finnish government wanted longer routes so it acquired a majority stake in the company in 1946 and re-established services to Europe in November 1947, initially using the Douglas DC-3. In 1953, the airline began branding itself as Finnair, the Convair 440 twin-engined pressurised airliner was acquired from January 1953 and these faster aircraft were operated on the companys longer routes as far as London. In 1961, Finnair joined the jet age by adding Rolls-Royce Avon-engined Caravelles to its fleet and these were later exchanged with the manufacturer for Pratt & Whitney JT8D-engined Super Caravelles. In 1962, Finnair acquired a 27% controlling interest in a private Finnish airline, Finnair Oy became the companys official name on 25 June 1968. In 1969, it took possession of its first U. S. made jet, the first transatlantic service to New York was inaugurated on 15 May 1969. In the 1960s Finnairs head office was in Helsinki, Finnair received its first widebody aircraft in 1975, two DC-10-30 planes. The first of these arrived on 4 February 1975 and entered service on 14 February 1975, in 1979, Finnair established a subsidiary company Finnaviation for domestic operations, with a 60% stake. In 1983, Finnair became the first operator to fly non-stop from Western Europe to Japan operating Helsinki-Tokyo flights with one McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30ER, the aircraft was fitted with extra fuel tanks, taking 13 hours for the trip. The routes through Soviet airspace and with a stopover in Moscow also took 13 hours, in the spring of 1986, Soviet regulators finally cleared the way for Air France and Japan Airlines to fly nonstop Paris-Tokyo services over Soviet airspace, putting Finnair at a disadvantage. Finnair launched a Helsinki-Beijing route in 1988, making Finnair the first Western European carrier to fly non-stop between Europe and China, in 1989, Finnair became the launch customer for the McDonnell Douglas MD-11, the first of which was delivered on 7 December 1990
Finnair
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Finnish Airlines
Douglas DC-3 from the late 1940s, restored to original livery at
Oulu, (2014)
Finnair
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Finnair
Convair 440 in 1963
Finnair
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Finnar
Sud SE-210 Caravelle 10B3 Super B in 1976
Finnair
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Finnair
McDonnell Douglas MD-87 in 1991
22.
Helsinki Airport
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Helsinki Airport or Helsinki-Vantaa Airport is the main international airport of the Helsinki metropolitan region. The airport is located in the city of Vantaa, about 5 kilometres west of Tikkurila, the airport is operated by Finavia. Helsinki Airport is the leading long-haul airport in Northern Europe, the airport is the main international gateway to Finland and the biggest airport in the country. It is the 31st largest airport in Europe and 4th largest in the Nordic countries in terms of passenger numbers, about 90% of Finlands international air traffic passes through Helsinki Airport. The airport handled 17.2 million passengers in 2016, including 14.5 million international passengers and 2.7 million domestic passengers, the airport handled 165,430 tonnes of cargo in 2015. On average, the airport handles around 350 departures a day, the airport is the main hub for Finnair, the flag carrier of Finland, and its subsidiary Nordic Regional Airlines. It is also the hub for CityJet, Jet Time, TUIfly Nordic and operating base for Norwegian Air Shuttle, the airport is also a focus city for Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia. Helsinki Airport handles around 40 airlines, including 28 scheduled and 13 charter airlines, while offering scheduled, the airport offers a total of 21 direct long-haul routes to Asia and North America and numerous long-haul charter destinations. Currently Helsinki Airport has two terminals with a total of 27 jet bridges and numerous remote parking stands. Originally built for the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, the airport is today the fourth busiest airport in the Nordic countries and this number makes up for around 90% of the total number of passengers in Finlands 21 commercial airports combined making it the busiest airport in Finland by far. It provides jobs for 20,000 people and there are 1,500 companies that operate at this airport, the airport is operated by Finavia, the state-owned enterprise that operates Finlands airports. As of February 2015, there has been a proposal to rename the airport as Sibelius Airport after Jean Sibelius, the proposal stems from the project group of Jean Sibeliuss anniversary year 2015, the foundation for the Sibelius birth city foundation and the Sibelius society. The Finnish government ministers Alexander Stubb, Antti Rinne and Paula Risikko have expressed positive feedback for the proposal, Helsinki Airport was originally built for the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. The first two Aero Oy DC-3 aircraft, OH-LCC and OH-LCD, landed on 26 June 1952, while Aero used Helsinki-Malmi Airport, charter flights were directed to the new airport on 26 October 1952. The airport originally had a runway, the second runway being built four years later in 1956. Regular jet flight operations began in 1959, the year 1973 saw the first security checks being carried out for international flights. A new terminal opened in 1969, while the first transatlantic service to New York was inaugurated on 15 May 1969, the name Helsinki-Vantaa Airport was taken in use in 1977. In 1983, the airport began offering the first non-stop service from Western Europe to Japan as Finnair commenced regular service between Helsinki and Tokyo with a single McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30ER, in the 1970s, Pan Am operated flights from Helsinki to the US
Helsinki Airport
Helsinki Airport
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Runway 33 at Helsinki Airport
Helsinki Airport
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Check-in-area at Terminal 2
Helsinki Airport
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Finnair Airbus A330-300 at Helsinki Airport
23.
Flybe
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Flybe is the largest independent regional airline in Europe, based in Exeter, operating more UK domestic flights than any other airline. It flies 7 million passengers a year on 149 routes, from 62 destinations in 9 countries, connecting to hubs in Manchester, Birmingham, Paris, Dublin. It is a member of the European Regions Airline Association, Flybes parent company Flybe Group PLC is listed on the London Stock Exchange. The airline launched in 1979 as Jersey European Airways following the merger of Intra Airways, in 1983 the airline was sold to Walker Steel Group, which also owned Spacegrand Aviation, and the two airlines were merged under the Jersey European name in 1985. Jersey European was renamed British European in 2000, and received its current name in 2002, the two airlines were then run separately, with partially shared management, until 1985 when they amalgamated under the Jersey European name, with the airlines headquarters moving to Exeter. The airline became British European in June 2000, shortening this title to Flybe on 18 July 2002 and repositioning itself as a full-service, on 3 November 2006 it was announced that Flybe would buy BA Connect, except for that airlines services out of London City Airport. The takeover was complete in March 2007, the expanded airlines owners were Rosedale Aviation Holdings, Flybe staff and – as a result of the BA Connect takeover – International Airlines Group. The acquisition increased Flybes route network in both the UK and continental Europe, making Flybe Europes largest regional airline, the agreement would see Loganair aircraft flying in Flybe colours on 55 routes from Scotland. In 2008, in order to avoid losing a £280,000 rebate from Norwich Airport, as a result, the environmental group Friends of the Earth called on the government to launch an investigation into the aviation industry. Chief Executive Officer Jim French was recognised in the 2009 Queens Birthday Honours List with a CBE for his services to the airline industry, on 10 December 2010, Flybe floated an IPO on the London Stock Exchange, with trading in shares commencing on the same day. Full public release of shares followed on 15 December 2010, the share price was set at 295p, valuing the company at approximately £215 million, and raising £66 million for the company, half of which was to pay for fleet expansion. On 23 May 2013, it was reported that Flybe had sold its slots at Gatwick airport to Easyjet for £20m, and that the slots would be handed over to Easyjet on 29 March 2014. CEO and Chairman Jim French retired in August 2013, leaving the post of CEO to Saad Hammad, formerly of EasyJet airline, by November 2013, Hammad had shaken up the operation, requesting the resignations of three top managers within six weeks of his arrival. Out of 158 routes flown at the time, over 60 did not cover their operating expenses. On 23 April 2014, Flybe announced that it will launch domestic, the airline is expecting to carry around 500,000 passengers a year, with all 5 allocated aircraft being based around the Flybe network overnight. In March 2014, it was announced that Flybe would undergo a brand refresh. This new scheme included a new aircraft livery and new interior features. British Airways sold most of its stake in the airline in June 2014
Flybe
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A Jersey European
Vickers Viscount in 1980
Flybe
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Flybe
Flybe
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Jack Walker House, Flybe head office at
Exeter International Airport
Flybe
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Loganair
Saab 340B at
Leeds Bradford International Airport
24.
Birmingham Airport
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It has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction. Passenger throughput in 2016 was over 11.6 million, making Birmingham the seventh busiest UK airport, the airport offers both domestic flights within the UK, and international flights to destinations in Europe, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, North America and the Caribbean. Birmingham Airport is a base for BMI Regional, Flybe, Jet2. com, Monarch, Ryanair, Thomas Cook Airlines. Birmingham Airport is 5.5 NM east-south-east of Birmingham city centre and it is connected by the elevated AirRail Link with Birmingham International railway station on the West Coast Main Line. The relatively short north-east – south-west runway is not operational, and has incorporated into the taxiway for aircraft departing the end of runway 33. In 1928, the Birmingham City Council decided that the city required a municipal airport, Plans were submitted in 1933, identifying Elmdon as the site for the airport, delayed by the Great Depression. On 8 July 1939 the Duchess of Kent, Princess Marina of Greece, the airport was owned and operated by Birmingham City Council. Initial services flew to Croydon, Glasgow, Liverpool, Ryde, Shoreham, Manchester and Southampton. During World War II the airport was requisitioned by the Air Ministry and was used by the RAF and the Royal Navy as RAF Elmdon, an Elementary Flying School and a base for the Fleet Air Arm. During this time, the grass strip was replaced by two hard runways, 06/24 at 2,469 feet and 15/33 at 4,170 feet. Avro Lancaster and Stirling bombers manufactured at the Austin Aero Companys shadow factory at Cofton Hackett could not take off from the runways at Longbridge. Instead they were transported by road, minus the wings that would be attached at Elmdon and they were test flown from the aerodrome, and once declared airworthy they were flown to their operational units. On 8 July 1948, the returned to civilian use. During the post-war years, public events, such as air fairs,1961, An additional terminal building to handle international traffic was opened, called The International Building. 1967, The main runway was extended to 7,400 feet to allow jet operations,1984, Opening of the Maglev rail link train between the airport terminal and nearby railway station. 1993, The Government limited public sector borrowing and this meant that the airport could only expand by using private sector finance. 51% of the local council shares were sold to restructure the airport into a private sector company,1995, Closure of the Maglev rail link after 11 years, following a string of breakdowns. 20 October 2003, The Concorde made her final visit to Birmingham Airport on as part of her farewell tour, November 2007, The airport published a master plan for its development up to 2030, called Towards 2030, Planning a Sustainable Future for Air Transport in the Midlands
Birmingham Airport
Birmingham Airport
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Where Birmingham Airport is now, as it was around 1921. (See for a modern map of Birmingam Airport and around.)
Birmingham Airport
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The
Maglev rapid transport system, which operated from 1984 to 1995, was the first commercial maglev system in the world
Birmingham Airport
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The
AirRail Link joins the railway station to the airport, operated by a track and pulley system
25.
Southampton Airport
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Southampton Airport is an international airport in the Borough of Eastleigh within Hampshire, England,3.5 nautical miles north north-east of Southampton. The airport handled nearly two million passengers during 2016, an 8. 8% increase compared with 2015, making it the 18th busiest airport in the UK, Southampton Airport has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction. It airport is owned and operated by AGS Airports which also owns and operates Aberdeen and it was previously owned and operated by Heathrow Airport Holdings. The airports runway is built over the remains of a Roman villa and it was excavated in May 1925 but the villa had been robbed of much of its material. In 2010, the airport arranged a series of events to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first flight at the airport, during the First World War, when forces from the United States Navy arrived in 1917, work on the building of hangars began. At the peak of the American presence, some 4,000 officers, after that war, the site became a transit camp for refugees, mainly Russian, who were anxious to sail to America from the port of Southampton. The shipping companies Cunard and White Star Line together with the Canadian Pacific Railway formed the Atlantic Park Hostel Company to house them temporarily, in 1921 the hangars were converted into dormitories, kitchens and dining rooms. In 1924 about 980 Ukrainian Jewish would-be emigrants were cared for at the hostel, some of them were still there seven years later, stranded between the US and UK which would not accept them, and unable to return the countries they had fled. Atlantic Park had a school, library, and synagogue while the refugees formed football teams played local sides and took part in local events. At the height of its use 20,000 passed through Atlantic Park in 1928 but then started to fall away. In 1932 Southampton Corporation purchased the site and it became Southampton Municipal Airport, by 1935 part of the site was being used by the Fleet Air Arm of the RAF and was briefly known as RAF Eastleigh before it became RAF Southampton in 1936. The military site was transferred to Naval command in 1939 and renamed HMS Raven and it eventually passed back into civilian ownership in April 1946. During the 1950s a mainstay of business for the airport was the Cross channel car ferry operated by Silver City Airways using Bristol Freighters and Superfreighters. In 1959 Southampton Airport was purchased by well known racing pilot J. N and this forward thinking programme encouraged most of the airlines at Bournemouth Hurn to move to Southampton in the mid 60s. Nat Somers company sold the airport to Peter de Savary in 1988 who a few years later sold Southampton to the owners of London Heathrow. In 1936 Supermarine opened a test flight facility on the site and this factory is still in use, although now located off-field due to the opening of the M27 motorway in 1983. The Cierva Autogiro Company rented portions of the Cunliffe-Owen plants starting in 1946, in 1951 Saunders-Roe took over the interests of Cierva Autogyro and built a rotor testing building on the eastern side of the airfield, which is now derelict. They continued operations on the field until about 1960, Southampton airport only has one main ground handler which is Swissport, who took over from Aviance
Southampton Airport
Southampton Airport
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Apron at Southampton Airport
Southampton Airport
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Near full-scale model Supermarine Spitfire prototype K5054 at Southampton Airport
26.
HOP!
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Société HOP. is the brand name of the regional flights operated by subsidiaries of Air France. Its flight are operated by Airlinair, Brit Air and Régional under the HOP. brand, the new brand offers daily flights to 50 French and European destinations. Its head office is in the Parc tertiaire Silic in Rungis in Greater Paris, the new airline brand was created to better compete with the low-cost airlines which have taken a significant market share of Air Frances regional routes. Régional Compagnie Aérienne Européenne, Brit Air and Airlinair operate a total of 103 aircraft. The airline is acquiring 5 ATR 72-600 aircraft in 2015 as replacements for its older ATR 72-500s
HOP!
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HOP!
E-170 at
Vigo Airport.
27.
Iberia (airline)
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Iberia, legally incorporated as Iberia, Líneas Aéreas de España, S. A. Operadora, Sociedad Unipersonal, is the flag carrier airline of Spain founded in 1927. Based in Madrid, it operates a network of services from its main base of Madrid-Barajas Airport. Iberia, with Iberia Regional and with Iberia Express, is a part of Iberia Group, in addition to transporting passengers and freight, Iberia Group carries out related activities, such as aircraft maintenance, handling in airports, IT systems and in-flight catering. Iberia Group airlines fly to over 109 destinations in 39 countries, on 8 April 2010, it was confirmed that British Airways and Iberia had signed an agreement to merge, making the combined operation the third largest commercial airline in the world by revenue. Shareholders of both carriers approved the deal on 29 November 2010, the newly merged company, known as International Airlines Group, was established in January 2011, although both airlines will continue to operate under their current brands. Iberia, Compañía Aérea de Transportes was incorporated on 28 June 1927 with an investment by the financier Horacio Echevarrieta. Flight operations started on 14 December 1927, within a year, the company was sponsored by the Spanish government to provide postal transport between Madrid and Barcelona. During the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera, the companies in Spain were combined and became state-controlled as a general interest public utility. As a consequence, Iberia was merged into Compañía de Líneas Aéreas Subvencionadas S. A. the name Iberia continued to be registered by Director-General Daniel de Araoz y Aréjula. As the name Iberia was still registered, it was used when operations began in nationalist-held territory towards the end of the Spanish Civil War, following the Civil War, Iberia became a purely domestic airline. At the end of the 1930s, the served the Seville–Larache–Cabo Juby–Las Palmas, Barcelona–Saragosa–Burgos–Salamanca–Seville–Tetuan. The airline was nationalised on 30 September 1944 and became part of Instituto Nacional de Industria, in 1946, Iberia was the first airline to fly between Europe and South America after World War II, using a Douglas DC-4 to operate flights between Madrid and Buenos Aires. By the Pact of Madrid in 1953, visa requirements were eliminated for US visitors to Spain and this stimulated the start of transatlantic flights between Spain and United States the following year. In addition, the made in Montreal to the Convention on International Civil Aviation on 14 June 1954 were liberal to Spain. The airline phased in the first of three Super Constellations in June 1954, the aircraft was named Santa María to commemorate Columbus first voyage. From 1961 Iberia had a fleet of Douglas DC-8 four-engined long range jet airliners, the busiest route was Madrid to Buenos Aires. By 1965 a joint board of Iberia and Aviaco was set up to coordinate policies so that services did not conflict, in the early 1970s the company bought Douglas DC-9s, Boeing 727s, Douglas DC-10s and Boeing 747s as it expanded routes to Central America. In June 1990, the carrier bought 16 Boeing 757s for US$1 billion, including spares and training, in June 1990 the company led a consortium to buy an 85% stake in Aerolíneas Argentinas for an agreed $2billion and the following year bought a 45% stake in Viasa for $145million
Iberia (airline)
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Airbus A330-300 of Iberia.
Iberia (airline)
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An Iberia
Sud Aviation Caravelle seen in May 1973
Iberia (airline)
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Head office of Iberia in the MV49 Business Park in
Madrid.
Iberia (airline)
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British Airways and Iberia merged in January 2011, forming the International Airlines Group, one of the world's largest airlines.
28.
Air Nostrum
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Air Nostrum, Líneas Aéreas del Mediterráneo, S. A. also known as Iberia Regional, is a regional airline based in Valencia, Spain. Air Nostrum is an independent carrier which operates as a franchisee of Iberia Airlines, Iberia Regional franchise is a regional partner of Iberia and an affiliate member of the Oneworld airline alliance. Air Nostrum operates 91 domestic and international routes to 51 destinations and its main base is Valencia Airport, with hubs at Barcelona Airport and Madrid-Barajas Airport. The airline was established on 23 May 1994 and started operations on December 15 and it was founded as Líneas Aéreas del Mediterraneo/Air Nostrum in Valencia. In May 1997, Air Nostrum signed an agreement with Iberia to become an Iberia franchise and it acquired Iberia subsidiary Binter Mediterraneo and absorbed its operations. Following Iberias merger with Aviaco in 1999, additional domestic and international services were taken over by Air Nostrum and it acquired Dutch airline Denim Air in 1999, but disposed of its interest in the company in 2002. Air Nostrum is owned by Nefinsa, Caja Duero and Air Nostrum management and has 2,040 employees, Air Nostrum used to offer a comprehensive meal service on all scheduled flights. In early 2008, the airline eliminated its regional business class cabin, the cabin is now split into separate business and economy sections along the lines of other major airlines. Economy passengers can purchase drinks and snacks from an onboard menu, on 24 January 2006, Air Nostrum flight IB8665 from Valladolid made a belly landing at El Prat Airport. Two of the forty passengers sustained injuries while disembarking from the aircraft. The cause was determined by the Comisión de Investigación de Accidentes e Incidentes de Aviación Civil to be pilot error, media related to Air Nostrum at Wikimedia Commons Official website
Air Nostrum
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An Air Nostrum
Bombardier CRJ1000 at
Bologna Airport.
Air Nostrum
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An Air Nostrum
ATR 72-600 at
Palma de Mallorca Airport.
Air Nostrum
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An Air Nostrum CRJ900 with the new livery.
29.
Luxair
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Luxair, legally Luxair S. A. Société Luxembourgeoise de Navigation Aérienne, is the flag carrier airline of Luxembourg with its headquarters and homebase at Luxembourg Findel Airport in Sandweiler. It operates scheduled services to destinations in Europe, North Africa and it is Luxembourgs only passenger-carrying airline. Descended from Luxembourg Airlines, founded in 1948, Luxair was starting to be set up in 1961 to meet the demand for air links between Luxembourg and other European cities. In 1962, Luxembourg Airlines became Luxair and began flights by launching a Luxembourg–Paris route with a Fokker F27 Friendship, from 1964 to 1969, Luxair operated three Lockheed L-1649A Starliner aircraft in a co-operative agreement with Trek Airways, from Luxembourg to Johannesburg. The Starliners were painted in Luxair livery and were registered in Luxembourg, by 1967, Luxairs fleet consisted of three Fokker F27 Friendships and one Vickers Viscount. The latter was written off in a accident in 1969 and replaced the following year by the airlines first jet airliner. The first Boeing aircraft, a 737–200, joined the fleet in 1977, over the years, Luxair gradually introduced further jet aircraft, Boeing 747SPs, Boeing 737–400s and Boeing 737–500s, as well as Fokker 50 turboprops and Embraer jets. In March 2003, Luxair ordered two new Boeing 737–700s to replace its older Boeing aircraft, the first of the new aircraft was delivered on 18 February 2004. A third aircraft was ordered in August 2003 and delivered in January 2005, in an effort to move to an all-jet fleet, the last Fokker 50 aircraft was withdrawn from service in April 2005. The rising cost of oil made operating regional jets increasingly difficult, to lessen its exposure, Luxair decided to reintroduce turboprop aircraft, and in June 2006 it signed a firm order with Bombardier Aerospace for three Dash 8-Q400s, plus three options. The last of the three aircraft was delivered in September 2007, two additional Q400s were ordered later. In October 2008, Luxair decided to place an order for its first Boeing 737–800 and this aircraft replaced the last Boeing 737–500 in Luxairs fleet and facilitated Luxairs offer on its holiday destinations. In 2009, the airline was awarded as the most punctual scheduled operator at London City Airport during 2008 by Flight on Time, in 2011 Luxair carried 1,302,771 passengers. In 2013 and 2014, two new Boeing 737-800s fitted with the brand new Boeing Sky Interior became part of the fleet, in July 2015, Luxairs minority shareholder Lufthansa announced it would sell its 13 percent stake in the airline that it had held since 1993. The government of Luxembourg was named as the preferred buyer, in November 2015, the sale was finalized when Lufthansa sold its entire stake to the state of Luxembourg. Luxair also announced it would stop flying its route to Frankfurt Airport previously operated on a codeshare with Lufthansa as the latter started the route itself. Luxair is still part of the Lufthansa frequent flyer program Miles & More, in total, the State of Luxembourg owns 74. 98% of the company through various state-owned corporations and through its holding of 10% of Banque Internationale à Luxembourg. No passengers were killed, but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair and it was scrapped in May 1970
Luxair
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Luxair's first aircraft was this
Fokker F27, pictured here in 1966
Luxair
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A former Luxair
Boeing 747SP
Luxair
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A former Luxair
Boeing 737-500
Luxair
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Luxair Bombardier Dash 8 Q400
7.29%
2.4%
