1.
ICAO airport code
–
The ICAO airport code or location indicator is a four-character alphanumeric code designating aerodromes around the world. ICAO codes are used to identify other aviation facilities such as weather stations, International Flight Service Stations or Area Control Centers. Flight information regions are identified by a unique ICAO-code. Code selections in North America were based on existing radio station identifiers, for example, radio stations in Canada were already starting with C, so it seemed logical to begin Canadian airport identifiers with Cxxx. The United States had many pre-existing airports with established mnemonic codes and their ICAO codes were formed simply by prepending a K to the existing codes, as half the radio station identifiers in the US began with K. Most ICAO codes outside the US and Canada have a geographical structure. Most of the rest of the world was classified in a more planned top-down manner, thus Uxxx referred to the Soviet Union with the second letter denoting the specific region within it, and so forth. Europe had too many locations for one starting letter, so it was split into Exxx for northern Europe. The second letter was more specific, EGxx was the United Kingdom, EDxx was West Germany, ETxx was East Germany, LExx was Spain, LAxx was Albania, France was designated LFxx, as the counterpart EFxx was the unambiguously northern Finland. ICAO codes are separate and different from IATA codes, which are used for airline timetables, reservations. For example, the IATA code for Londons Heathrow Airport is LHR, in general IATA codes are usually derived from the name of the airport or the city it serves, while ICAO codes are distributed by region and country. Far more aerodromes have ICAO codes than IATA codes, and to add to the confusion IATA codes are assigned to railway stations. Unlike the IATA codes, the ICAO codes generally have a structure and are comprehensive. In general, the first letter is allocated by continent and represents a country or group of countries within that continent, the second letter generally represents a country within that region, and the remaining two are used to identify each airport. The exception to rule is larger countries that have single-letter country codes. In either case, ICAO codes generally provide geographical context unlike IATA codes, for example, if one knows that the ICAO code for Heathrow is EGLL, then one can deduce that the airport EGGP is somewhere in the UK. On the other hand, knowing that the IATA code for Heathrow is LHR does not enable one to deduce the location of the airport LHV with any greater certainty, there are a few exceptions to the regional structure of the ICAO code made for political or administrative reasons. Similarly Saint Pierre and Miquelon is controlled by France, and airports there are assigned LFxx as though they were in Europe, further, in region L, all available 2-letter prefixes have been exhausted and thus no additional countries can be added
2.
Paris
–
Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is also a rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, notably, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam in French slang. Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are also pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town
3.
Airline hub
–
Airline hubs or hub airports are used by one or more airliners to concentrate passenger traffic and flight operations at a given airport. They serve as points to get passengers to their final destination. It is part of the hub-and-spoke system, an airline operates flights from several non-hub cities to the hub airport, and passengers traveling between spoke cities need to connect through the hub. This paradigm creates economies of scale that allow an airline to serve city-pairs that could not be economically served on a non-stop basis. This system contrasts with the point-to-point model, in there are no hubs. Hub airports also serve origin and destination traffic, the hub-and-spoke system allows an airline to serve fewer routes, so fewer aircraft are needed. The system also increases passenger loads, a flight from a hub to a spoke carries not just passengers originating at the hub, additional employees and facilities are needed to cater to connecting passengers. To serve spoke cities of varying populations and demand, an airline requires several aircraft types, in addition, airlines may experience capacity constraints as they expand at their hub airports. For the passenger, the system offers one-stop air service to a wide array of destinations. However, having to make connections en route to their final destination increases travel time. Additionally, airlines can come to monopolise their hubs, allowing them to increase fares. Airlines may operate banks of flights at their hubs, in several flights arrive. The banks may be known as peaks of activity at the hubs, banking allows for short connection times for passengers. In addition, banking could result in inefficient aircraft utilisation, with aircraft waiting at spoke cities for the next bank, instead, some airlines have debanked their hubs, introducing a rolling hub in which flight arrivals and departures are spread throughout the day. This phenomenon is known as depeaking. While costs may decrease, connection times are longer at a rolling hub, American Airlines was the first to depeak its hubs, trying to improve profitability following the September 11 attacks. It rebanked its hubs in 2015, however, feeling the gain in connecting passengers would outweigh the rise in costs, the hub-and-spoke system is also used by some cargo airlines. FedEx Express established its main hub in Memphis in 1973, prior to the deregulation of the air industry in the United States
4.
Air France
–
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
5.
Focus city
–
In the airline industry, a focus city is a destination from which an airline operates several point-to-point routes. Thus, a city primarily caters to the local market rather than to connecting passengers. However, with the terms expanded usage, a city may also function as a small-scale hub. Allegiant Air, JetBlue and Frontier Airlines are examples of airlines that consider some of their destinations to be focus cities
6.
EasyJet
–
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
7.
Norwegian Air Shuttle
–
The airline is known for its distinctive livery of white with a red nose, with individual portraits of noteworthy Scandinavians on the tail fins of its aircraft. Norwegian launched its operation in May 2013. Norwegian Air Shuttle was founded on 22 January 1993 to take over the regional airline services produced by Busy Bee for Braathens in Western Norway, Busy Bee, founded in 1966, was a subsidiary of Braathens that operated a fleet of Fokker 50 aircraft on charter services. This included the network of services between cities on the west coast of Norway operated on wet lease for the mother company. The company was established and owned by former Busy Bee employees and it was based in Bergen, but later established a technical base in Stavanger. From 1 April 1994, the airline began service from Bergen to Ålesund Airport. In 1995, the received its fourth Fokker 50s, and had a revenue of NOK86.6 million. By 1999, the company had six Fokker 50s and flew 500,000 passengers on 20,000 flights, the company had a revenue of NOK172 million and a profit of NOK13 million. On 2 June 2000, NAS bought the helicopter operator Lufttransport from Helikopter Service, in 2000, the NAS fleet was expanded to seven Fokker 50s. From 2 January 2001, several Braathens routes were terminated, including the NAS-operated services from Kristiansund to Trondheim, the route from Bergen to Haugesund, and Bergen–Molde–Trondheim were reduced. On 7 January 2002, NAS took over the responsibility for the route from Stavanger to Newcastle and this was the first route on which the airline did not wet lease the aircraft to Braathens, but instead operated the route in its own right. NAS had an 18-month cancellation period in its contract with Braathens, however this was not respected by SAS, from 1 September 2002, the airline re-branded as Norwegian. The airline opened its hub at Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport in Poland. There were two Boeing 737 operating from Warsaw, the base was closed in 2010. Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA announced 24 April 2007 that it had bought 100% of the Swedish low-cost airline FlyNordic from Finnair plc, as payment for the shares in FlyNordic, Finnair received a 5% share stake in Norwegian. On 30 August 2007, Norwegian ordered 42 new Boeing 737-800 aircraft, with options for 42 more and this order was later increased by six aircraft in November 2009. In July 201015 of the options were converted to orders, additionally, Norwegian introduced leased Boeing 737-800 aircraft into the fleet. The first leased 737-800 arrived at Oslo Airport, Gardermoen, Norway, in April 2010, Norwegian started flights from Oslo-Gardermoen and Stockholm to Helsinki-Vantaa Airport
8.
Vueling
–
Vueling Airlines, S. A. is a Spanish low-cost airline based at El Prat de Llobregat in Greater Barcelona with hubs in Barcelona–El Prat Airport and Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy. Its name comes from the Spanish word vuelo, which means flight, there are thirteen additional bases at A Coruña, Alicante, Amsterdam, Bilbao, Brussels, Florence, Madrid, Málaga, Palma de Mallorca, Paris-Orly, Santiago de Compostela, Seville and Valencia. A fifteenth summer seasonal base is located at Ibiza, Vueling serves over 100 destinations in Africa, Asia and Europe and is currently the second largest airline in Spain. In 2014, the airline carried more than 17.2 million passengers, Vueling was established in February 2004 and commenced operations on 1 July 2004 with a flight between Barcelona and Ibiza. The initial fleet consisted of two Airbus A320 aircraft, based in Barcelona serving Brussels, Ibiza, Palma de Mallorca, the name Vueling was formed by combining the Spanish word vuelo with the English gerund suffix -ing. Initially, major shareholders of Vueling Airlines were Apax Partners, Inversiones Hemisferio, Vuelings management team, during its nascent stages, the companys general manager was Lázaro Ros, while Carlos Muñoz was CEO. In November 2007, Vueling appointed managing director of Spanair Lars Nygaard as CEO to replace Carlos Muñoz, Madrid was added as the airlines second base in 2005, followed by its first base outside Spain at Paris Charles de Gaulle in 2007. 2007 was a year for Vueling, Apax Partners sold its then-21% stake in the carrier in June of that year. Two company directors and the chairman resigned shortly before the second warning, citing differences over commercial strategy. Shares in the company were also temporarily suspended and this led to Barbara Cassani, former Chief Executive of UK low-cost airline Go, joining Vueling as chairman of the board in September 2007. The airline then embarked on an exercise and posted its first profit in mid-2009. In June 2008, Vueling and rival Spanish low cost airline Clickair announced their intention to merge, the merger was designed to create a carrier better able to compete in the competitive Spanish airline market and mitigate high fuel costs with Iberia as the main industrial partner. While the new company would trade under the Vueling name, Clickairs Alex Cruz was named as chief executive, the deal was subject to scrutiny and approval by European competition regulators, who were concerned that the merged airline would have a significant competitive advantage on around 19 routes. The regulators demanded the release of slots at Barcelona and other European airports as a condition of the merger, on 15 July 2009 the merger of Vueling and Clickair was completed. The new merged airline operates under the Vueling brand, with Clickair flights and it became the second largest Spanish carrier flying 8.2 million passengers in 2009, to almost 50 destinations. In 2009, Vueling for the year running co-operated with MTV during the summer season. Two of Vuelings A320 aircraft were re-painted into MTV liveries with some MTV styling on-board too, the designs of both liveries were created by Custo Dalmau and both liveries were removed at the end of 2009. In November 2010, Vueling announced a new base at Toulouse Airport in France from April 2011, followed in December 2010 by the announcement of a new base in Amsterdam, the Toulouse base opened on 23 April 2011, but has since closed
9.
XL Airways France
–
XL Airways France, formerly Star Airlines, is a French airline with its head offices on the grounds of Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport. The airline was founded by Cédric Pastour in August 1995 as Société de Transport Aérien Régional and was trading under Star Europe, in October 1997 it changed its trading name to Star Airlines. On 23 November 2006 the airline changed its name to XL Airways France, on 12 September 2008, parent XL Leisure was about to declare bankruptcy. The airline was bought by Straumur Investment Bank. XL Airwayss head office is in the Bâtiment Mars in Continental Square II on the grounds of Charles de Gaulle Airport, the airlines head office was originally in the Immeuble Horizon facility in Noisy-le-Grand, in the Marne-la-Vallée development. Pastour added that the Noisy site had access to the A4 and the A86 autoroutes and was close to the Francilienne, and that the costs in the Noisy area were lower than the costs in the airport area
10.
HOP!
–
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
11.
Geographic coordinate system
–
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
12.
Runway
–
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
13.
Asphalt
–
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
14.
International airport
–
An international airport is an airport that offers customs and immigration facilities for passengers travelling between countries. International airports often also host domestic flights, some, such as Frankfurt Airport in Germany are very large, others such as Faaā International Airport in Tahiti, are quite small. Buildings, operations and management have become increasingly sophisticated since the mid 20th century, detailed technical standards have been developed to ensure safety and common coding systems implemented to provide global consistency. The physical structures that serve millions of passengers and flights are among the most complex. In August 1919, Hounslow Heath Aerodrome, in London, England was the first airport to operate scheduled international commercial services and it was closed and supplanted by Croydon Airport in March 1920. In the United States, Douglas Municipal Airport in Arizona became the first international airport of the Americas in 1928, the precursors to international airports were airfields or aerodromes. In the early days of international flights, there was limited infrastructure, four-engined land planes being unavailable for over-water operations to international destinations, thus/therefore flying boats became part of the solution. At the far end of the longest international route, on-water landing areas were found in such as Surabaya. In Sydney, Rose Bay, New South Wales, was chosen as the landing area. International airports sometimes serve military as well as commercial purposes and their viability is also affected by technological developments, other international airports, such as Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong, have been decommissioned and replaced when they reached capacity or technological advances rendered them inadequate. Airports may also be regarded as emblematic of national pride and so the design may be architecturally ambitious, an example is the planned New Mexico City international airport, intended to replace an airport that has reached capacity. Airports can be towered or non-towered, depending on air traffic density, because of high capacity and busy airspace, many international airports have air traffic control located on site. Construction of the expressway included the construction of two bridges and the Ma Wan viaduct on Ma Wan island to connect the bridges, each bridge carries rail and automobile traffic. International airports have commercial relationships with and provide services to airlines, many also serve as hubs, or places where non-direct flights may land and passengers may switch planes, while others serve primarily direct point-to-point flights. This affects airport design factors, including the number and placement of terminals as well as the flow of passengers, an airport specializing in point-to-point transit can have international and domestic terminals, each in their separate building equipped with separate baggage handling facilities. In a hub airport, however, spaces and services are shared, technical standards for safety and operating procedures at international airports are set by international agreements. The International Air Transport Association, formed in 1945, is the association of the airline companies, the International Civil Aviation Organization is a body of the United Nations succeeding earlier international committees going back to 1903. These two organizations served to create regulations over airports which the airports themselves had no authority to debate and this eventually sparked an entire subject of air travel politics
15.
Charles de Gaulle
–
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman. He was the leader of Free France and the head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic, in 1958, he founded the Fifth Republic and was elected as the 18th President of France, a position he held until his resignation in 1969. He was the dominant figure of France during the Cold War era, born in Lille, he graduated from Saint-Cyr in 1912. He was an officer of the First World War, wounded several times. During the interwar period, he advocated mobile armoured divisions, during the German invasion of May 1940, he led an armoured division which counterattacked the invaders, he was then appointed Under-Secretary for War. Refusing to accept his governments armistice with Nazi Germany, de Gaulle exhorted the French population to resist occupation and he led a government in exile and the Free French Forces against the Axis. Despite frosty relations with Britain and especially the United States, he emerged as the leader of the French resistance. He became Head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic in June 1944, frustrated by the return of petty partisanship in the new Fourth Republic, he resigned in early 1946 but continued to be politically active as founder of the RPF party. He retired in the early 1950s and wrote his War Memoirs, when the Algerian War was ripping apart the unstable Fourth Republic, the National Assembly brought him back to power during the May 1958 crisis. De Gaulle founded the Fifth Republic with a presidency. He granted independence to Algeria and progressively to other French colonies and he restored cordial Franco-German relations to create a European counterweight between the Anglo-American and Soviet spheres of influence. However, he opposed any development of a supranational Europe, favouring a Europe of sovereign nations, De Gaulle openly criticised the US intervention in Vietnam and the exorbitant privilege of the US dollar. In his later years, his support for an independent Quebec, De Gaulle resigned in 1969 after losing a referendum in which he proposed more decentralization. He died a year later at his residence in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, leaving his Presidential memoirs unfinished, many French political parties and figures claim the Gaullist legacy. De Gaulle was ranked as Le Plus Grand Français de tous les temps, De Gaulle was born in the industrial region of Lille in the Nord departement, the third of five children. He was raised in a devoutly Catholic and traditional family and his father, Henri de Gaulle, was a professor of history and literature at a Jesuit college who eventually founded his own school. Henri de Gaulle came from a line of parliamentary gentry from Normandy and Burgundy. De Gaulles mother, Jeanne, descended from a family of entrepreneurs from Lille
16.
Free France
–
It was set up in London in June 1940 and also organised and supported the Resistance in occupied France. On 27 October 1940, the Empire Defense Council was constituted to organise the rule of the territories in central Africa and it was replaced on 24 September 1941 by the French National Committee. After the reconquest of North Africa, this was in turn merged with de Gaulles rival general Henri Girauds command in Algiers to form the French Committee of National Liberation. Exile officially ended with the capture of Paris by the 2nd Armoured Free French Division and Resistance forces on 25 August 1944, the Free French fought Axis and Vichy regime troops and served on battlefronts everywhere from the Middle East to Indochina and North Africa. The Free French Navy operated as a force to the Royal Navy and, in the North Atlantic. Free French units also served in the Royal Air Force, Soviet Air Force, the French Army of Africa switched allegiance to Free France, and this caused the Axis to occupy Vichy in reaction. On 1 August 1943, LArmée dAfrique was formally united with the Free French Forces to form LArmée française de la Liberation. By mid-1944, the forces of this army numbered more than 400,000, and they participated in the Normandy landings, the Free French government re-established a provisional republic after the liberation, preparing the ground for the Fourth Republic in 1946. Historically, an individual became Free French by enlisting in the military units organised by the CFN or by employment by the arm of the Committee. In many sources, Free French describes any French individual or unit that fought against Axis forces after the June 1940 armistice, postwar, to settle disputes over the Free French heritage, the French government issued an official definition of the term. Under this ministerial instruction of July 1953, only those who served with the Allies after the Franco-German armistice in 1940, between 27 May and 4 June, around 200,000 British soldiers and 140,000 French troops were evacuated from the beaches to safety in England. General Charles de Gaulle was a minister in the French cabinet during the Battle of France, as France was overwhelmed by the stunning German victory, he found himself part of a small group of politicians who argued against a negotiated surrender to Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. That same day, the new French President of the Council, former First World War Marshal Philippe Pétain, De Gaulle briefly travelled to Bordeaux to continue the fight but, realising that Pétain would surrender, he returned to London on 17 June. On 18 June, General de Gaulle spoke to the French people via BBC radio, urging French soldiers, sailors and airmen to join in the fight against the Nazis and she has a great empire behind her. Together with the British Empire, she can form a bloc that controls the seas and she may, like England, draw upon the limitless industrial resources of the United States. In Vichys case those reasons were compounded with ideas of a Révolution nationale about stamping out Frances republican heritage. On 22 June 1940, Marshall Pétain signed an armistice with Germany, followed by a one with Italy on 24 June. After a parliamentary vote on 10 July, Pétain became leader of the newly established authoritarian regime known as Vichy France, despite de Gaulles call to continue the struggle, few French forces, at least initially, pledged their support
17.
French Fifth Republic
–
Alsace-Lorraine would be restored at the end of World War I. Unlike other European countries France did not experience a population growth in the mid and late 19th century. From a population of around 39 million in 1880, France still had only a population of 40 million in 1945, the post-war years would bring a massive baby boom, and with immigration, France reached 50 million in 1968. This growth slowed down in 1974, since 1999, France has seen an unprecedented growth in population. In 2004, population growth was 0. 68%, almost reaching North American levels, France is now well ahead of all other European countries in population growth and in 2003, Frances natural population growth was responsible for almost all the natural growth in European population. Today, France, with a population of 62 and a million, or 65 million including overseas territories, is the third most populous country of Europe, behind Russia. Immigration in the 20th century differed significantly from that of the previous century, the 1920s saw great influxes from Italy and Poland, in the 1930-50s immigrants came from Spain and Portugal. Since the 1960s however, the greatest waves of immigrants have been from former French colonies, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, Mali, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam. Much of this recent immigration was initially economical, but many of these immigrants have remained in France, gained citizenship, estimates vary, but of the 60 million people living in France today, close to 4 million claim foreign origin. Eastern-European and North-African Jewish immigration to France largely began in the mid to late 19th century, in 1872, there was an estimated 86,000 Jews living in France, and by 1945 this would increase to 300,000. Many Jews integrated into French society, although French nationalism led to anti-Semitism in many quarters, since the 1960s, France has experienced a great deal of Jewish immigration from the Mediterranean and North Africa, and the Jewish population in France is estimated at around 600,000 today. By far the largest of these is Paris, at 2.1 million inhabitants, followed by Lille, Lyon, much of this urbanization takes place not in the traditional center of the cities, but in the suburbs that surround them. With immigration from countries, these cités have been the center of racial. Compounding the loss of regionalism is the role of the French capital, the post-war years saw the state take control of a number of French industries. The modern political climate has however been for increasing regional power, many French intellectuals welcomed the war to avenge the humiliation of defeat and loss of territory to Germany following the Franco-Prussian War of 1871. A pacifist, was assassinated at the start of the war, Prime Minister Rene Viviani called for unity—for a Union sacrée --Which was a wartime truce between the right and left factions that had been fighting bitterly. However, war-weariness was a factor by 1917, even reaching the army. The soldiers were reluctant to attack, Mutiny was a factor as soldiers said it was best to wait for the arrival of millions of Americans, the economy was hurt by the German invasion of major industrial areas in the northeast
18.
President of France
–
The President of the French Republic, is the executive head of state of the French Fifth Republic. The powers, functions and duties of prior presidential offices, and their relation with the prime minister, the current President of France is François Hollande, who took office on 15 May 2012. Hollande has announced that he stand down in the upcoming 2017 French presidential election. President Chirac was first elected in 1995 and again in 2002, at that time, there was no limit on the number of terms, so Chirac could have run again, but chose not to. He was succeeded by Nicolas Sarkozy on 16 May 2007, following a further change, the Constitutional law on the Modernisation of the Institutions of the Fifth Republic,2008, a president cannot serve more than two consecutive terms. François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac are the only Presidents to date who have served a two terms. In order to be admitted as a candidate, potential candidates must receive signed nominations from more than 500 elected officials. These officials must be from at least 30 départements or overseas collectivities, furthermore, each official may nominate only one candidate. There are exactly 45,543 elected officials, including 33,872 mayors, spending and financing of campaigns and political parties are highly regulated. There is a cap on spending, at approximately 20 million euros, if the candidate receives less than 5% of the vote, the government funds €8,000,000 to the party. Advertising on TV is forbidden but official time is given to candidates on public TV, an independent agency regulates election and party financing. After the president is elected, he or she goes through an investiture ceremony called a passation des pouvoirs. The French Fifth Republic is a semi-presidential system, unlike many other European presidents, the French President is quite powerful. The president holds the nations most senior office, and outranks all other politicians, the presidents greatest power is his/her ability to choose the prime minister. When the majority of the Assembly has opposite political views to that of the president, when the majority of the Assembly sides with them, the President can take a more active role and may, in effect, direct government policy. The prime minister is then the choice of the President. This device has been used in recent years by François Mitterrand, Jacques Chirac, since 2002, the mandate of the president and the Assembly are both 5 years and the two elections are close to each other. Therefore, the likelihood of a cohabitation is lower, among the powers of the government, The president promulgates laws
19.
Communes of France
–
The commune is a level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to civil townships incorporated municipalities in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany, the United Kingdom has no exact equivalent, as communes resemble districts in urban areas, but are closer to parishes in rural areas where districts are much larger. Communes are based on historical geographic communities or villages and have received significant powers of governance to manage the populations, the communes are the fourth-level administrative divisions of France. A French commune may be a city of 2.2 million inhabitants like Paris, communes typically are based on pre-existing villages and facilitate local governance. All communes have names, but not all named geographic areas or groups of people residing together are communes, a commune is a town, city, or municipality. Use of commune in English is a habit, and one that might be corrected. There is nothing in commune in French that is different from town in English. The French word commune appeared in the 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia, as of January 2015, there were 36,681 communes in France,36,552 of them in metropolitan France and 129 of them overseas. This is a higher total than that of any other European country. The whole territory of the French Republic is divided into communes and this is unlike some other countries, such as the United States, where unincorporated areas directly governed by a county or a higher authority can be found. There are only a few exceptions, COM of Saint-Martin and it was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe région. The commune structure was abolished when Saint-Martin became an overseas collectivity on 22 February 2007, COM of Wallis and Futuna, which still is divided according to the three traditional chiefdoms. It was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe region, the commune structure was abolished when Saint-Barthélemy became an overseas collectivity on 22 February 2007.88 square kilometres. The median area of metropolitan Frances communes at the 1999 census was even smaller, the median area is a better measure of the area of a typical French commune. This median area is smaller than that of most European countries. In Italy, the area of communes is 22 km2, in Belgium it is 40 km2, in Spain it is 35 km2, and in Germany. Switzerland and the Länder of Rhineland-Palatinate, Schleswig-Holstein, and Thuringia in Germany were the places in Europe where the communes had a smaller median area than in France. The communes of Frances overseas départements such as Réunion and French Guiana are large by French standards and they usually group into the same commune several villages or towns, often with sizeable distances among them
20.
Star Alliance
–
Star Alliance is one of the worlds largest global airline alliances. Founded on 14 May 1997, its current CEO is Mark Schwab and its headquarters is in Frankfurt am Main, as of 7 August 2016, Star Alliance is the second largest global alliance by passenger count with 641.1 million, after SkyTeam and ahead of Oneworld. Its slogan is The Way The Earth Connects, the alliance has a two-tier rewards program, Silver and Gold, with incentives including priority boarding and upgrades. Like other airline alliances, Star Alliance airlines share airport terminals, on 14 May 1997, an agreement was announced forming Star Alliance from five airlines on three continents, Scandinavian Airlines, Thai Airways International, Air Canada, Lufthansa, and United Airlines. The alliance chose Young & Rubicam for advertising, with a budget of $25 million, the airlines shared the star logo from the beginning, with its five points representing the founding airlines. The alliance adopted its first slogan, The Airline Network for Earth, with its goal an alliance that will take passengers to major city on earth. The now defunct Brazilian airline VARIG joined the Star Alliance network on 22 October 1997, also joining were Ansett Australia and Air New Zealand, expanding Star Alliance to Australia and the Pacific. With the addition of the two carriers, the alliance served 720 destinations in 110 countries with a combined fleet of 1,650 aircraft. The next airline to join was All Nippon Airways, the groups second Asian airline, during the early 2000s, a number of airlines joined Star Alliance, the Austrian Airlines Group joined on 26 March 2000 and Singapore Airlines on 1 April. BMI and Mexicana Airlines joined on 1 July, bringing the membership to 13. The addition of BMI made London Heathrow the only European hub with two alliances, during the year, Emirates considered joining Star Alliance, but decided against it. That year the now-defunct BWIA West Indies Airways, which had entered an alliance with United Airlines, considered becoming a member, in 2000, the alliance also opened its first three business centers and announced the formation of an Alliance Management Team, the partnerships executive body. In September 2001, Ansett Australia left Star Alliance due to bankruptcy and that year, Star Alliance announced the appointment of a new CEO, Jaan Albrecht. Asiana Airlines joined the alliance on 1 March 2003, Spanair on 1 May, around this time, Mexicana Airlines left the alliance after deciding not to renew a codeshare agreement with United Airlines, later joining Oneworld. US Airways joined the alliance in May 2004, becoming its second US-based airline, in November Adria Airways, Blue1 and Croatia Airlines joined the alliance as its first three regional members. Although Star Alliance invited Lineas Aereas Azteca in 2005 to join in mid-2007, TAP Portugal joined on 14 March 2005, adding African destinations to the network. In April 2006 Swiss International Air Lines, the alliances sixth European airline, by May 2007, Star Alliances 10th anniversary, its members had a combined 16,000 daily departures to 855 destinations in 155 countries and served 406 million passengers annually. VARIG left the alliance on 31 January 2007, and the two Chinese airlines Air China and Shanghai Airlines joined on 12 December
21.
Oneworld
–
Oneworld is an airline alliance founded on 1 February 1999. The alliances stated objective is to be the airline alliance for the worlds frequent international travelers. Its central alliance office is based in New York City in the United States. As of August 2016, Oneworld is the third largest global alliance in terms of passengers more than 557.4 million passengers carried, behind Star Alliance. Its slogan is An alliance of the worlds leading airlines working as one, Oneworld announced the formation of a central alliance team, the Oneworld Management Company, in February 2000, to mark the alliances first anniversary. The oMC was established in May 2000 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and it acts as the alliances central secretariat, with responsibility for driving future growth and the launch of new customer services and benefits. Bruce Ashby, who previously held roles of CEO of Saudi Arabias SAMA Airlines, CEO of Indias IndiGo, rob Gurney succeeded Ashby as CEO in October,2016. Reporting to the CEO are Vice-Presidents for Commercial, Membership and Customer Experience, and Corporate Communications, a Chief Financial Officer, the CEO reports to the Oneworld Governing Board, which is made up of the chief executives of each of the member airlines. The Governing Board meets regularly to set strategic direction and review progress, chairmanship of the board rotates among the alliance members chief executives. Cathay Pacific CEO Ivan Chu currently has the role, Oneworld was unveiled by its founding members, American Airlines, British Airways, Canadian Airlines, Cathay Pacific, and Qantas at a press conference in London, United Kingdom, on 21 September 1998. Oneworld was officially launched and became operational on 1 February 1999, at its launch in 1999, Oneworlds member airlines and their affiliates served 648 destinations in 139 countries, and carried 181 million passengers with a fleet of 1,577 aircraft. Finnair, Finlands largest airline and flag carrier, was the alliances first new recruit on 9 December 1998, the alliance welcomed Iberia, Spains flag carrier, as its second recruit on 15 February 1999. Both airlines, together with Iberias franchisee, Iberia Regional Air Nostrum, joined the alliance on 1 September 1999, on 19 May 1999, LanChile became a member-elect, the alliances first representative from Latin America. LanChiles two subsidiaries, LAN Express and LAN Perú, would join the alliance. Irish carrier Aer Lingus was formally elected on board and confirmed as the member of the alliance on 2 December 1999. As LanChile and Aer Lingus joined on 1 June 2000, Canadian Airlines left the alliance, following the purchase by Air Canada. However, Swiss later decided not to proceed with key elements of its agreement with British Airways and was released from its commitment to join Oneworld. Swiss was later taken over by Lufthansa in 2005 and joined Star Alliance in 2006, the mid-2000s saw Oneworld undertake one of the biggest expansions in its history
22.
SkyTeam
–
Founded in June 2000, SkyTeam was the last of the three major airline alliances to be formed, the first two being Star Alliance and Oneworld. As of March 2014, SkyTeam consists of 20 carriers from five continents and it also operates a cargo alliance named SkyTeam Cargo, which partners ten carriers, all of them SkyTeam members. Its centralised management team, SkyTeam Central, is based at the World Trade Center Schiphol Airport on the grounds of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands. In terms of passengers, with 665.4 million carried passengers, SkyTeam has grown and is now the largest alliance in the world ahead of Star Alliance. In 2004, the alliance had its biggest expansion when Continental Airlines, Northwest Airlines, garuda Indonesia entered the alliance in March 2014. As of March 2014, SkyTeam flies to more than 1,000 destinations in 178 countries and operates some 15,700 daily flights with a fleet of over 4,400 aircraft. The alliance and its members have a workforce of 459,781, furthermore. On 22 June 2000, representatives of Aeroméxico, Air France, Delta Air Lines and these became the four founding carriers of SkyTeam. Upon its formation, SkyTeam would offer its customers a total of 6,402 daily flights to 451 destinations in 98 countries, in September 2000, the alliance established a cargo alliance, SkyTeam Cargo. The groups inaugural members were Aeromexpress, Air France Cargo, Delta Air Logistics, the following month, the newly established airline alliance announced its intentions to incorporate CSA Czech Airlines as the 5th member in April the following year. The alliance saw the joining of CSA Czech Airlines on 25 March 2001, Alitalia entered SkyTeam on 27 July the same year, on 30 September 2001, the alliance received KLMs application for membership, following the airlines plans to create a leading airline group with Air France. In 2003, Deltas subsidiary, Delta Express, was replaced by Song and that same year, SkyTeam also launched an improved website focused on providing passengers with more information, increased interactivity and other resources. On 24 May 2004, Aeroflot, the carrier and principal airline of Russia. The event took place in Kremlin following the airlines application earlier in the year for membership, SkyTeam expressed that Aeroflot has not met the consortiums standards, but that the airlines large hub networks made it ideal for the alliance, and made up for its deficiencies. On 28 August, China Southern Airlines, the largest carrier in the Peoples Republic of China, on 13 September, Continental Airlines, KLM and Northwest Airlines joined the alliance. Their simultaneous entry was the largest expansion event in airline alliance history, every associate adopted a frequent-flyer program of a full member, Copa Airlines already used Continentals OnePass, Kenya Airways and Air Europa used Air France–KLMs Flying Blue. Following a 23-month joining process since May 2004, Aeroflot joined on 14 April 2006 and it was the first Russian airline to be associated with any airline alliance. Aeroflot has increased its operational standards, passing International Air Transport Associations Operational Safety Audit, Deltas subsidiary Song continued to operate as Delta Air Lines
23.
Heathrow Airport
–
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
24.
Busiest airports in Europe
–
This is a list of the 100 busiest airports in Europe, ranked by total passengers per year, including both terminal and transit passengers. Data is for 2016 from a variety of sources, normally the national aviation authority statistics, the tables also show the percentage change in total passengers for each airport over the last year. Data is sourced individually for each airport and normally originates from national aviation authority statistics, lists of the rankings for 2015,2014,2013,2012,2011 and 2010 are also presented. European airports are defined as those that are within the airspace of the member and candidate states of The Council of Europe
25.
Frankfurt Airport
–
Frankfurt Airport is a major international airport located in Frankfurt, the fifth-largest city of Germany and one of the worlds leading financial centres. It is operated by Fraport and serves as the hub for Lufthansa including Lufthansa CityLine and Lufthansa Cargo as well as Condor. The airport is also the 12th busiest worldwide by number of passengers in 2015, with 61.032 million passengers using the airport in 2015. It also had a throughput of 2.076 million metric tonnes in 2015 and is the busiest airport in Europe by cargo traffic. As of summer 2017, Frankfurt Airport serves 293 destinations, making it the airport with the most direct routes in the world, in 2016 passengers at the airport fell 0. 4% to 60,792,308 down from 61.032 million in 2015. Frankfurt Airport lies 12 km southwest of central Frankfurt, near the Autobahn intersection Frankfurter Kreuz, the airport grounds, which form a city district of Frankfurt named Frankfurt-Flughafen, are surrounded by the Frankfurt City Forest. The southern portion of the airport grounds extend partially into the cities of Rüsselsheim am Main and Mörfelden-Walldorf, and a western portion of the grounds lie within the city of Kelsterbach. Thereby, along with a rail and motorway connection, the airport serves as a major transport for the greater region. That section of Rhein-Main later became the base for the Graf Zeppelin, its sister ship LZ-130, the airships were dismantled and their huge hangars demolished on 6 May 1940 during conversion of the base to military use. Luftwaffe engineers subsequently extended the runway and erected hangars and other facilities for German military aircraft. During World War II the Luftwaffe used the field sporadically as a fighter base, on 16 November 1909, the worlds first airline was founded in Frankfurt am Main, The Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-Aktiengesellschaft. DELAG then built the first airport in Frankfurt, called Airship Base at Rebstock and it opened in 1912 and was extended after World War I, but in 1924 an experts report already questioned the possibility of further expansions at this location. With the foundation of Deutsche Luft Hansa in 1926 a rapid boom of civilian air travel started, plans for a new and larger airport located in the Frankfurt City Forest south-west of Schwanheim were approved in 1930, but were not realised due to the Great Depression. After the Machtergreifung in 1933 the government revived the plans and started the construction of the new airport, on the northern part of the airport originated in 1935 a two-storey station building with a six-storey tower, and other operating and outbuildings for maintenance and storage of aircraft. The approximately 100 hectares runway received a grass cover, the official opening of the new Flug- und Luftschiffhafen Rhein-Main took place on July 8,1936. The first plane that landed was a Ju 52/3m, Six days later,1936800 tons of cargo and 58,000 passengers were transported, in 193770,000 passengers and 966 tons of cargo. In the coming years, the new airport was base of the two largest German airships LZ127 Graf Zeppelin and LZ129 Hindenburg. In 1938 Frankfurt was a distribution point for the transport of airmail to North America
26.
Departments of France
–
In the administrative divisions of France, the department is one of the three levels of government below the national level, between the administrative regions and the commune. There are 96 departments in metropolitan France and 5 overseas departments, each department is administered by an elected body called a departmental council. From 1800 to April 2015, they were called general councils, the departments were created in 1791 as a rational replacement of Ancien Régime provinces with a view to strengthen national unity, the title department is used to mean a part of a larger whole. Almost all of them were named after geographical features rather than after historical or cultural territories which could have their own loyalties. The earliest known suggestion of it is from 1764 in the writings of dArgenson and they have inspired similar divisions in many countries, some of them former French colonies. Most French departments are assigned a number, the Official Geographical Code. Some overseas departments have a three-digit number, the number is used, for example, in the postal code, and was until recently used for all vehicle registration plates. For example, inhabitants of Loiret might refer to their department as the 45 and this reform project has since been abandoned. The first French territorial departments were proposed in 1665 by Marc-René dArgenson to serve as administrative areas purely for the Ponts et Chaussées infrastructure administration, before the French Revolution, France gained territory gradually through the annexation of a mosaic of independent entities. By the close of the Ancien Régime, it was organised into provinces, during the period of the Revolution, these were dissolved, partly in order to weaken old loyalties. Their boundaries served two purposes, Boundaries were chosen to break up Frances historical regions in an attempt to erase cultural differences, Boundaries were set so that every settlement in the country was within a days ride of the capital of the department. This was a security measure, intended to keep the national territory under close control. This measure was directly inspired by the Great Terror, during which the government had lost control of rural areas far from any centre of government. The old nomenclature was carefully avoided in naming the new departments, most were named after an areas principal river or other physical features. Even Paris was in the department of Seine, the number of departments, initially 83, was increased to 130 by 1809 with the territorial gains of the Republic and of the First French Empire. Following Napoleons defeats in 1814-1815, the Congress of Vienna returned France to its pre-war size, in 1860, France acquired the County of Nice and Savoy, which led to the creation of three new departments. Two were added from the new Savoyard territory, while the department of Alpes-Maritimes was created from Nice, the 89 departments were given numbers based on their alphabetical order. The department of Bas-Rhin and parts of Meurthe, Moselle, Vosges and Haut-Rhin were ceded to the German Empire in 1871, following Frances defeat in the Franco-Prussian War
27.
Seine-et-Marne
–
Seine-et-Marne is a French department, named after the Seine and Marne rivers, and located in the Île-de-France region. Seine-et-Marne is one of the original 83 departments, created on 4 March 1790 and it had previously belonged to the former province of Île-de-France. With 60% of the used as farmland, Seine-et-Marne is where most agricultural activity occurs within the Île-de-France. Cereals and sugar beet are the exports from Seine-et-Marne. The other key structures are the refinery at Grandpuits and the Snecma research plant. The two new towns are the centre of tourism for the department, mainly due to parks such as Disneyland Park. Seine-et-Marne has a temperate Atlantic climate, the average rainfall is based upon that of Fontainebleau, giving an average rainfall of 650 mm, which is higher than the average of Île-de-France. Average temperature in Melun during the 1953–2002 period was 3.2 °C for January and 18.6 °C for July, the storm of 26 December 1999 led to five deaths in Seine-et-Marne and caused several trees to fall. Seine-et-Marne forms a part of the region, the department covers 49% of the regions land area. It is bordered by Val-dOise, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne, Essonne to the West, Loiret and Yonne to the South, Aube and Marne to the East, the department has many natural reserves, notably Brie and Gâtinais. The highest point of the département is Saint-Georges Hill, people from Seine-et-Marne are known as the Seine-et-Marnais. Originally Seine-et-Marne was very rural and lightly populated, over the past 50 years, however, its population has tripled, due to the development of the Paris conurbation and the building of new towns in the northwest of the region. The population was estimated to be 1,267,496 inhabitants in 2006, the region has changed from consisting only of small villages to forming a large part of the Paris conurbation. Seine-et-Marne as a whole shares a sister city relationship with Orlando, Florida, United States, mutualité, assurance et cycles de lincendie
28.
Mitry-Mory
–
Mitry-Mory is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the suburbs of Paris 24.4 km from the center just off the N2 national highway. About one-sixth of Charles de Gaulle Airport lies on the territory of the commune of Mitry-Mory—mostly at the end of the runway, the construction of CDG caused the closure of the prewar Mitry-Mory airfield in the late 1960s. It is also a major railroad centre, another very prominent feature is a huge parking lot for such a small commune. Many of the streets and roads are named for people, Mozart, Guy-Lussac, Léon Foucault, Berlioz, Picasso. Mitry-Mory is very convenient to Paris and an expensive place to live for those who work in Paris. It is twinned with the English town of Prudhoe in Northumberland, the commune of Mitry-Mory was created in 1839 by the merger of the commune of Mitry with the commune of Mory. The commune town hall is located in Mitry, the Commune shares an RER station with the neighboring commune of Villeparisis on the RER B line with the Villeparisis – Mitry-le-Neuf station. It is also served by Mitry – Claye station, which is a station on Paris RER line B. The Commune is an important rail center
29.
Seine-Saint-Denis
–
Seine-Saint-Denis is a French department located in the Île-de-France region. Locally, it is referred to colloquially as quatre-vingt treize or neuf trois. The learned and rarely used demonym for the inhabitants is Séquano-Dionysiens, Seine-Saint-Denis is located to the northeast of Paris. It has an area of only 236 km², making it one of the smallest departments in France. Seine-Saint-Denis and two other departments, Hauts-de-Seine and Val-de-Marne, form a ring around Paris, known as the Petite Couronne. They form, together with Paris the Greater Paris since January 1st 2016, Seine-Saint-Denis is made up of three departmental arrondissements and 40 communes, Seine-Saint-Denis was created in January 1968, through the implementation of a law passed in July 1964. It was formed from the part of the Seine department to the north and north-east of the Paris ring road, Seine-Saint-Denis has a history as a veritable left-wing stronghold, belonging to the ceinture rouge of Paris. The French Communist Party especially has maintained a strong presence in the department. A commune of Seine-Saint-Denis, Clichy-sous-Bois, was the scene of the death of two youths which sparked the riots of autumn 2005. In October - November,9,000 cars were burned and 3,000 rioters were arrested, Seine-Saint-Denis is the French department with the highest proportion of immigrants,21. 7% at the 1999 census. This figure does not include the children of immigrants born on French soil as well as some native elites from former French colonies, the ratio of ethnic minorities is difficult to estimate accurately as French law prohibits the collection of ethnic data for census taking purposes. However estimates suggest there are 500,000 Muslims out of a population of 1.53 million. Saint-Denis is home to the Union of French Islamic Organizations in the Bourget district, in 2005,56. 7% of young people under 18 were of foreign origin including 38% of African origin. Islam is believed to be the most practiced religion in the department, Seine-Saint-Denis was scheduled to be the site of a 2004 International Exhibition. Website of the General council Prefecture website Seine-Saint-Denis Tourist Board
30.
Tremblay-en-France
–
Tremblay-en-France is a commune in the north-eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 19.5 km from the centre of Paris, more than one-quarter of Charles de Gaulle Airport lies within the territory of the commune of Tremblay-en-France, in particular terminals 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D. It is the largest, by area, of the petite couronne suburbs of Paris. The corporate head office of Air France lies within Tremblay, originally called Tremblay-lès-Gonesse, the commune was officially re-named Tremblay-en-France on 20 August 1989. This last station is a station with TGV national rail lines. The inhabited area of Tremblay-en-France, however, is served by Vert-Galant station on Paris RER line and this station is located at the border between the commune of Tremblay-en-France and the commune of Villepinte, on the Villepinte side of the border. The complex opened in December 1995, the complex also has the head office of Air France-KLM. XL Airways France has its office in Bâtiment Mars in Continental Square II in Tremblay-en-France. Aigle Azur has its office in Tremblay. Europe Airpost has its office in the Bâtiment Le Séquoia in the commune. Servair, an Air France subsidiary, has its office in Continental Square. At one point Virgin Express France, a subsidiary of Virgin Express, had its headquarters in Tremblay, Tremblay-en-France has 12 écoles maternelles,14 écoles elementaires, three collèges, and two lycées. The collèges are Descartes, R. Rolland, and P. de Ronsard, the lycées are Lycée Enseignement Professionnel Hélène Boucher and Lycée Polyvalent Leonard de Vinci. The École Pierre-Brossolette had been targeted for closure, prompting protests from students asking the commune to not have the school closed, communes of the Seine-Saint-Denis department INSEE Official website
31.
Val-d'Oise
–
Val-dOise is a French department, created in 1968 after the split of the Seine-et-Oise department and located in the Île-de-France region. In local slang, it is known as quatre-vingt quinze or neuf cinq and it gets its name from the Oise River, a major tributary of the Seine, which crosses the region after having started in Belgium and flowed through north-eastern France. Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, Frances main international airport is located in Roissy-en-France. The original departments of France were established in 1790 when the French National Assembly split the country into 83 departments of roughly the same size and they were designed as sets of communes, and when better maps became available, certain revisions had to be made. After defeat by the Prussians in 1871, certain territories were ceded to them, in 1955 and 1957, some departments changed their names. In 1964, it was determined to divide up the departments of Seine, Val-dOise was one of the new departments so formed, and was created entirely from the previous department of Seine-et-Oise. Val-dOise is a department in north central France and is part of the region of Île-de-France, the River Oise is a right tributary of the River Seine, and flows through the province from northeast to southwest. The eastern part of the department is part of the Pays de France and this part is progressively diminishing in size as Paris expands. Part of Charles de Gaulle Airport falls in this region, while other parts are in the departments of Seine-et-Marne. The southernmost region of the department forms part of the Seine Valley and these parts are heavily urbanised, but the ancient Roman road, the Chaussée Jules César, which linked Paris and Rouen, passes through the latter. The central and southwestern parts of the department are also largely urbanised, the western part of the department forms part of the historic county of Vexin français, a verdant, largely agricultural plateau. Its capital was Pontoise on the extremity of the county. This commune is now combining with the commune of Cergy to form the new town of Cergy-Pontoise. The Vexin area remains rural, and across the whole department. The economy of Val-dOise relies on two different themes, the northern, eastern and western parts are fertile areas of agricultural land producing large quantities of corn, sugar beet, and other crops. The urban parts to the south are dormitory towns, used by working in the greater metropolitan area of Paris. The presence of Charles de Gaulle Airport and its associated TGV station provides access by rail to all parts of France, the department has nine business zones designated for high-tech industries. The department has an archaeological and historical heritage, but is not a region visited much by tourists
32.
Roissy-en-France
–
Roissy-en-France is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France, in the Val dOise department. It is located 20.7 km from the center of Paris, one-quarter of Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport but none of the terminals is in the commune of Roissy-en-France, which gave its original name to the airport. Later renamed Charles de Gaulle Airport, the airport is commonly referred to as Roissy Airport in France. The rest of the lies on the territory of the commune of Tremblay-en-France. In the name Roissy-en-France, France does not refer to the country of France, Île-de-France was made up of several pays, the pays de France, Parisis, Mantois, Hurepoix, and so on. Pays de France was the plain located immediately north of the city of Paris. Pays de France is now almost entirely built-up, being covered by the suburbs of Paris. Pays de France is also known as the plaine de France, Roissy-en-France is not served by Paris Métro, RER, or suburban rail network. The closest station to Roissy-en-France is Aéroport Charles de Gaulle 1 station on line B of the Paris Regions express suburban rail system, the RER. This station is located inside the airport, on the part of the airport belonging to the commune of Tremblay-en-France,3 km from the center of Roissy-en-France. Blue Line, a passenger airline, has its head office in Building B of Paris Nord 2. Air Frances head office is located in the Roissypôle complex on the grounds of Charles de Gaulle Airport and in Tremblay-en-France, the community has two schools, école maternelle Saint-Exupéry and école élémentaire Jean Mermoz. Roissy is the location where the action of the two explicit sadomasochistic novels Story of O, and its sequel Retour à Roissy by Pauline Réage take place, communes of the Val-dOise department INSEE Association of Mayors of the Val d’Oise Official website Mérimée database - Cultural heritage Land use
33.
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
34.
Avant-garde
–
The avant-garde are people or works that are experimental, radical, or unorthodox, with respect to art, culture, and society. It may be characterized by nontraditional, aesthetic innovation and initial unacceptability, the avant-garde pushes the boundaries of what is accepted as the norm or the status quo, primarily in the cultural realm. The avant-garde is considered by some to be a hallmark of modernism, the avant-garde also promotes radical social reforms. Several writers have attempted, with limited success, to map the parameters of avant-garde activity, the Italian essayist Renato Poggioli provides one of the best-known analyses of vanguardism as a cultural phenomenon in his 1962 book Teoria dellarte davanguardia. Other authors have attempted both to clarify and to extend Poggiolis study, bürgers essay also greatly influenced the work of contemporary American art-historians such as the German Benjamin H. D. Buchloh. Buchloh, in the collection of essays Neo-avantgarde and Culture Industry critically argues for an approach to these positions. Subsequent criticism theorized the limitations of these approaches, noting their circumscribed areas of analysis, including Eurocentric, chauvinist, and genre-specific definitions. The concept of avant-garde refers primarily to artists, writers, composers and thinkers whose work is opposed to cultural values. For Greenberg, these forms were therefore kitsch, phony, faked or mechanical culture, for instance, during the 1930s the advertising industry was quick to take visual mannerisms from surrealism, but this does not mean that 1930s advertising photographs are truly surreal. In this way the autonomous artistic merit so dear to the vanguardist was abandoned and sales became the measure. It has become common to describe successful rock musicians and celebrated film-makers as avant-garde, nevertheless, an incisive critique of vanguardism as against the views of mainstream society was offered by the New York critic Harold Rosenberg in the late 1960s. Since then it has been flanked by what he called avant-garde ghosts to the one side, and this has seen culture become, in his words, a profession one of whose aspects is the pretense of overthrowing it. Avant-garde in music can refer to any form of working within traditional structures while seeking to breach boundaries in some manner. The term is used loosely to describe the work of any musicians who radically depart from tradition altogether, although most avant-garde composers have been men, this is not exclusively the case. Women avant-gardists include Pauline Oliveros, Diamanda Galás, Meredith Monk, there are movements in theatre history that are characterized by their contributions to the avant-garde traditions in both the United States and Europe. Among these are Fluxus, Happenings, and Neo-Dada, Avant-garde – Wikipedia book Barron, Stephanie, and Maurice Tuchman. The Avant-garde in Russia, 1910–1930, New Perspectives, Los Angeles County Museum of Art Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. Los Angeles, CA, Los Angeles County Museum of Art ISBN 0-87587-095-3, Cambridge, MA, ISBN 0-671-20422-X Berg, Hubert van den, and Walter Fähnders
35.
Aperture
–
In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of a system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. The aperture determines how collimated the admitted rays are, which is of importance for the appearance at the image plane. If an aperture is narrow, then highly collimated rays are admitted, a wide aperture admits uncollimated rays, resulting in a sharp focus only for rays coming from a certain distance. This means that a wide aperture results in an image that is sharp for things at the correct distance, the aperture also determines how many of the incoming rays are actually admitted and thus how much light reaches the image plane. In the human eye, the pupil is the aperture, an optical system typically has many openings or structures that limit the ray bundles. In general, these structures are called stops, and the stop is the stop that primarily determines the ray cone angle. In some contexts, especially in photography and astronomy, aperture refers to the diameter of the aperture stop rather than the stop or the opening itself. For example, in a telescope, the stop is typically the edges of the objective lens or mirror. One then speaks of a telescope as having, for example, note that the aperture stop is not necessarily the smallest stop in the system. Magnification and demagnification by lenses and other elements can cause a large stop to be the aperture stop for the system. In astrophotography, the aperture may be given as a measure or as the dimensionless ratio between that measure and the focal length. In other photography, it is given as a ratio. Sometimes stops and diaphragms are called apertures, even when they are not the stop of the system. The word aperture is used in other contexts to indicate a system which blocks off light outside a certain region. In astronomy, for example, a photometric aperture around a star usually corresponds to a window around the image of a star within which the light intensity is assumed. The aperture stop is an important element in most optical designs and its most obvious feature is that it limits the amount of light that can reach the image/film plane. This can be unavoidable, as in a telescope where one wants to collect as much light as possible, or deliberate
_N19117_-_MSN_27559_706_(9272099010).jpg)
Barcelona, Spain
7.6
Amsterdam
London (Heathrow), United Kingdom
Rome (Fiumicino), Italy
Frankfurt, Germany
Istanbul (Atatürk), Turkey
Copenhagen, Denmark
Vienna, Austria
USA, New York-JFK
UAE, Dubai-International
Canada, Montreal–Trudeau
China, Shanghai (Pudong)
Israel, Tel Aviv
Doha
South Korea, Seoul–Incheon
0.3
Lebanon, Beirut
Hong_Kong, Hong Kong
Japan, Tokyo-Haneda
Thailand, Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi)
Singapore, Singapore
India, Mumbai
Media related to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport at Wikimedia Commons
Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport travel guide from Wikivoyage
