Airports in the News – Summer 2019

Dubrovnik Airport

Dubrovnik Airport

American Airlines has inaugurated its seasonal service between Philadelphia and Dubrovnik, marking the resumption of flights between the United States and Croatia after 28 years, as well as the return of scheduled long-haul flights to the Adriatic city. Flight AA148 took off from Philadelphia just after 18:30 local time (00:30 CEST) on 7 June, with 209 passengers onboard the Boeing 767-300ER aircraft, while the return service has had 169 travellers. American Airlines will maintain three weekly services between the two cities from June until September.

Belgrade Airport

Berlin Brandenburg Airport

Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) has begun establishing airlines’ locations for flight operations at the airport, which is due to open in October 2020. The airport invited the airlines, all participating authorities and ground-handling service providers to a meeting at BER to determine more details on the airlines’ operations. In the future, easyJet and Lufthansa will be found in T1. Eurowings will be located in the currently under-construction T2, which will have a direct connection to Pier Nord. Ryanair will use the current Schönefeld Airport terminals, which will be converted to T5 at BER.

Belgrade Airport

Paris-Orly Airport

Paris airport operator Groupe ADP inaugurated the new ORLY 3 junction building at Paris-Orly airport on 18 April, in the presence of French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, Minister of Transport Elisabeth Borne and Groupe ADP CEO Augustin de Romanet. ORLY 3, with a surface area of nearly 80,000sqm, links the former Orly South and Orly West buildings. It comprises a public departure hall with its check-in counters, Schengen and International inspection area, commercial area, boarding lounge and arrival itineraries, connecting flight area, baggage delivery, baggage handling system, etc. The new junction building has created a single terminal building, allowing customers to travel between all areas of the airport under one roof.

Milan Malpensa Airport

Air Italy’s first non-stop flight to San Francisco was inaugurated on 10 April, taking off from Milan Malpensa at 13:35, adding a fourth direct service to the United States, following the launch of Milan-Los Angeles, Milan-New York JFK and Milan-Miami last year. Air Italy’s Chief Operating Officer Rossen Dimitrov inaugurated the new four times weekly Milan-San Francisco IG937 service with a traditional cake and ribbon cutting ceremony and warm thanks to SEA Aeroporti di Milano officials, departing passengers and the media before the take-off was marked with a celebratory water cannon.

Brussels South Charleroi Airport

Brussels South Charleroi Airport has become a transit hub for passengers with 27 connections available. Starting on 11 April, Ryanair has launched a connection service via Brussels Charleroi from 15 cities in the Ryanair network, including Alicante, Budapest, Milan Bergamo and Prague. Passengers can now arrive at and depart from Brussels South Charleroi Airport while remaining in a new, specially designed transit zone. This new path for passengers on connecting flights will simplify the experience and offer new opportunities for European travel, via Brussels South Charleroi Airport.

Frankfurt Airport

Frankfurt Airport is trialling a new robotic concierge service called ‘FRanny’ that it hopes will ensure passengers enjoy an even smoother journey through its facilities. The new addition is part of a co-operative project between airport operator, Fraport AG, and DB Systel GmbH, Deutsche Bahn’s dedicated IT service provider. FRAnny is an expert on Frankfurt Airport and is able to answer a wide range of questions ranging from identifying the correct gate for airline departures, directing the way to a specific restaurant, and how to access the free Wi-Fi.

London Heathrow Airport

Heathrow announced it is implementing new measures to protect local air quality, reduce congestion and tackle emissions, as the airport joined London and Birmingham as the third UK zone to impose charges on the most polluting cars, with an Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ). The world’s first airport ULEZ is set to be introduced in 2022. It will impose minimum vehicle emissions standards identical to the London Mayor’s ULEZ for passenger cars and private hire vehicles entering car parks or drop-off areas at any of Heathrow’s terminals, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The goal is to tackle the main source of local air pollution – road vehicles – and reduce congestion by encouraging more people to use sustainable ways of getting to and from the airport.

Aena

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Aena have confirmed they will work together to improve the environmental impact of Spanish airports, with the EIB granting a loan of €86 million. This contract was made possible by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) and the credit line will be available for use by Aena for the next two years, enabling it to finance 75% of the investments set to improve energy efficiency and promote the use of renewable energy in Aena’s network of 46 airports and two heliports across Spain.


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