Amsterdam, Paris airports joining forces

by Jeffrey White on

Two of Europe’s leading airport groups are joining forces.

The BBC is reporting that Aeroports de Paris (ADP) and the Schiphol Group of the Netherlands have formed an alliance in which each has bought stakes in the other.

The French government is selling about 8 percent of ADP to the Schiphol Group for $700 million. In return, ADP is buying an 8 percent stake in the Schiphol Group, for around $500 million.

The Schiphol Group obviously are the owners of Amsterdam’s airport, one of Europe’s busiest. ADP owns Paris Charles de Gaulle and Orly.

What’s going on here? Both companies are looking to combat dropping passenger numbers by operating as a dual hub. What this means for travelers is that there will be more synergy across the airports in terms of flight cooperation. Simply put: passengers will have access to more flights to more destinations.

And the tie up is expected to save each company millions.

In some respects, this is just a tightening of a relationship that is already pretty strong, through the airline Air France-KLM, which operates heavily between both countries.

The Atlantic on the TSA’s “security theater”

by Grant Martin on

This month’s The Atlantic has an interesting article by Jeffrey Goldberg on the flaws and loopholes inside of the Transportation Security Administration, or TSA. In it, Goldberg tries to get to the bottom of why some of these ridiculous polices exist and how easy it is to get around them.

In on example, to circumvent the 3-1-1 liquid policy (where one is only allowed 3.4oz of any particular liquid onto an aircraft) he donned a beer belly and brought two full beers through the security checkpoint. He also manages to get through with multiple questionable items, including giant Hezzbollah flags, Osama Bin Laden t-shirts and other “dangerous” goods. Even when he’s trying to get caught.

Through these experiments, Goldberg asks the simple question: Why put these securities in place when they can be circumvented? And eventually he gets the chance to speak with Kip Hawley about this. The director of the TSA concedes that there are risks that still prevail, but also that they’re working on ways to tighten up security. From way Goldberg frames his article, it seems like they’ve got a lot of work left yet to do.

New nondenominational ‘hope room’ opens at Providence’s TF Green airport

by Jeffrey White on

While most major airports have chapels — nondenominational places where one can go and be alone with one’s thoughts — some smaller airports are still catching up.

TF Green airport, which considers itself Boston’s second airport, though it’s about 45 minutes away from downtown in Providence, Rhode Island, has just opened what it calls its “Hope Reflection Room.” It’s been in the works for some eight years, spearheaded by the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island.

One of the room’s spokespeople is Barbara Caniglia, who remembers a few years ago that when her mother died, she tried to find a quiet corner in the baggage area at Green where she should could tell her family members, according to Boston.com.

The room came to fruition after a recent expansion at the airport. And it is strictly nondenominational: The only suggestion of a higher power in the room is a model of a globe cradled in a large hand.

Yet another TSA failure – missing uniforms and badges

by Scott Carmichael on

Several days ago I wrote about a TSA inspector who was helping himself to expensive items from our luggage. And today, a report issued by a government watchdog agency reveals that TSA staffers also seem to be pretty lax when it comes to items provided to them by their employer.

One of the most startling pieces of news in the report is that ex-TSA workers are not always returning their security badges, which can be used to enter “sterile areas” of the airport. They are also frequently keeping their uniforms. Amazingly, the TSA does not always seem to be in a hurry to get them back.

To me, this news just adds to the incompetence that is the Transportation Security Administration. In any corporate environment, access badges are linked directly to the HR system. When a staff member is terminated, or leaves the company, their badge has to be returned and it is deactivated. I find it beyond comprehension that ID badges used by people with access to the airport are not controlled by a central organization or that they don’t get the police involved when badges or uniforms are not promptly returned.

At the same time you and I are being searched for illegal bottles of water and nail clippers, there are TSA airport ID’s and uniforms unaccounted for. Forget the threat from the traveling public, before you know it we’ll need a TSA for the TSA.

As usual, TSA chief Kip Hawley is taking matters “seriously” and he announced that the “TSA shares the interest in improving their processes”. Thankfully there is some legislation in the pipeline that should increase oversight of who gets into the airport. In light of recent events, I also hope they take a close look at what gets out of the airport.

Souce: USA Today

Other travel troublemakers

Terminal 3 of Dubai International Airport opens. Wow?

by Abha Malpani on

The exclusive Emirates Airline terminal of Dubai International Airport opened its doors yesterday. The airline projects catering to 40 million passengers annually, so an exclusive terminal was a necessity.

With all the crazy developments in Dubai over the last few years, each one outdoing the other, it’s hard to maintain wow factor. Nevertheless, the new airport wing has been fussed about a lot, so here are the details.

According to an article in Gulf News’s Xpress: At a price of $4.5 billion, the terminal has taken 10 million cubic meters of soil (enough to fill 4,000 swimming pools), 33,000 tonnes of structural steel, and 450 tonnes of reinforcement to put the terminal together. It has 157 lifts, 97 escalators, 82 moving walkways and 27 truck lifts and eight “Sky Trains” that can handle 47 people each. Also, 8000 square meters of retail space has been added to the already existing 7000 square meters of the Dubai Duty Free shopping area.

This is the first phase of the 4-phase terminal that begins by operating 40 flights a day. When phase 4 opens in 2011, 269 flights are expected to depart from this terminal daily.

It has 30 self-check-in counters alongside 126 traditional check-in stations. Rumor is that you will even be able to check in from the terminal’s car park!

Dubai International Airport currently handles 40 million passengers a year; this new terminal increases its capacity enough to accommodate the movement of another 20 million passengers annually.

Gulf News has done a video walk through of this new wing which you can see here. You will not be surprised to see that it looks more like a high-tech 5-star hotel.