Austin (TX) To Ready for 747 Charters
Jun 15, 2012, 1:54 am
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Austin (TX) To Ready for 747 Charters
From the Statesman article:
Although "International" is part of the Austin airport's name, city officials acknowledged Thursday that it doesn't have the capacity to handle several large international charter flights that could bring in fans for the Formula One race planned for November.
So aviation officials are considering building a temporary airport terminal facility at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport to handle the charters, which could be 747s and larger jets.
As many as 42,000 race attendees are expected to arrive via international flights, circuit organizers have said. Currently, the Austin airport's only direct international destination is Cancún, Quintana Roo. In April, about 26,000 people a day flew in and out of the airport, said airport spokesman Jim Halbrook.
Austin Aviation Department Executive Director Jim Smith gave some rough ideas to council members: The temporary facility would have two inbound baggage carousels and accommodate up to 400 people an hour.
So aviation officials are considering building a temporary airport terminal facility at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport to handle the charters, which could be 747s and larger jets.
As many as 42,000 race attendees are expected to arrive via international flights, circuit organizers have said. Currently, the Austin airport's only direct international destination is Cancún, Quintana Roo. In April, about 26,000 people a day flew in and out of the airport, said airport spokesman Jim Halbrook.
Austin Aviation Department Executive Director Jim Smith gave some rough ideas to council members: The temporary facility would have two inbound baggage carousels and accommodate up to 400 people an hour.
Jun 26, 2012, 3:15 pm
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The international fans are going to come into IAH or DFW then connect to AUS or drive. I don't think we'll see chartered passenger 747s.
The cars on the other hand I'm not sure about. Most likely they can already be handled at the existing cargo ramp. If not they can certainly be loaded onto trucks and driven to CTA from other Airports.
The cars on the other hand I'm not sure about. Most likely they can already be handled at the existing cargo ramp. If not they can certainly be loaded onto trucks and driven to CTA from other Airports.
Jun 26, 2012, 8:53 pm
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The international fans are going to come into IAH or DFW then connect to AUS or drive. I don't think we'll see chartered passenger 747s.
The cars on the other hand I'm not sure about. Most likely they can already be handled at the existing cargo ramp. If not they can certainly be loaded onto trucks and driven to CTA from other Airports.
The cars on the other hand I'm not sure about. Most likely they can already be handled at the existing cargo ramp. If not they can certainly be loaded onto trucks and driven to CTA from other Airports.
Jun 27, 2012, 10:48 am
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At the end of the article it does say that Indianapolis received some charters when they held the race. Unfortunately it didn't give any details. Thanks for posting the story, I had missed it. :-)
Jun 27, 2012, 3:17 pm
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Update from the Statesman: City to Consider $5.5 Million Customs Facility
Another Update: Council rejects $5.5 million temporary airport terminal
The existing customs facility can handle 90 to 120 passengers an hour, the city said.
Indianapolis, which hosted F1 races from 2000 through 2007, had six to 12 international charter flights per year, Smith said. The result here, he said, would be very long lines and a several-hour wait for people to get through customs.
Last edited by Dan6681; Jun 29, 2012 at 8:26 am Reason: Another Update
Sep 10, 2012, 3:20 pm
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The only market in the United States, as small as Austin, that has a non-stop to London is RDU. They have only been able to make that work with some type of corporate guarantee and the 757 aircraft. The way I see it AUS has three major problems.
1) A minimum of a 767 is required because of the distance.
2) Inadequate Immigration/Customs facility for a 767.
3) A more substantial guarantee/contract than RDU because of the size of the aircraft.
The best thing would be for the city council to start planing to move the airport operation over to a private company. That way someone who knew what the heck they were doing would be in charge of the matter.
Whoops! That makes the above argument fall apart a bit :-). If the customs/immigration facility was upgraded and with the addition of the BMI LHR slots, maybe this could happen.
Last edited by Dan6681; Sep 11, 2012 at 10:32 am Reason: RDU uses a 767
Sep 10, 2012, 3:26 pm
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Sep 10, 2012, 5:03 pm
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If you're referring to AA's RDU-LHR service (and previously RDU-LGW before the open skies agreement), it's never been smaller than a 767-300. It was a 777-200 for quite a few years, too.
Jan 2, 2013, 3:20 pm
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Jan 2, 2013, 7:05 pm
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Jan 9, 2013, 3:24 pm
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