The Sacramento Journal reported today that the day after announcing it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Aloha Airlines said late Friday that it's looking for a buyer for all or part of Hawaii's second-largest airline.

Attorneys for the privately-owned Aloha told a federal bankruptcy judge in Honolulu that the company is seeking a buyer for its passenger, cargo and contract services.

The judge approved the airline to continue operating and honoring its loyalty programs.

Aloha is owned by a group of private investors, some of whom participated in the rescue of the airline from its previous bankruptcy, which began in late 2004. The biggest investor, The Yucaipa Cos. of California, is apparently unwilling to invest more than the $100 million it has already pumped into the company.

Aloha said rising jet fuel costs and a 21-month-long airfare war with Hawaiian Airlines and go! forced the company to enter bankruptcy. It is the second time in three years the airline has filed for court protection; it last exited bankruptcy in February 2006.

Founded in 1946, Aloha Airlines flew 3.9 million passengers in 2007.

Aloha's routes link the five major Hawaiian Islands and fly to Las Vegas and Reno, Nev.; and San Diego, Oakland, Sacramento and Orange County. On March 14, Aloha said it will cancel a daily flight from Sacramento to Orange County on April 1.

Also on Friday, leaders of the Hawaii House and Senate said they are prepared to consider legislation that may assist Aloha in its reorganization.

The lawmakers and Gov. Linda Lingle have expressed concern about the airline's 3,500 employees, but offered no specific assurances for aiding the airline. The

Just like with the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow the new terminal 3 at Beijing International Airport seems to be the sole preserve of one national (sorry private) carrier.  At Heathrow BAA seem to have built the terminal entirely for BA's use and her in China we have Air China making the most of the new facility.  Anyway for anyone travelling to the airport or traveling with Air China then the information below will be very useful.

Air China is set to move all of its Beijing Capital International Airport operations to New Terminal 3 at midnight on March 26, 2008.

This will now be the  world's largest airport terminal, Terminal 3. but getting acclimatized to this new environment may take time. For passengers to have sufficient time to get to know the new facility, check-in counters for Air China's domestic flights will close 45 minutes before the scheduled flight departure time, and passengers for the company's international and regional flights will close 60 minutes before the scheduled flight departure time. Boarding gates for all of the company's flights will close 10 minutes before the scheduled flight departure time.

With Terminal 3 as the base for its airport operations in Beijing, Air China has put in place the Advanced Departure Control System, the Ground Operations Command System, the Automatic Check-in System and the Baggage Reconciliation System. Self check-in devices and an online check-in system, which allow passengers to pick seats and print boarding passes themselves, will be more readily available. The Baggage Reconciliation System will dramatically increase baggage handling efficiency, and it will make collecting luggage much quicker and easier for passengers.

Terminal 3 is easily accessible from the Litian Highway, the North Airport Highway, the Second Airport Highway and the Airport Rail Line. Passengers can get onboard the railway (scheduled to be operational in July of 2008) at Dongzhimen. There is also a car parking lot, which offers 7,000 spaces.

Terminal 3 is by far the country's largest airport investment and also an important project in supporting the Beijing Olympics. As the only Olympics Airline Partner, Air China will make the most of the new facility's resources.

Passengers are requested to give themselves more time to get their bearings in the new terminal and go through the usual formalities at customs and passport control. For more information, please log onto http://www.airchina.com.cn or call the Air China service hotline in China 4008-100-999.

Helpful Advice:

As Air China will move into Terminal 3 on March 26, passengers of Air China need to check-in at Zones J, H and F. Please take note of the following details:

1. Domestic departure passengers, please go to Zone J through Gate 10 for check-in. 2. For passengers taking International, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan flights, please go to Zone F through Gate 8 for check-in. 3. First Class, Business Class and Air China club passengers, please go to Zone H through nearby Gate 8 for check-in. 4. Passengers taking flights belonging to The Star Alliance, please go to Zone E or D through Gate 4 or 6 for check-in.

In addition, passengers can reach Terminal 3 through the following ways:

1. Take the Airport shuttle bus located in fixed areas around the city. 2. Passengers traveling by car can take the South exit of the Airport Highway and follow the signs to Terminal 3. 3. If passengers go to Terminal 1 or 2 by mistake, please take the shuttle bus, operating in both Terminal 1 and 2, to Terminal 3, or walk to Terminal 3 by following the signs.

Interesting developments at Long Beach Airport. At least an attempt at 'Greenness' is being made here and unfortunately their don't seem to be enough efforts of this nature in the airport industry.  Also an interesting green spin off story on drainage, sea and river pollution.  Many thanks to the Press-Telegram Long Beach and Red Orbit.

The newest trees at Long Beach Airport may be made of steel, but city officials say they are the start of many steps to greening the airport. City and business leaders on Thursday unveiled the airport's new solar "forest" installation - six "solar trees."

The system consists of 186-watt photovoltaic panels mounted on dual-axis trackers that pivot 15 degrees every hour toward the sun.  Considered to be one of the most advanced solar systems in the region, the light-collecting system is expected to create 15,000 kilowatt hours annually, save at least $5,000 a year and offset nearly a half-million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions over the system's 25-year lifespan - which equates to planting three acres of trees, officials said.

"It's important to save energy, but it's more important to really demonstrate that you can do something positive with the environment," said Mayor Bob Foster. "This is hopefully one of the first of many projects in making this airport green."

Standing among palm trees in the airport's baggage claim and cafe area, the installation was designed by the airport and EcoMedia, which fully funded the project through corporate sponsorships.

Paul Polizzotto, a Manhattan Beach native who founded EcoMedia as a way of using advertising to raise environmental awareness, first met city Stormwater Program Officer Tom Leary a few years ago about ways to help clean pollution from stormwater drains.

Polizzotto said he was drawn to the unique environmental challenges of a largely populated city with a port, an airport, the Los Angeles River and an ocean.

"We wanted to help (Long Beach) deal with stormwater and urban runoff issues and remove pollutants that would otherwise end up in our oceans," he said.

That evolved into a citywide environmental program that examines other related issues, including energy conservation, improvements to air quality and the enhancement of parks and green space. Programs include Heal the Bay's Key to Sea and Windows on Our Waters program, which has taught about 65,000 children about Southern California's coastal environment.

"We want to take a comprehensive look at the environment in Long Beach and try to do it in a two-pronged way," Polizzotto said. "We want to educate and inspire citizens to be a part of the solutions and we want to fund brick-and-mortar projects like you see here today that lead to measurable environmental improvements."

Polizzotto's visionary approach to public-private partnership is a help to cash-strapped municipalities like Long Beach.

"The unique thing about this is that it's non-taxpayer dollars," Leary said. "It's people who are doing business and providing products in our city who are being part of the solution."

So I am being fingerprinted, but I haven't been arrested.  So what am I.  Well I am just a British airport passenger. In seems the home of tolerance and civil liberties has just lost the plot.  Read this excellent post from Kerala news.

 Millions of British airline passengers will face mandatory fingerprinting before being allowed to board flights when Heathrow's Terminal 5 opens later this month. For the first time at any airport, the biometric checks will apply to all domestic passengers leaving the terminal, which will handle all British Airways flights to and from Heathrow. The controversial security measure is also set to be introduced at Gatwick, Manchester and Heathrow's Terminal 1, and many airline industry insiders believe fingerprinting could become universal at all UK airports within a few years.

All four million domestic passengers who will pass through Terminal 5 annually after it opens on March 27 will have four fingerprints taken, as well as being photographed, when they check in.

To ensure the passenger boarding the aircraft is the same person, the fingerprinting process will be repeated just before they board the aircraft and the photograph will be compared with their face.

BAA, the company that owns Heathrow, insists the biometric information will be destroyed after 24 hours and will not be passed on to the police.

The company said the move had been necessitated by the design of Terminal 5, where international and domestic passengers share the same lounges and public areas after they have checked in.

Without the biometric checks, the company says, potential criminals and illegal immigrants arriving on international flights or in transit to another country could bypass border controls by swapping boarding passes with a domestic passenger who has already checked in.

They could then board the domestic flight, where proof of identity is not currently required, fly on to another UK airport and leave without having to go through passport control.

Most other airports avoid the problem by keeping international and domestic passengers separate at all times, but the mixed lounges exist at Gatwick, Manchester and Heathrow's Terminal 1.

Gatwick and Manchester currently deal with the problem by photographing all passengers as they pass through security, and checking the picture against their face at the departure gate.

Civil liberties campaigners have raised concerns about the possibility of security agencies trying to access the treasure trove of personal data in the future, adding that fingerprinting "will make innocent people feel like criminals".

Although fingerprinting is carried out at some foreign airports - most notably in the US - as part of immigration checks for international arrivals, Heathrow will be the first to fingerprint domestic passengers before they board their flights.

Deliberate Global destruction continues. It looks like their is still no consideration to reduce carbon emissions and air travel traffic.
Singapore will be building a fourth passenger terminal at Changi Airport, said Minister of State for Transport Lim Hwee Hua in Parliament.

It was only in January that Changi Airport opened the $1.75 billion Terminal Three. $500 million have also been set aside to upgrade Terminal One, while the $240 million makeover for Terminal Two has already been completed.

And now the 'master planning' for Terminal Fou has already started.

Changi's passenger traffic hit a record 36.7 million last year - 4.8 per cent higher than in 2006.

But regional and international competition for passengers has also intensified.

Beijing airport's $3.8 billion third terminal, bigger than all five terminals at London?s Heathrow, opened its doors on Feb 29.

At the same time, Dubai also plans to spend $33 billion to build the world's largest airport, which will be able to handle 120 million people a year when it's ready in 2012.

In recent years, newly expanded terminals have also sprung up in Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.

Read also S'pore's budget terminal to get $10m upgrade to increase capacity

This was an aborted landing at Hamburg yesterday in extremely strong winds. t

The Pilot was heralded as a hero, however, I am sure all the passengers will be receiving counselling today.  read more »

Despite being the second most delayed airport in the world. Beijing airport open a massive new terminal yesterday. Beijing's new international air terminal, opened today in time for the Summer Olympics. The glass-and-steel structure is two miles long and half a mile wide, and was completed from design to completion in just four years. Most airport projects take a decade or more to complete and usually involve lengthy reviews, detailed assessments, planning committees, public hearings and environmental impact statements. No such problems here. The new Terminal 3 at Beijing Capital International Airport is a modern counterpart, the gateway to a new China. Designed by Foster and the Beijing Architectural Design & Research Institute, the terminal measures about 10.6 million square feet. By comparison, the Pentagon, often described as the largest office building in the world, is 6.5 million square feet. And the enormous terminal is astride a runway able to handle the new Airbus A380 superjumbo jets. It's got all manner of bells and whistles, including "barrier-free" facilities for the disabled, floor tracking to guide the blind, and multi-denominational prayer rooms in an officially atheist country. It also has baby-changing facilities galore and 26 smoking rooms with advanced filtering systems -- in short, a lot of stuff you probably won't see again during your stay in China. The designers put a premium on air, light, greenery and distinct Chinese characteristics. The sloping roof is meant to evoke a dragon, with triangular skylights resembling scales. Feng shui principles were incorporated into the design, and the interior is decorated in colors that hold special meaning for Chinese. "Feng shui has a scientific and a superstitious side," said Shao Weiping, principal architect with Beijing Architectural Design. "We used the scientific side." Passengers entering the terminal are met with a blaze of red, evoking celebration, good luck, joy and enthusiasm. By the time you approach your gate more than a mile distant, preferably using an automated train, the interior has shaded to yellow. This color is associated with royalty, mother and earth, which presumably act as a calming influence. Beijing desperately needed a new terminal even without the Summer Games, with double-digit economic growth rapidly outpacing infrastructure expansion plans. The airport's second terminal, which opened eight years ago, quickly reached its limits. Long lines for check-in and flight delays are common. Also Friday, reporters were given a tour of one of two new subway lines that will be ready for the Beijing Olympics. The first phase of Line 10 will open in June. The line runs northwest to southeast and was built at a cost of US$1.9 million, said Liu Hongtao, an executive with the Beijing Railway Transportation Construction Corp. Six workers will killed almost a year ago when a tunnel collapsed during Line 10's construction. The short Olympic Line, which will serve many of the venues, is still under construction. It connects with Line 10 and will cost $335 million. A high-speed commuter rail to the airport is also in the works. Beijing has 140 kilometres of subways and will have 200 kilometres when the Olympics open. The city plans to have 560 kilometres by 2015.

The increase in the amount of protests at airports regarding carbon emissions and the proliferation of more flight traffic and new runways continues. This week at London Heathrow the Greenpeace activists that climbed onto the roof of a BA Boeing 777 aircraft have revealed that they were able to get past security by walking through a door which was broken and therefore left unattended.

The protestors told The Guardian newspaper that they walked on to the taxiway near the aircraft after they discovered a set of security doors ajar. The group had travelled to Heathrow on a flight from Manchester and slipped through a some doors next to Terminal One's arrival, which took them to the broken doors downstairs.

The activists climbed onto the aircraft and covered the tailfin with a banner stating: 'Climate Emergency - No Third Runway'. The group were arrested by police but have now been bailed until 29 April.

In the same week protesters scaled the roof of British Parliament in a similar protest.  This was the environmental lobby The  "Plane Stupid" group. They scaled the Houses of Parliament to mark the end of a public consultation period on a third runway and sixth terminal at what is already the world's busiest international airport.
"NO THIRD RUNWAY," read one of the banners they unfurled and hung down the side of the building.

It is easy to see why Greenpeace are looking for more sustainable transport economies. It should not be forgotten that 100,000 flights a year go between Heathrow and destinations that are easily reachable by train (the most popular destination is Paris - easily reachable by the Eurostar). And, looking at the price of train travel in Britain, it's understandable that some people are still choosing to fly. If the £9 billion tax subsidies the aviation industry receives to make flying cheaper and airports bigger were spent on making trains cheaper and better, we could reduce the environmental impact of Heathrow instead of vastly increasing it.

It looks like a period of instability at Irish airports this week meanwhile big trouble brews in India nationwide strikes are planned.   Air traffic controllers in Ireland have voted for 24-hour strikes this Thursday after several weeks of unofficial overtime ban. The strike, organised by the Balpa union, is likely to ground flights at all three airports.

In a separate dispute, workers at Aer Lingus are likely to strike early this week against cost cutting meaures. Aer Lingus has threatened to lock out around 1,800 ground stuff on Tuesday if they do not co-operate 'unreservedly' with the new measures. Aer Lingus was the focus of several strikes last year.

In India, over 18,000 workers at the country's airports are set to launch a nationwide indefinite strike on Tuesday against transfer of their jobs away from the state run Airports Authority of India to private airport operators like Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) and Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL). Workers are also protesting against the closure of airports in Hyderabad and Bangalore as new greenfield airports are opened. MIAL and DIAL have issued statements saying they will hire scabs to break the strike and keep airport services open.

Many thanks to Lib.com

When I was young the idea of flight, flying and aeroplanes filled me with excitement and wonder.  I was severely disappointed when I went to my first airport. Why? Well because I imagined that if you were going to fly, then the place you went from would be some sort of temple, palace to celebrate the whole fantastic idea. 

Still now I am older and used to the souless ultilitarian people processing plants known as airports.  This article on WNBC.com reminded me that perhaps other people thought the same at one point. 

It was called the longest window in the world when its red, sapphire and purple panels were unveiled to airport travelers in 1960. Artists called the window -- longer than a football field and more than 20 feet high -- one of the most important stained-glass works in the U.S.
But American Airlines quietly began dismantling the window's 900 panels last week at its old John F. Kennedy International Airport terminal, after years of debate and pleas by employees and artists to find a way to keep the abstract, multicolored piece intact.
Many museums asked to display the window -- over 300 feet long and 23 feet high -- said it was too large. And the airline said that removing it in one piece, moving it and storing it would cost many millions.

Go to the full and facinating story here