Airport Check-in: Detroit Metro upgrades to save energy
Roger Yu, USA TODAY, 7/9/2007 (excerpted)
DETROIT
In building its new North Terminal, Detroit Metro is incorporating some of the latest techniques for saving fuel and reducing air pollution.
The airport will install electrical connections at each gate that will allow planes to operate on airport power while they're loading or unloading.
Called "gate electrification," it allows the standing planes to operate without burning their own fuel or relying on the airport's diesel-burning ground power source.
Gates are also designed to pump in preconditioned air to aircraft.
The new terminal will deliver fuel to planes through a system of underground pipes, eliminating the need for fuel delivery trucks.
Detroit's new 26-gate North Terminal will open in late 2008 and replace the aging Smith and Berry terminals. The Federal Aviation Administration has awarded Detroit Metropolitan $5.1 million in grant funds to help pay for gate electrification
Dallas/Fort Worth installed the electrical connections at gates when it built its International Terminal D. Mineta San Jose and Oakland also have the electrified gates.
PHOENIX: Curbside check-in now costs $2 per bag
US Airways recently began charging $2 per bag for curbside check-in at Phoenix Sky Harbor International, joining Northwest, American and United in collecting the fee at that airport. US Airways charges the fee at 17 other airports in the country.
PARIS: New concourse handles larger aircraft
Paris' Charles de Gaulle International, one of the most crowded airports in Europe, last month opened a new concourse designed mostly for large aircraft. It will handle the superjumbo Airbus A380, which is expected to enter commercial service later this year.
Called Satellite 3, or S3, it is an add-on to Terminals 2E and 2F and will increase the airport's yearly passenger capacity by 8.5 million passengers. It can hold up to 26 planes, including six A380s.
The $870 million facility, used mostly by Air France, KLM and other SkyTeam Alliance members, is linked to Terminal 2E by an automated train. That eliminates the need for travelers to ride the bus or walk a long distance to connect. It also has 50,000 square feet of space for shops, bars and restaurants.
LONDON: Passport lines could be slow at Stansted
Travelers standing in the passport inspection lines at London Stansted could face delays of an hour or more this summer as workers get used to working with new machines that read electronic passports, according to Lin Homer, chief of the U.K.'s Border and Immigration Agency. He commented in a recent interview with British newspaper The Guardian.
The airport, about 35 miles from London, is popular among leisure travelers who hop around European cities on low-cost carriers such as Ryanair.
The airlines at Stansted have been complaining this year about long hold-ups at passport control since the new machines were introduced earlier this year.