2.5 years.
Airport Relocation Update
- Thread starter Smiling JOe
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2.5 years.
Why so long? This one is <allegedly> going to take only 1.5 years.
That being the case, we may end up in the same boat as Thailand:
Thai airport hit by runway cracks
Thailand's transport ministry is to recommend some domestic flights be transferred from Bangkok's new airport to the decommissioned old one.
The move is necessary to allow the authorities to repair a series of cracks in the runways.
Suvarnabhumi Airport, designed to showcase Thailand as a regional hub, opened in September to huge publicity.
But the building has been dogged by problems, from allegations of corruption to claims of a ghost.
After a meeting with airport officials, Transport Minister Thira Haocharoen said he would seek Cabinet approval to reopen the old international airport at Don Muang on a temporary basis.
"The decision to move back to Don Muang was based on a series of problems that have plagued Suvarnabhumi, from cracks on the taxiways to out-of-order aerobridges," Mr Thira said.
The reopening is expected to take place within two months' time, he added.
Airlines would move on a voluntary basis and only flights which had no international connections would be asked to make the switch.
But correspondents say the move will still complicate travel for many international visitors, who travel to Bangkok and then transfer to different airlines for flights to Thailand's famed beach resorts.
Corruption claims
The Thai authorities hoped that Suvaranabhumi, which means Golden Land, would rival the airports in Hong Kong and Singapore and cement Thailand's reputation as a regional hub.
Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a coup in September, made the project one of the main priorities of his administration, and the $4bn glass and steel airport should theoretically be able to handle 45 million passengers a year.
But since development started more than 40 years ago,
the project has been mired by a series of problems. Politicians from Mr Thaksin's administration were accused of buying up land in advance of construction, to sell on again at huge profits, and the purchase of the airport's high-tech X-Ray scanners was also tainted by allegations of corruption.
The project also suffered many delays and accidents, including a fire that swept through a catering hall, killing a member of staff.
Even supernatural forces seem to have been against Suvarnabhumi, and dozens of people reported seeing ghosts during the construction process.
<Construction workers claimed the ghosts were nekkid and wearing straw hats.
>Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6309539.stm
Published: 2007/01/29 11:44:45 GMT
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We had a terrible time with ghosts in the machines. And rain.
This is a "major international airport" afterall <if one is to believe the rhetoric in glossy brochures and RE websites trying to hawk land>.
I imagine they'll use the local Texaco station to fill up gas cans to fuel the jets; hire a bunch of illegals to do a hand-over-hand chain to unload the baggage; swipe a SoWal lifeguard chair to use as a control tower; and clear a double-lane dirt roadway through the swamp to provide access to transport construction vehicles during building and ferry tens-of-thousands...nay....millions of domestic and international visitors to and fro.
That said, I don't see how a few extra-large Sears garden sheds and a couple of truckloads of asphalt will result in an attractive and functional international airport.
The clock is running for a 2009 grand opening...nice to know that they'll go from a shovel in the swamp in June 2007 to a Boeing Dreamliner touchdown faster than it takes a contractor to finish a 2500sf beachhouse. (This must have something to do with the Disney-thing....that's your cue 00seer00 ;-) )
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Mr SHELLY, at least this is what I think, The rapid build-out time will have to do more with the Military, the traffic going in to Eglin Air Force Base will be greatly reduced if not eliminated in time. This will make national security very happy. Just what I see.
Actually, they're looking to expand the civilian commercial air traffic at Eglin, and are one of the places actively recruiting Southwest. (along with Pensacola and Panama City)
I can't see the Ft. Walton crowd rushing to drive upwards of an hour and a half to the new Bay County airport when there are a decent number of flights out of Eglin as it is, and the Pensacola airport is a half hour closer if you need a flight you can't get from Eglin.
I can't see the Ft. Walton crowd rushing to drive upwards of an hour and a half to the new Bay County airport when there are a decent number of flights out of Eglin as it is, and the Pensacola airport is a half hour closer if you need a flight you can't get from Eglin.
Shelley, hold up one finger for 2007
hold up one finger for 2008
hold up one finger for 2009
Note: This is not 1.5 fingers.
hold up one finger for 2008
hold up one finger for 2009
Note: This is not 1.5 fingers.
Shelley, hope it doesn't take your builder THREE YEARS to build a 2500 sf beach house, if it does, you might want to make some new plans.
You are correct. Commercial flights will no longer fly into the base, at Hurlbert when the new airport is completed.
You may be right, but most I know now drive the hour to FWB to save on Air Fair, this will be so when PCB Airport is operational with Southwest. I don't see expansion in FWB if PCB is a go. The Military will out weigh any of our inputs.