Misplaced Pages

#702297

79-718: Muscat International Airport ( IATA : MCT , ICAO : OOMS ), formerly Seeb International Airport , is the main international airport in Oman and is located in Seeb , 32 km from the old city and capital Muscat within the Muscat metropolitan area. The airport serves as the hub for flag carrier Oman Air and Oman's first budget airline, Salam Air , and features flights to several regional destinations as well as some intercontinental services to Asia, Africa and Europe. Muscat's original airport, Bayt al Falaj , began operations in 1929. It served as

158-400: A budget , or discount carrier or airline , is an airline that is operated with an emphasis on minimizing operating costs. It sacrifices certain traditional airline luxuries for cheaper fares. To make up for revenue lost in decreased ticket prices, the airline may charge extra fees, such as for carry-on baggage. The term originated within the airline industry referring to airlines with

237-426: A cost of available seat mile (CASM) advantage in relation to the traditional and established, legacy airlines such as Trans World Airlines and American Airlines . Often this CASM advantage has been attributed solely to the lower labor costs of the newly hired and lower pay grade workers of new start-up carriers, such as ValuJet , Midway Airlines, and their like. However, these lower costs can also be attributed to

316-854: A domestic legacy airline and one or more foreign investors. By mid-2013, these new LCCs were operating at a unit cost of around 8 yen per seat-kilometer, compared to 10–11 yen per seat-kilometer for domestic legacy airlines. However, their unit cost was still much higher than the 3 yen per seat-kilometer for AirAsia in Malaysia , due to the higher cost of landing fees and personnel in Japan. By 2017, low-cost carriers had achieved market share of 57.2% in South Asia and 52.6% in Southeast Asia. Market share remained somewhat lower in Europe at 37.9% and North America at 32.7%. For

395-422: A flight on a full-service carrier. Most airlines charge additional taxes and fees on their tickets. Some low-cost airlines have been known to charge fees for the seemingly ridiculous, such as levying a credit card charge if credit card is the only payment method accepted. While tour and package operators have offered lower-priced, lower-frilled traveling for a large part of modern airline history, not until during

474-541: A greater number of add-on fees. In the US market, Allegiant Air , Frontier Airlines , Spirit Airlines , and Sun Country Airlines are considered to be ULCCs. In Europe, Ryanair and Wizz Air are the most prominent ULCCs. In Asia, AirAsia and Lion Air are the most prominent ULCCs. The pricing policy of the low-cost carriers is usually very dynamic as befits their business model, with frequent discounts and tickets in promotion. Like other carriers, however, even if

553-552: A higher age limit on unaccompanied minors than full-service carriers. Often these airlines do not offer connecting tickets, since the airline will have to pay for ground crew to transfer luggage. A customer may create a connection manually by purchasing two separate tickets, but these are considered separate contracts, and the passenger bears the risk if a delayed inbound flight causes a missed connection. When most countries had national monopolies, crews could negotiate pay raises and good pension benefits (something that costs money for

632-778: A large-scale reduction of its fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft and operations. In March 2017, International Airlines Group established Level , a long-haul low-cost virtual airline based in Barcelona Airport and serving destinations in North and South America. Long-haul low-cost carriers are emerging on the transatlantic flights market with 545,000 seats offered over 60 city pairs in September 2017 (a 66% growth over one year), compared to 652,000 seats over 96 pairs for Leisure airlines and 8,798,000 seats over 357 pairs for mainline carriers . Former American Airlines CEO Bob Crandall thinks

711-1109: A lower operating cost structure than their competitors. The term is often applied to any carrier with low ticket prices and limited services regardless of their operating models. Low-cost carriers should not be confused with regional airlines that operate short-haul flights without service, or with full-service airlines offering some reduced fares. Some airlines advertise themselves as low-cost while maintaining products usually associated with traditional mainline carriers’ services. These products include preferred or assigned seating , catering, differentiated premium cabins , satellite or ground-based Wi-Fi internet, and in-flight audio and video entertainment . The term ultra low-cost carrier ( ULCC ) has been used, particularly in North America and Europe to refer to carriers that do not provide these services and amenities. The low-cost carrier business model practices vary widely. Some practices are more common in certain regions, while others are generally universal. The common theme among all low-cost carriers

790-519: A minimum set of equipment, further reducing costs of acquisition and maintenance, as well as keeping the weight of the aircraft lower and thus saving fuel. Depending on the low-cost airline seats do not recline and do not have rear pockets, to reduce cleaning and maintenance costs. Others have no window shades. Pilot conveniences, such as ACARS , may be excluded. Often, no in-flight entertainment systems are made available, though many US low-cost carriers do offer satellite television or radio in-flight. It

869-550: A new airport is built, replacing the old one, leaving the city's new "major" airport (or the only remaining airport) code to no longer correspond with the city's name. The original airport in Nashville, Tennessee, was built in 1936 as part of the Works Progress Administration and called Berry Field with the designation, BNA. A new facility known as Nashville International Airport was built in 1987 but still uses BNA. This

SECTION 10

#1732858334703

948-406: A new, 97-meter control tower. The new terminal is located between the old and new runways and is capable of handling large aircraft such as Airbus A380s and Boeing 747s . The terminal opened on 18 March 2018, with the first flight, an Oman Air flight from Najaf , arriving at 6:30 p.m. Terminal 2 is a single-building, two-story, T-shaped passenger terminal. Built in 1970, it opened in 1973 as

1027-460: A page from the mainline, major, or legacy carriers' desire to reduce costs in all ways possible in regards regional route networks by outsourcing regional operations to the lowest expense airline bidder capable of operating regional aircraft, a new generation of low-cost airlines (in name only) soon evolved in the US with varying levels of success. Among these varieties of low-cost and discount operators were noteworthy starts-ups that managed to get off

1106-501: A replacement of the Bait al-Falaj airport and has been expanded several times during the last years to cater for growing passenger numbers. This terminal featured 58 check-in counters, 23 departure gates, four baggage reclaim belts and several service counters and shops. A new pier was constructed in 2007, with additional shops, restaurants, and outlets, opening in 2009. During its years of operation, passengers and crew were transported to and from

1185-463: A simpler fare scheme, such as selling only one-way tickets. Typically fares increase as the plane fills up, which rewards early reservations. In Europe (and early in Southwest's history) luggage is not transferred from one flight to another, even if both flights are with the same airline. This saves costs and is thought to encourage passengers to take direct flights. Tickets are not sold with transfers, so

1264-449: A single aircraft type, so that cabin and ground crew will only have to be trained to work on one type of aircraft. This is also beneficial from a maintenance standpoint as spare parts and mechanics will only be dedicated to one type of aircraft. These airlines tend to operate short-haul flights that suit the range of narrow-body (single aisle) planes. As of lately, however, there is also a rise in demand for long range low-cost flights and

1343-430: A stop at Muscat Airport. Bus Route 8 (Al Mouj-Al Khuwair) also has a stop at Muscat Airport. Metered-airport taxis are available with special counters at the baggage and arrival halls. Car hire and chauffeur services are also available. [REDACTED] Media related to Muscat International Airport at Wikimedia Commons IATA airport code The assignment of these codes is governed by IATA Resolution 763, and it

1422-752: A week, and Melbourne thrice weekly. On 11 March 2009, AirAsia X started its first low-cost long-haul service into Europe, to London Stansted . The daily flights are operated by two leased Airbus A340 -300s. A one-way economy-class ticket often costs £150, and the premium-class one-way often costs £350. On 12 January 2012, AirAsia announced that it would be suspending services to London on 1 April 2012. Low-cost European airline, Norwegian Air Shuttle , started long-haul low-cost operations in May 2013 under their Norwegian Long Haul arm. Norwegian initially operated flights to Bangkok and New York from Scandinavia using leased Airbus A340 aircraft, switching to new Boeing 787s in

1501-499: Is GSN and its IATA code is SPN, and some coincide with IATA codes of non-U.S. airports. Canada's unusual codes—which bear little to no similarity with any conventional abbreviation to the city's name—such as YUL in Montréal , and YYZ in Toronto , originated from the two-letter codes used to identify weather reporting stations in the 1930s. The letters preceding the two-letter code follow

1580-606: Is administered by the IATA's headquarters in Montreal , Canada. The codes are published semi-annually in the IATA Airline Coding Directory. IATA provides codes for airport handling entities, and for certain railway stations. Alphabetical lists of airports sorted by IATA code are available. A list of railway station codes , shared in agreements between airlines and rail lines such as Amtrak , SNCF , and Deutsche Bahn ,

1659-606: Is also a joint-use military and public facility, acting as the base of operations for both the Royal Flight of Oman and Royal Air Force of Oman . A Royal Terminal and Royal Flight hangars are located adjacent to the old terminal. In 2019, the Aaronia AARTOS C-UAS drone detection system was installed, which makes this the first international airport in the world to have an operational drone detection system. The airport's newer and significantly larger terminal located north of

SECTION 20

#1732858334703

1738-575: Is also becoming a popular approach to install LCD monitors onto the aircraft and broadcast advertisements on them, coupled with the traditional route–altitude–speed information. Some allow priority boarding for an extra fee instead of reserved seating, and some allow reserving a seat in an emergency exit row (for longer leg room) at an extra cost. Like the major carriers, many low-cost carriers develop one or more bases to maximize destination coverage and defend their market. Many do not operate traditional hubs , but rather focus cities . Airlines often offer

1817-600: Is available. However, many railway administrations have their own list of codes for their stations, such as the list of Amtrak station codes . Airport codes arose out of the convenience that the practice brought pilots for location identification in the 1930s. Initially, pilots in the United States used the two-letter code from the National Weather Service (NWS) for identifying cities. This system became unmanageable for cities and towns without an NWS identifier, and

1896-518: Is different from the name in English, yet the airport code represents only the English name. Examples include: Due to scarcity of codes, some airports are given codes with letters not found in their names: The use of 'X' as a filler letter is a practice to create three-letter identifiers when more straightforward options were unavailable: Some airports in the United States retained their NWS ( National Weather Service ) codes and simply appended an X at

1975-513: Is in conjunction to rules aimed to avoid confusion that seem to apply in the United States, which state that "the first and second letters or second and third letters of an identifier may not be duplicated with less than 200 nautical miles separation." Thus, Washington, D.C. area's three airports all have radically different codes: IAD for Washington–Dulles , DCA for Washington–Reagan (District of Columbia Airport), and BWI for Baltimore (Baltimore–Washington International, formerly BAL). Since HOU

2054-532: Is not followed outside the United States: In addition, since three letter codes starting with Q are widely used in radio communication, cities whose name begins with "Q" also had to find alternate codes, as in the case of: IATA codes should not be confused with the FAA identifiers of U.S. airports. Most FAA identifiers agree with the corresponding IATA codes, but some do not, such as Saipan , whose FAA identifier

2133-400: Is the reduction of cost and reduced overall fares compared to legacy carriers. Traditional airlines have also reduced their cost using several of these practices. Most low-cost carriers operate aircraft configured with a single passenger class, and some low-cost carriers choose to operate more than one type and configure their aircraft with more than one passenger class, but most operate just

2212-416: Is used for William P. Hobby Airport , the new Houston–Intercontinental became IAH. The code BKK was originally assigned to Bangkok–Don Mueang and was later transferred to Suvarnabhumi Airport , while the former adopted DMK. The code ISK was originally assigned to Gandhinagar Airport (Nashik's old airport) and later on transferred to Ozar Airport (Nashik's current airport). Shanghai–Hongqiao retained

2291-420: Is well known for using fuel hedging programs to reduce its overall fuel costs. Check-in at the gate of luggage requires fees, as it requires addition to the weight calculation and last-minute baggage handling. Online check-in is becoming common, again in the interest of avoiding personnel costs. Where permissible, some airlines have a disinclination to handle Special Service passengers, for instance by placing

2370-456: Is why Ryanair flies to Gatwick Airport , Luton Airport , and Stansted Airport in the London area and how easyJet is able to fly to Paris-Charles de Gaulle , and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol . In London's case however, low-cost carriers would not be able to use Heathrow as the airport is running at near capacity, so there is no room to build a base. The airlines tend to offload, service and re-load

2449-644: The 1991 Gulf War . These aircraft cooperated with the Royal Navy of Oman in the 'Magic Roundabout' exercise series. The base was used by a detachment of Vickers VC10 tankers from No. 101 Squadron RAF during the Gulf War training with Royal Air Force SEPECAT Jaguars . On 1 February 2008, the airport was given its present name. The airport is spread over an area of 2,200 hectares (5,500 acres). It originally featured one passenger terminal building and one runway, as well as minor cargo and maintenance facilities. Part of

Muscat International Airport - Misplaced Pages Continue

2528-561: The Canadian transcontinental railroads were built, each station was assigned its own two-letter Morse code : When the Canadian government established airports, it used the existing railway codes for them as well. If the airport had a weather station, authorities added a "Y" to the front of the code, meaning "Yes" to indicate it had a weather station or some other letter to indicate it did not. When international codes were created in cooperation with

2607-826: The European Commission , the LCCs market share (44.8%) exceeded legacy carriers (42.4%) in 2012: between 2002 and 2017, LCC share of international seat capacity rose from 23% to 57% in the UK, from 10% to 55% in Italy and from 9% to 56% in Spain but have still room for growth in domestic seat-capacity In France with 19% and in Germany with 25% in 2017, compared with 66% in the UK, 48% in Spain and 47% in Italy. By early 2019, there were more than 100 LCCs operating 6,000 aircraft, doubled from 2,900 aircraft at

2686-825: The UK and Canada for £89. In August 2006, Zoom announced a UK subsidiary to offer low-cost long-haul flights to the United States and India, but suspended its operations from 28 August 2008 due to high fuel prices inducing financial problems. In 2005, Emirates ' Tim Clark viewed long-haul low-cost as inevitable, flights could be operated on 760 seats all-economy Airbus A380s , or 870 for an hypothetical A380 stretch. Since 2005, Australia's Jetstar Airways operates international flights, starting with Christchurch , New Zealand. In late 2006, others followed from Sydney , Melbourne and Brisbane , to popular tourist destinations within 10 hours like Honolulu , Japan, Vietnam , Thailand and Malaysia . With new aircraft deliveries, it hopes to fly to

2765-651: The outbreak of the COVID-19 virus . The airport features two runways: the original Runway 08R/26L and the second Runway 08L/26R, situated north of the new terminal building and inaugurated on 14 December 2014. Both runways are equipped to accommodate large aircraft, including the Boeing 747-8 , Airbus A380 , and the Antonov An-225 . The original runway, situated between the new and the former passenger terminal, underwent closure in 2015 for refurbishment and expansion, aligning with

2844-468: The Irish Aviation Authority. As supply increases, this sort of differentiation by brand is an important criteria for the future success of low-cost carriers, since many experts believe price competition alone is not enough, given the number of carriers. As the number of low-cost carriers has grown, these airlines have begun to compete with one another in addition to the traditional carriers. In

2923-604: The Middle East and 12% within Africa. A long-haul low-cost operation would be harder to differentiate from a conventional airline as there are few cost savings possibilities, while the seat costs would have to be lower than the competition. Long-haul aircraft scheduling is often determined by time zone constraints, like leaving the US East Coast in the evening and arriving in Europe

3002-489: The U.S. For example, several airports in Alaska have scheduled commercial service, such as Stebbins and Nanwalek , which use FAA codes instead of ICAO codes. Thus, neither system completely includes all airports with scheduled service. Some airports are identified in colloquial speech by their IATA code. Examples include LAX and JFK . Low-cost carrier A low-cost carrier ( LCC ) or low-cost airline , also called

3081-399: The US, airlines have responded by introducing variations to the model. In Europe, the emphasis has remained on reducing costs and no-frills service. A secondary term ultra low-cost carrier ( ULCC ) has been used to differentiate some low-cost airlines whose model deviates further from that of a standard low-cost carrier, with ultra low-cost carriers having minimal inclusions in the fare and

3160-481: The United States, because "Y" was seldom used in the United States, Canada simply used the weather station codes for its airports, changing the "Y" to a "Z" if it conflicted with an airport code already in use. The result is that most major Canadian airport codes start with "Y" followed by two letters in the city's name (for example, YOW for O tta w a , YWG for W innipe g , YYC for C algar y , or YVR for V ancouve r ), whereas other Canadian airports append

3239-440: The advertised base prices are very low, charges and taxes are typically not mentioned. With some airlines, some flights are advertised as free (plus applicable taxes, fees and charges). Depending on the airline, perhaps as many (or as few) as ten percent of the seats on any flight are offered at the lowest price and are the first to sell. The prices steadily rise thereafter to a point where they can be comparable or more expensive than

Muscat International Airport - Misplaced Pages Continue

3318-673: The aircraft (turnaround) in shorter time periods and do not wait for late passengers, allowing maximum utilization of aircraft. Low-cost carriers generate ancillary revenue from a variety of activities, such as à la carte features and commission-based products. Some airlines may charge a fee for a pillow or blanket or for carry-on baggage. In Europe, it is common for each and every convenience and service to have an additional charge. Low-cost carriers intend to be low-cost, so in many cases employees work multiple roles. At some airlines flight attendants also work as gate agents or assume other roles, thereby limiting personnel costs. Southwest Airlines

3397-442: The aircraft using shuttle buses as the terminal offered no jet bridges. The last international flight to depart from the old terminal was an Oman Air flight to Zurich , Switzerland, while another Oman Air flight bound for Salalah became the last domestic flight. The old facility was planned to be redeveloped into a low-cost carrier terminal, but was instead turned into a field hospital and COVID-19 vaccination site ever since

3476-676: The airline can avoid responsibility for passengers' connections in the event of a delay. Low-cost carriers often have a sparse schedule with one flight per day and route, so it would be hard to find an alternative for a missed connection. Modern US-based low-cost carriers generally transfer baggage for continuing flights, as well as transferring baggage to other airlines. Many airlines opt to have passengers board via stairs, since jetways generally cost more to lease. Often, low-cost carriers fly to smaller, less congested secondary airports and/or fly to airports during off-peak hours to avoid air traffic delays and take advantage of lower landing fees . This

3555-573: The airlines only in the long term). During this period, most passengers were business travellers who paid high fares that covered these costs. After deregulation, which led to lower fares, many airlines remained bound to these salary agreements and pensions, whereas new low-cost carriers employed new staff with lower salaries, especially for cabin crew, keeping personnel costs low and allowing for competitive fares. In some cases airlines have gone bankrupt (e.g., Alitalia , Sabena , and Swissair ), and new airlines replaced them. Traditional carriers followed

3634-458: The airport complex extension featured housing for airport employees and Oman Air employees. During the expansion, a new terminal and control tower was built along with a new runway. The current terminal is the biggest airport in Oman. Construction was started in 2007, and the airport opened in 2018. The new facilities also include a VIP terminal for private jets and an onsite airport hotel. The airport

3713-440: The airport itself instead of the city it serves, while another code is reserved which refers to the city itself which can be used to search for flights to any of its airports. For instance: Or using a code for the city in one of the major airports and then assigning another code to another airport: When different cities with the same name each have an airport, they need to be assigned different codes. Examples include: Sometimes,

3792-418: The airport's former name, such as Orlando International Airport 's MCO (for Mc C o y Air Force Base), or Chicago's O'Hare International Airport , which is coded ORD for its original name: Or char d Field. In rare cases, the code comes from the airport's unofficial name, such as Kahului Airport 's OGG (for local aviation pioneer Jimmy H ogg ). In large metropolitan areas, airport codes are often named after

3871-596: The availability of next generation planes that make long haul routes more feasible for LCCs. In the past, low-cost carriers tended to operate older aircraft purchased second-hand, such as the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 and older models of the Boeing 737 . Since 2000, fleets generally consist of the newest aircraft, commonly the Airbus A320 family and Boeing 737. Although buying new aircraft is usually more expensive than second-hand, new planes are cheaper to operate in

3950-421: The capital's first airport and was known for sharp turns and steep descents. Airlines such as Gulf Aviation (later Gulf Air) and Oman International Services were its first users. With the need for larger space to expand operations, the current airport was built on its present site, and opened as Seeb International Airport on January 1, 1973. It has hosted Royal Air Force BAe Nimrods in the past, including for

4029-491: The code SHA, while the newer Shanghai–Pudong adopted PVG. The opposite was true for Berlin : the airport Berlin–Tegel used the code TXL, while its smaller counterpart Berlin–Schönefeld used SXF; the Berlin Brandenburg Airport has the airport code BER, which is also part of its branding. The airports of Hamburg (HAM) and Hannover (HAJ) are less than 100 nautical miles (190 km) apart and therefore share

SECTION 50

#1732858334703

4108-865: The construction of a completely new main terminal building and apron area. The refurbishment of the original runway was finalized in October 2023, and it officially resumed operations in November 2023. The old terminal's apron features 32 stands on both sides of the T-shaped passenger terminal building with 30 new ones constructed in two phases in front of the new terminal building, of which several were already in use as of September 2016. The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights to and from Muscat: Oman National Transport Company (Mwasalat) operates 24-hour service special airport buses at fixed intervals. The Route A1 operates between Mabela and Ruwi bus station with

4187-592: The continental US and Europe . In April 2006, the industry magazine Airline Business analysed the potential for low-cost long-haul service and concluded that a number of Asian carriers, including AirAsia, were closest to making such a model work. On 26 October 2006, Oasis Hong Kong Airlines started flying from Hong Kong to London-Gatwick . The lowest prices for flights between Hong Kong to London could be as low at £75 (approximately US$ 150) per leg (not including taxes and other charges) for economy class and £470 (approximately US$ 940) per leg for business class for

4266-670: The end of Skytrain . In late 2007, Cebu Pacific , the Philippines ' largest low-cost carrier, announced non-stop flights from the Philippines to the United States West Coast and other US cities from mid-2009. The airline also intends to launch low-cost service to Middle East , where around a million Filipinos are based, and in Europe. Flights to Dubai — its first long-haul destination — started in 2013. As of September 2024, it operates flights to Dubai daily, to Sydney four times

4345-545: The end of 2009, while seat capacity reached nearly 1.7 billion in 2018. LCCs accounted for 33% of intra-regional seat capacity in 2018 with 1.564 billion, up from 25% in 2008 with 753 million, and 13% of seat capacity between regions with 101 million, up from 6% in 2009 with 26 million. In 2018, penetration rate was 41% of seats within Europe, 36% within Latin America, 32% within North America, 29% within Asia Pacific, 17% within

4424-874: The end. Examples include: A lot of minor airfields without scheduled passenger traffic have ICAO codes but not IATA codes, since the four letter codes allow more number of codes, and IATA codes are mainly used for passenger services such as tickets, and ICAO codes by pilots. In the US, such airfields use FAA codes instead of ICAO. There are airports with scheduled service for which there are ICAO codes but not IATA codes, such as Nkhotakota Airport/Tangole Airport in Malawi or Chōfu Airport in Tokyo, Japan. There are also several minor airports in Russia (e.g., Omsukchan Airport ) which lack IATA codes and instead use internal Russian codes for booking. Flights to these airports cannot be booked through

4503-458: The existing terminal and first runway opened in 2018. This new building initially brought the airport's capacity up to 20 million passengers a year upon completion of the first phase. Subsequent enlargements under second and third phases will increase the airport capacity to 24 and 48 million annual passengers respectively. The terminal covers 580,000 sqm and features 118 check-in counters, 10 baggage reclaim belts, 82 immigration counters, 45 gates and

4582-557: The first three letters of the city in which it is located, for instance: The code may also be a combination of the letters in its name, such as: Sometimes the airport code reflects pronunciation, rather than spelling, namely: For many reasons, some airport codes do not fit the normal scheme described above. Some airports, for example, cross several municipalities or regions, and therefore, use codes derived from some of their letters, resulting in: Other airports—particularly those serving cities with multiple airports—have codes derived from

4661-474: The following format: Most large airports in Canada have codes that begin with the letter "Y", although not all "Y" codes are Canadian (for example, YUM for Yuma, Arizona , and YNT for Yantai , China), and not all Canadian airports start with the letter "Y" (for example, ZBF for Bathurst, New Brunswick ). Many Canadian airports have a code that starts with W, X or Z, but none of these are major airports. When

4740-561: The following morning, and the longer flight times mean there is less scope to increase aircraft utilization as in short-haul. The business model is financially risky , and many companies have entered bankruptcy , like Laker Airways . In 2004, Irish Aer Lingus maintains a full service on transatlantic flights while it lowered its prices to compete with Ryanair on short haul. Late in 2004, Oasis Hong Kong Airlines offered London to Hong Kong flights from £199, and Canadian Zoom Airlines started selling transatlantic flights between

4819-593: The form of " YYZ ", a song by the rock band Rush , which utilizes the Morse code signal as a musical motif. Some airports have started using their IATA codes as brand names , such as Calgary International Airport (YYC) and Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Numerous New Zealand airports use codes that contain the letter Z, to distinguish them from similar airport names in other countries. Examples include HLZ for Hamilton , ZQN for Queenstown , and WSZ for Westport . Predominantly, airport codes are named after

SECTION 60

#1732858334703

4898-401: The ground by using the larger aircraft services of established charter airlines. Among this group were the virtual airlines ; Direct Air , PeoplExpress , Western , and those that never began service such as JetAmerica . In Japan, low-cost airlines made major inroads into the market in 2012 when Peach , Jetstar Japan and AirAsia Japan began operations, each with financial sponsorship by

4977-482: The international air booking systems or have international luggage transferred there, and thus, they are booked instead through the airline or a domestic booking system. Several heliports in Greenland have 3-letter codes used internally which might be IATA codes for airports in faraway countries. There are several airports with scheduled service that have not been assigned ICAO codes that do have IATA codes, especially in

5056-712: The less complex aircraft fleets and route networks with which these new carriers began operations, in addition to their reduced labor costs. To combat the new round of low-cost and start-up entrants into the very competitive and deregulated United States airline industry, the mainline major carriers and network legacy carriers strategically developed no-frills divisions within the main airlines brand and corporate structures. Among these were Continental Lite , Delta Express , MetroJet , Shuttle by United , Song , and Ted . However, most of these "airlines within an airline" were short-lived and quickly disposed-of when economic rationalization or competitive pressures subsided. Taking

5135-485: The long run since they are extremely efficient in terms of fuel, training, maintenance, and crew costs per passenger. In 2013, ch-aviation published a study about the fleet strategy of low-cost carriers. They stated that major LCCs that order aircraft in large numbers get large discounts for doing so, and due to this they can sell their aircraft just a few years after delivery at a price high enough to keep their operating costs relatively low. Aircraft often operate with

5214-666: The low-cost carriers by enabling web check-in, encouraging machine check-in at the airport, and generally reducing ground personnel cost. The number of crew members follow international conventions that require one flight attendant per 50 passenger seats and two pilots. However, carriers can save money by reducing the amount of ground crew. Carriers hire pilots through third-party agencies based in low-tax countries without benefits for sick pay, pensions or health insurance. Traditional carriers have also started to try this, including starting their own low-tax agencies. These agencies can easily find less experienced co-pilots and cabin crew, as

5293-612: The name of the airport itself, for instance: This is also true with some cities with a single airport (even if there is more than one airport in the metropolitan area of said city), such as BDL for Hartford, Connecticut 's B ra dl ey International Airport or Baltimore's BWI, for B altimore/ W ashington I nternational Airport ; however, the latter also serves Washington, D.C. , alongside Dulles International Airport (IAD, for I nternational A irport D ulles) and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA, for D istrict of C olumbia A irport). The code also sometimes comes from

5372-416: The one they are located in: Other airport codes are of obscure origin, and each has its own peculiarities: In Asia, codes that do not correspond with their city's names include Niigata 's KIJ , Nanchang 's KHN and Pyongyang 's FNJ . EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg , which serves three countries, has three airport codes: BSL, MLH, EAP. Some cities have a name in their respective language which

5451-424: The post– Vietnam War era did this business model escalate. Through various ticket consolidators, charter airlines , and innovators in lower-frills flying, such as Channel Airways and Court Line , the traveling public had been conditioned to want to travel to new and increasingly further away and exotic locations on vacation, rather than short-haul trips to nearby beach resorts. The world's first low-cost airline

5530-868: The profession is popular, but there are problems for low-cost carriers to recruit and keep captains who have to be experienced. At IATA , a LCC operation is defined as including the following characteristics, at least to some degree: While low-cost airlines differ in service offerings, by definition they feature most of the following: Not every low-cost carrier implements all of the above points. For example, some try to differentiate themselves with allocated seating, while others operate more than one aircraft type, still others have relatively high operating costs but lower fares. JetBlue , for instance, has in-flight entertainment in every passenger seat. Other airlines are limited on what points they can implement based on local laws. For example, Irish low cost airlines cannot remove window blinds from its aircraft, as they are required by

5609-451: The same first and middle letters, indicating that this rule might be followed only in Germany. Many cities retain historical names in their airport codes, even after having undergone an official name/spelling/transliteration change: Some airport codes are based on previous names associated with a present airport, often with a military heritage. These include: Some airports are named for an administrative division or nearby city, rather than

5688-494: The same route. From 28 June 2007, a second long-haul route to Vancouver, British Columbia , was started. The company ceased operations on 9 April 2008, after over a billion Hong Kong dollars in losses. On 2 November 2007, AirAsia X , a subsidiary of AirAsia and Virgin Group flew its inaugural flight from Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia, to Gold Coast , Australia. AirAsia X claims that it is the first true low-cost long-haul carrier since

5767-403: The second half of 2013 after Boeing resumed deliveries following extensive problems and delays. It served direct routes from the United States ( Los Angeles , Fort Lauderdale , New York City , Oakland-San Francisco , Boston and Orlando ) into Scandinavia ( Oslo , Stockholm , Copenhagen ). In January 2021 Norwegian announced the immediate cessation of their long-haul operations, along with

5846-497: The station code of Malton, Mississauga , where it is located). YUL is used for Montréal–Trudeau (UL was the ID code for the beacon in the city of Kirkland , now the location of Montréal–Trudeau). While these codes make it difficult for the public to associate them with a particular Canadian city, some codes have become popular in usage despite their cryptic nature, particularly at the largest airports. Toronto's code has entered pop culture in

5925-504: The two-letter code of the radio beacons that were the closest to the actual airport, such as YQX in Gander or YXS in Prince George . Four of the ten provincial capital airports in Canada have ended up with codes beginning with YY, including: Canada's largest airport is YYZ for Toronto Pearson (as YTZ was already allocated to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport , the airport was given

6004-529: The use of two letters allowed only a few hundred combinations; a three-letter system of airport codes was implemented. This system allowed for 17,576 permutations, assuming all letters can be used in conjunction with each other. Since the U.S. Navy reserved "N" codes, and to prevent confusion with Federal Communications Commission broadcast call signs , which begin with "W" or "K", the airports of certain U.S. cities whose name begins with one of these letters had to adopt "irregular" airport codes: This practice

6083-523: Was Bill Clinton , later US President. The first airline offering no-frills transatlantic service was Freddie Laker 's Laker Airways , which operated its famous "Skytrain" service between London and New York City during the late 1970s. The service was suspended after Laker's competitors, British Airways and Pan Am , were able to price Skytrain out of the market. In the United States, airline carriers such as Midway Airlines and America West Airlines , which commenced operations after 1978, soon realized

6162-494: Was Pacific Southwest Airlines , which started intrastate flights connecting Southern and Northern California on 6 May 1949. PSA's light-hearted atmosphere and efficient operations were a runaway success early on, and inspired a number of low-cost start-ups across the United States, beginning in the mid-1960s. Herb Kelleher studied the success of PSA, and copied their culture closely when he established Southwest Airlines in 1971. The first airline to offer cheaper transatlantic fares

6241-492: Was Icelandic airline Loftleiðir in 1964, often referred to as "the Hippie Airline". Many young Americans travelled to Europe after graduation, to experience the "old-world culture", and they were more concerned with getting there cheaply than comfortably or even exactly on time. Loftleiðir were not famous for speed or punctuality, but flying with the company became a sort of rite of passage for those young "hippies", one of whom

#702297