Getting To And From Airports

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32359, 27 July 1970, Page 6

Getting To And From Airports

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter —Copyright)

LONDON.

\ A giraffe ambles across the modern highway leading to Nairobi Airport while frustrated air passengers fume about the delay. In other cities, there are different nerve, i wracking delays in getting to or from international airports.

I Passengers, dosed with drink or tranquillisers, often wonder why they did not travel by rail, road, or sea.

Yet world air travel continues to grow, despite the airport frustrations and in face of the new threats—hijacking and concealed bombs in airliners. The main reason is speed. Businessmen depend on air travel to keep appointments thousands of miles away, while tourists use aircraft to fly them through snowy, freezing weather to the sun of tropical resorts within a few hours. But the air-travel hours are often exceeded by the time it takes to get to and from an airport. A London businessman planning to keep a luncheon appointment in Paris may find that the journey .on clogged roads to Heathrow will take longer than the flight time to Paris, not to mention the time consumed in getting from Orly or Le Bourget airport* to the centre of Paris. Every world capital is trying to improve access to its international airport, as well as the facilities at the airport itself. They are building new freeways, installing helicopter services, and extending underground railway systems.

Tourism is a major invisible export—a method for financially-troubled countries to gain hard currency. Tourists, however, demand modern airport facilities, rapid immigration and customs clearance, and better means of reaching the city centre. . The introduction of Boeing 747 jumbo jets has emphasised the need for such improvements. Most international airports are replanning their facilities to accommo-

date the increase in passengers. Air travellers are convinced that flying is as safe as any other means of transport but they are concerned about time-loss. Apart from roadtraffic “snarls” to the airport, they also find themselves circling high above their destination in a “stacked” pattern until other airliners land. One of the greatest frustrations is to fly the Atlantic or Pacific on schedule and then wait for up to an hour for permission to land. The answer for most big cities is to build another international airport. In addition, they must improve transit facilities to and from the city centre. London has two big airports, Heathrow and Gatwick, and is looking for a site of a third. British authorities are also studying a plan to extend the underground railway system to Heathrow from the present terminus at Hounslow, about four miles away.

Sydney’s airport, only six miles from the city, offers quick transport on a new expressway. Melbourne will have a new highway from the airport in the near future. Beirut is usually a delight for the air traveller, who can reach his hotel by a 15-min-ute taxi ride from the airport—a distance of six miles for the price of four Lebanese pounds ($1.07).

In most Latin American centres, it takes about half an hour to reach the airport. But in Buenos Aires, the distance is 22 miles, and takes about one hour. Mexico City’s new underground railway system is expected to extend to the international airport. Although the British colony of Hong Kong is crowded, the trip from Kaitak Airport, near Kowloon, to the heart of the city by car and ferry takes only 30 minutes. The big Hong Kong hotels provide special limousine service for their patrons. John F. Kennedy Airport is about the same distance from New York city as Heathrow is from London — about 13 miles. Both airports use buses and taxis, but New York also has a helicopter service, which costs $17.14 a passenger. Like London, New York is planning to extend its

underground railway system. The New York deadline is 1973.

Toronto’s airport, opened in 1964, has already been outgrown, and plans are under way to find a site for a new one. At present, the Toronto airport is 20 minutes by taxi from the city centre. Tokyo’s international airport, six mi les, from the city centre, has 'an excellent system of both expressways and monorail cars. It takes about 15 minutes by either method to get to or from it. The Japanese are also building a new international airport outside Tokyo, to be opened in April, 1971. The new airport will be able to accommodate almost six million passengers compared with two million at the ;existing Haneda Airport, i Paris is planning monorail and underground railway | links with its two airports, I Orly and Le Bourget. France lis also well on the way to : building a new airport, captable of handling six million

[passengers, only 12 miles outside Paris. Europe's busiest airports tare, in order: London, Paris, Frankfurt, and Rome.

Frankfurt’s airport is only a 20-minute car or bus ride by autobahn from the city. Most West German cities are improving their airport facilities.

Rome’s Leonard! da Vinci Airport is 18 miles from the city. A taxi-driver in a hurry can make the journey in 20 minutes but may charge 5000 lire ($7.18) for the ride.

Stockholm is listed by international travellers as one of the most difficult airports. Arlanda Airport is 31 miles from the city, and the

customs-immigration routine can be delayed, especially if :tbe passenger has long hair. One Scandinavian pop star Isaid: “It does not matter how [well dressed you are. If your hair covers your ears, you are down to your underwear Ibefore you are cleared:” ■ Most big Western cities i choose an airport site many

miles outside the built-up area. But in Indonesia, the main international airport at Djakarta is only two miles from the city centre.

Other uncrowded centres face problems of topography, as in the Caribbean, where mountains do not allow for easily accessible airports. In the island of Dominica, for

example, the airport is 37 miles from the capital, Roseau, on a twisting road over jungle-clad hills. Road Town, the capital of the British Virgin Islands,

does not even have its own airport on Tortola Island. Planes land on Beef Island, and travellers cross by bridge to Tortola.

J On the other side of the I world, visitors to the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur have to travel 14 I miles to the city. | But all signs point to Ifewer frustrations for air [travellers, provided they do not suffer from hijackings, jbombs, crashes, strikes, or I giraffes in their way.