I mean, when you are a knight, own one of the world’s biggest airlines let alone a mega conglomerate, you can do anything you bloody well please…
Take for example, for VIR’s 10 year anniversary of direct flights from KLAS-EGKK, you can just … oh… I dunno… conduct the entire water show at the Bellagio.
8newsnow.com/Global/category … start=true
Hughes has passed, and he was the of the last big airline showmen I remember… I wonder if Nealeman (AZU, JBU) or Kelleher will try to upstage him.
BL.
We here at LAS love Virgin Atlantic and the business they bring to Vegas…besides, showman-ship is what Vegas is all about.
As a fellow Las Vegan, I agree. I was there, at the parking area on Sunset when their first B744 rolled in. In fact, it was a B742 at that time.
I just hope more airlines decide to follow suit. Granted, BAW, KAL, and PAL are flying in, but I’d love to see SIA back in, especially if they bring the A380 in.
BL.
we made very specific changes to the new T3 spec so that we do NOT have to deal with A380’s…we’d rather not as they are a big stress on the infrastructure…BTW - I am a Construction PM at LAS (CCDOA). so don’t expect to see any land here, at least not intentionally…
Fair enough. I was thinking tat with the reconstruction of 25L/7R and its reinforcement that it was also going to be able to accommodate it. Rather interesting that it can handle a B744, and the Antonov, but not the A380…
BL.
Here’s what may be three reasons why:
-Gross weight: The A380 is heavier than the AN-124.
-Wingspan: The A380’s wingspan is also about 20 feet longer than the AN-124’s.
-Airport facilities: The AN-124 doesn’t go to the terminal to offload its cargo while the A380 does go to the terminal to off-load its cargo. The difference is that the AN-124 doesn’t have self-moving cargo while the A380 does.
Perhaps his time would have been better spent “conducting” this.
we can handle the A380, but we operationally choose not to. the passenger flow is SLOW, at least slower than other class V AC…the runways, apron, ramp, etc can all handle the A380, but it’s gross weight is a lot more wear and tear than other AC…we will have a total of 6 international gates, and 1 A380 landing will really slow down what CBP can process, which lessens our ability to process multiple international flights at the same time.
bottom line is we can service the A380, but would rather not.
6? I thought we had 8? Granted, probably only 1 or 2 could handle the A380, but I know I’ve seen T2 handle multiple B744s and PAL’s A340 with ease.
Hey, since you’re the PM for this, you can answer something for me! IIRC, all of the Int’l arrivals (save WJA) are going to T3 when it’s complete, right? If so, would it be safe to assume that the A380 and A350 would be accommodated there?
BL.
T2 is slated to be raised once T3 comes on-line…no other major project decisions have been made with what to do after that; or at least in our current 5 year capital plan.
sadly, even Ivanpah has been placed on indefinite hold…or 2025 at the earliest.
I’m sure Saudi Prince Al-Waleed will visit Vegas with his A380 especially after his bank - Citibank got a 300 Billion bailout.
Maybe local Sheldon will buy his own A380 when the market picks up!!!
And Yes - Sir Branson can do whatever he wants!!!
…I need to clarify my above statements after speaking with one of our Civil Engineers…a Class VI aircraft like the A380 can land here, but our center-lines are not wide enough between the runways to allow other traffic during it’s movements…so it would be a huge pain to service an A380 here at LAS.
I was told that is one of the primary differences between LAS and the now indefinitely delayed Ivanpah…ability to service Class VI AC without affecting other aircraft movements.
Makes absolute sense.
And Ivanpah was going to be one of the reasons UPS and FDX were thinking of putting in another hub in the area, plus handing the int’l flights. Do you know if they had any design in mind or already on paper of how the field would look?
My guess is that if/when this airport is built, it will signal the end of 0L7, as with the terrain to the east and west, Ivanpah’s runways would have to be oriented parallel to I-15, meaning in a 4/22 or 3/21 configuration, similar to 0L7. And with it being that far out, Jean wouldn’t be able to operate the daily skydiving flights they have out to the jump zone.
Makes you wonder if they’ll swap that with LSV, moving the AFB down further south, letting the freight carriers and Int’l flights set up shop north of town…
BL.
2 parallel runways 18R/36L and 18L/36R separated by the Terminal/gates/taxiways…length approx 15,600 ft
phase I was to include 14 gates with expansion in future phases to 36 gates
Jean would go bye-bye
more info here:
Makes for an interesting read. Thanks!
BL.