On Wednesday, January 28, 1970, the wide-body era at Frankfurt started rather unexpectedly with the arrival of a diverted Pan American 747.

Read the story behind the unplanned visit below and make sure to participate in our quiz in the middle of our blogpost!

LONDON FOG

Pan American World Airways Boeing 747-121 N737PA "Clipper Red Jacket," had been underway from New York's Kennedy Airport to London Heathrow.

Scheduled Boeing 747 service on the JFK-Heathrow route had only commenced a few days prior, on Thursday, January 22. It was the first route on which Pan Am had deployed the 747 and it was the word's first scheduled 747 service.

That day, the 362-seat aircraft carried 177 passengers and a crew of 21, among which five cockpit crew. On the controls of Flight Two was veteran pilot, Captain Jess Tranter, part of Pan Am's elite team of 747-qualified pilots - who also piloted the 747 on the test flight to Heathrow on January 11.

That morning London was completely fogged in and visibility was down to only 50 metres (164 feet). Thus, Captain Tranter decided to divert to Frankfurt's Rhein Main Airport, were Pan Am had a major base and which was the airline's main alternate for London. 

News about the upcoming arrival of the "Jumbo-Jet" spread around Frankfurt Airport like wildfire and anyone who could interrupted their work to witness the arrival of what the airport press release referred to as "The Flying Cinema," presumably because the 747 featured movie screens, a novelty at the time.

The plane touched down at Frankfurt's Rhein-Main Airport at 8:36 am that morning. After landing, the 747 was guided by two "follow-me" vehicles to gate B46, at Frankfurt's brand-new "Terminal Mitte," which was still largely under construction.

Terminal Mitte was designed for the 747 and B46 was one of several gates at Frankfurt that could connect three passenger boarding bridges to the 747, two on the portside and one on the starboard side.
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​According to the press release, two boarding bridges were sufficient to allow the 177 passengers and 21 crew to disembark.

​A RUSHED WELCOME

Lord Mayor of Frankfurt Professor Dr. Willy Brundert was rushed to the airport for an improvised welcome and gave Captain Tranter and his crew an illustrated book about Frankfurt Airport.

Many hundreds of airport and airline employees, as well as construction workers working on Terminal Mitte came by on foot or by airport vehicle to admire the gigantic jet.

​The airport press release specifically mentioned that ramp supervisors were not amused by all the vehicles cluttering the ramp!

​The aircraft was parked at the terminal for about five hours, providing ground crews a golden opportunity to practice their new procedures for the 747.​

DEPARTURE

At noon, the passengers, who had been waiting in the "Transit Restaurant," were asked to board the aircraft. However, Captain Tranter was advised that the airspace over London was heavily congested and that he would likely be put in a holding pattern for an hour.

Thus, he decided to delay departure to Heathrow instead. Over an hour later, two tow trucks pushed back the 747 out on to the platform, after which it taxied to the threshold of runway 25R.

​As it was the middle of the afternoon rush hour, the aircraft had to hold behind five other aircraft.
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​Finally, after a take-off run of barely 2000 metres (6,560 feet) the Boeing 747 was airborne at 1:54 pm, five and a half hours after it had touched down at Frankfurt.

SCHEDULED 747 SERVICE FROM FRANKFURT

Pan Am started scheduled 747 daily service from JFK to Frankfurt (via Heathrow) on April 5, 1970. 

Lufthansa was the first European airline to provide its passenger the opportunity to fly a jumbo jet, being the second international airline following Pan Am, commencing daily service between Frankfurt and New York JFK on April 26.

There's a story on the web claiming that the diverted Pan Am landed 30 minutes before the first scheduled 747 arrival, which was TWA's inaugural 747 service between JFK and Frankfurt.
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​However, TWA didn't start scheduled service between New York and Frankfurt until January 6, 1971. 

Read more about Frankfurt's Jet-Age "Terminal Mitte" here. Read more about the airport's history here.

Did you fly on the 747 in the early days? Was the trip glitch free? Share your experience in the comments below!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks again to my friends at the Fraport Archive, Markus Grossback and Annette Schmidt, for their kind help in preparing this article!

A 1980s airside view of Riem Airport's terminal building, featuring a couple of Lufthansa classic jets. Many older Munich-based "Lufthanseaten" remember the characteristic airport with great affection.

Construction of Riem began in 1937. The airport was put in operation on October 25, 1939, when the first civilian flight , a Lufthansa Junkers Ju 52/3m arrived from Berlin.

A 1988 aerial of Munich Riem, looking northeast. From this view it is apparent that the airport did not have any room to expand and the search for a new airport kicked off as early as 1963. 

​In 1969, runway 07R/25L was lengthened to its final length of 2,804 meters (9,199 feet).

A 1980s landside view of the passenger terminal. ​The building was designed by German architect Ernst Sagebiel, who also designed Berlin Tempelhof, Dresden, and Stuttgart, which were being built at the same time. 

A 1970s view of the check-in area. How cool that back then you could open a window for some fresh air!

A mid-1970s aerial of Riem's terminal complex. In 1971, a DM 36 million expansion was completed, doubling the airport's capacity to 7 million annual passengers and readying the airport for the influx of visitors during the Summer Olympics of 1972.

​The expansion included six gates equipped with boarding bridges, which were still pretty much a rarity at airports in Europe at the time.

An mid-1970s overview of the apron. Visitors include a KLM DC-8 and DC-10. KLM was also the first airline to start transatlantic flights from Riem.

​In 1951, the airline started scheduled flights to New York's Idlewild Airport using a Lockheed Constellation.

A busy apron scene in the late 1980s. Visitors include a Boeing VC-137C United States Air Force aircraft, one of two customized Boeing 707s, which were specifically configured and maintained for use by the president of the United States. 

An airside view of the terminal building taken a few days after the closure of Riem. In 1991, its final full year of operation, 10.8 million passengers were handled.

After closure, Riem was redeveloped into an office and convention area. This aerial view looks west toward Munich.

Thankfully, Riem's air traffic control tower has been preserved and is now part of the corporate headquarters of Brainlab AG, a Munich-based technology company.

​The company rents out the tower as an event space. Better still, the tower cabin contains a bar. Now that's the way to do preservation, folks! For more information and images follow this link.

A cool 1992 video about Riem's history and closure. Also briefly covers the new airport. It's in German, but there's lots of cool footage! Credit: Flughafen München GmbH.

Another, longer 1992 documentary on Riem's history, closure, and the new airport. In German but well worth the footage! Credit: Flughafen München GmbH.

Concorde touches down at LAX on an overcast day on Wednesday, October 23, 1974, the first time the supersonic transport (SST) visits Southern California. The visit is part of a promotional tour to airports around the world.

The UFO-like Theme Building (1961) at Los Angeles International Airport, designed by Pereira & Luckman, mirrored Los Angeles' dream to become the city of tomorrow and indeed, Concorde and the Theme Building are a match made in heaven!

Thousands of spectators came by to view the landing at 3:49 PM that day, a few minutes later than planned. Concorde flew in from Anchorage, Alaska, where it had departed at 1:16 PM.

Concorde rolling out after the first ever landing at LAX with contemporary airliners being visible in the background.

After landing, Concorde parked at the Satellite Building #2, which was used for international flights. The aircraft, with the French registration F-WTSA, was painted in a hybrid Air France/British Airways livery.​

Many people showed up to view the aircraft during a static display that evening and the next day. Concorde officials estimated that 100,000 people from throughout Southern California came to view the aircraft, creating massive traffic jams at the airport.

Concorde left on  Friday, October 25, at 9:00 AM and headed to Acapulco, Mexico, the next destination on the promotional tour.

The supersonic jet would not become an operational part of Air France and British Airways flights until Jan. 21, 1976, when British Airways began using it for London-Bahrain and Air France on the Paris-Rio de Janeiro routes. At first, the plane was not allowed to land in the US because of noise and air pollution concerns.

Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., was granted permission by the US Department of Transportation for supersonic flights in May 1976. After first banning the plane, Kennedy International Airport in New York City also began allowing it in November 1977.

However, despite years of battling, Concorde never would be approved to operate out of LAX. Its noise levels, especially on takeoff, were deemed too loud to meet the airport’s noise standards and the airport beat back several attempts to allow SST aircraft to use its facilities.

Read about how airports prepared for what seemed to be the inevitable coming of the SST here. Read more about Concorde's promotional tours and early service here.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This article borrowed heavily from Sam Gnerre's great blogpost on Concorde's LAX visit. Give it a read!

Charlotte's Jet-Age terminal was opened 40 years ago on May 2, 1982. The new terminal boasted 25 gates equipped with boarding bridges and was more than twice as large as the previous terminal, which opened in 1954.

In today's blog post we will take a look at some amazing images, which were taken around the time of opening!

The ramp in between concourses B and C, photographed shortly after the opening of the new USD 64 million terminal in May 1982. In 1979, Piedmont Airlines chose Charlotte as the hub for its expanding network. The airline grew from three gates in the old terminal to 12 in the new one.

An aerial of the new terminal taken shortly after opening in May 1982. The new 325,000-square-foot (30,200-m2) passenger terminal was designed by Odell Associates.

Concourse B (left in image) featured 10 gates, which were exclusively used by Eastern Airlines. Concourse C boasted 15 gates, 12 of which were used by Piedmont, two by Delta, and one by United. 

The walk from the end of the concourse to the other was 1,900 feet or about a walk of six and a half minutes. Concourse C was lengthened in 1985 and B in 1987/88. Concourses A and D were opened in 1986 and 1990 respectively.

​A view of the ticketing lobby shortly after opening. The carpet in the main terminal was bright green and was tweed brown in the concourses. Those colors were chosen to represent the natural beauty of North Carolina and the great outdoors.

Concessions included a Dobbs House restaurant, a bank, a lingerie shop, an ice cream shop, a barber shop, and a video game room.

When the new terminal opened, the airport was renamed from Douglas Municipal Airport to Charlotte Douglas International Airport. The airport is named after Benjamin Elbert "Ben" Douglas Sr., who served as mayor of Charlotte from 1935 to 1941.

A busy ramp scene showing Piedmont 727s, 737s, a Fokker F28 Fellowship, and an Eastern DC-9. Eastern also operated the first regularly scheduled airline flight from the new terminal: Flight 615 to Atlanta, which left at 7:15, seven minutes after its scheduled departure time.

Just as flight 615 backed out of the gate, Eastern Flight 212 from Columbia was landing, 10 minutes ahead of schedule, to become the first regularly scheduled flight into the new building.

The Piedmont check-in area. When the terminal opened, Piedmont added eight flights to the existing 78. Delta added three flights, for a total of nine. Eastern dropped two flights for a total of 55, while United continued with three departures a day.

Another 1982 overview of the new terminal taken just before sunset. In 1981, Charlotte ranked the 31st busiest airport in the United States. In 2019, it ranked 6th busiest in the nation. 

​Between 1982 and 1989, Piedmont grew from the initial 12 gates and 86 daily flights to 39 gates and 472 daily flights. In 1989, Piedmont was absorbed into USAir, which had acquired the airline two years prior.

We close with this 1982 nighttime view of Concourse C. This photo was taken by Henry Gasque.

Did you travel through Charlotte's terminal in the early years? Share your CLT memories in the comments below!

PAN AM'S INTERNAL GERMAN SERVICES (IGS)

From 1950 until 1990 Pan Am operated a comprehensive network of high-frequency, short-haul scheduled services between West Germany and West Berlin called the German Internal Service (IGS).

This had come about as a result of an agreement among the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union at the end of World War II which prohibited Germany from having its own airlines and restricted the provision of commercial air services to and from Berlin to air transport providers headquartered in these four countries.

​Initially, flights were operated with Douglas DC-4s, then with DC-6Bs (from 1960) and Boeing 727s (from 1966).

Pan Am operated a Berlin crew base of mainly German flight attendants and American pilots to staff its IGS flights. The airline's West Berlin operation consistently accounted for more than half of the city's entire commercial air traffic during that period. 

In the early years, the flights were operated out of Berlin's Tempelhof Airport. In September 1975, all Pan Am flights were moved to the upgraded Tegel Airport.

With German re-unification in 1989, the role of the IGS became superfluous, and the operation was taken over by the German carrier Lufthansa in 1990, which bought Pan Am's routes for USD 150 million.

For more amazing images of Pan Am's operations at Berlin, have a look at our popular photo special Berlin Airport through time.

For a very interesting three-part history on the IGS have a look at this three-part article starting here.

Or read about the design of Pan Am's terminal at New York's JFK Airport here.

Did you fly with or work for Pan Am's Internal German Service? Tell us about your memories below!

The TWA Flight Center at New York's Idlewild Airport, which opened in 1962, provided TWA with a stylish and iconic terminal, cementing the airline's reputation as one of the great airlines of the early Jet Age.

People will be less familiar with TWA's USD 13.7-million proposed expansion of the West Dock at Greater Pittsburgh Airport. Presented in March 1966, the revolutionary concept would bring cars and airplanes within 40 paces of each other. 

The bi-level oval-shaped facility, to be linked to the existing central airport terminal, would have provided a dozen gates capable of accommodating up to 16 TWA jetliners. 

The upper level would have housed 12 ticket and check-in lounges for departing passengers. Baggage delivery to arriving passengers would be on the lower level.

​Both levels would have been served by four-lane, one-way roadways and one above the other, circling the inner rim of the facility.

WHY TWA'S PLAN DIDN'T FLY

However revolutionary, airport experts didn't care much for TWA's idea. Airport aviation consultants Landrum & Brown were quick to point out several critical design factors that were overlooked in TWA's proposal, the most important one being that the terminal could not be expanded.

Also, the proposed plan would have only created a net gain of eight aircraft gates, bringing the total to 33, far below the airlines' request of 40-43 gates by 1970. Lastly, the needed two-way aircraft taxiway clearance, imperative because of the ramp activity in this area, was not provided.

Finally, it was decided to build a conventional pier instead.  The West Dock opened in 1973.

What do you think of the design? Would it have been efficient and effective? Leave your comments below!

During our recent digs in the AirportHistory.org archives we unearthed a very interesting 1980 British Airways brochure advocating for the construction of a fifth terminal at Heathrow, which could be ready as early as 1989.

Interestingly, permission to build Terminal 4 had just been given the year prior and construction hadn't even started. So, how come British Airways was already lobbying for the next terminal, complete with artist's impressions?

​Was BA simply extremely forward-looking, considering the long lead time in the UK to build large airport projects? Find out the answer below!

THE NEED FOR CAPACITY

By the early 1970s, serious doubts had arisen about the necessity for a new London airport in the Thames Estuary, 45 miles (70 kilometers) east of Central London. As a result, the focus shifted back to providing additional capacity at existing airports.

At the time, the maximum capacity of Heathrow's three terminals was thought to be 30 million annual passengers. Traffic forecasts indicated that there would be a capacity shortfall between 1982 and 1986.

TWO OPTIONS FOR TERMINAL 4

​The immediate priority was to build a new Terminal 4 at Heathrow, where pressure was greatest. Planning work started in 1973.

​One option was to develop the site of the Perry Oaks sludge works on the western side of the airport, where a terminal with a capacity of 15 million passengers could be provided.

The site was located between the main runways, decreasing aircraft taxi times. It could be easily connected to the M25 Orbital Motorway, which was being built at the time.

The other option was to build a much smaller terminal with a capacity of 8 million annual passengers on a 70-hectare site southeast of the airport.

For obvious reasons, the Perry Oaks alternative was heavily backed by British Airways, which has its home base at Heathrow Airport. However, the Perry Oaks option was ruled out because of the lead time involved in clearing the site, which was believed to be several years.

​Thus planners chose the southeast site, it being the only site where a new terminal could be built in time before existing capacity limits were reached in the mid-1980s. 

In December 1979, the UK government approved the construction of Terminal 4. The terminal, which was to be used for British Airways long-haul flights, would raise the airport's capacity to 38 million annual passengers, which was considered the absolute maximum the airport could handle.

All further future growth was to be channeled through an expanded Stansted Airport, located  42 miles (67 kilometers) northeast of Central London. Obviously, the prospect of having to split its traffic over multiple airports was not an attractive one to British Airways.

​Thus, soon after the decision to built Terminal 4 was taken, the airline published the aforementioned brochure, arguing for the development of Heathrow beyond Terminal 4 with a fifth terminal. It could readily present the Perry Oaks plans developed previously.

​WHAT HAPPENED AFTER

Built at a cost of GBP 200 million, Terminal 4 was opened by the Prince and Princess of Wales on April 1, 1986. Planning studies for Terminal 5 got underway soon after in February 1988. 

BAA formally announced its proposal for construction of Terminal 5 in May 1992, submitting a formal planning application on February 17, 1993. T5 was inaugurated on March 14, 2008 and is now the home base of British Airways.

In 2019, Heathrow handled almost 81 million passengers, more than twice the amount planners thought Heathrow was capable of back in the 1970s!

If Terminal 4 had been built at the Perry Oaks site, how would Heathrow have developed later on? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Did you know that plans to build additional runways at Heathrow date back all the way to 1946? You can read that story here.
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​A special thanks to Heathrow expert Kevan James. Check out his website here.

​For the English version, click here.

Nuestros fans de Sudamérica nos envían con frecuencia mensajes en los que nos critican por descuidar los aeropuertos de su hermoso y sorprendente continente. Tienen razón, por supuesto, y hoy,  ¡vamos a empezar a corregir el registro!
 
En lo más profundo de la bóveda de AirportHistory.org, hemos encontrado recientemente el Plan Maestro de 1969 del Aeropuerto Internacional de Maiquetía "Simón Bolívar", la principal puerta de entrada internacional de Venezuela.
 
A mediados del siglo XX, Venezuela era un país petrolero en auge. Con el rápido crecimiento del transporte aéreo y la abundancia de dinero, el gobierno planificó un enorme proyecto de expansión, que sólo se ejecutó parcialmente.
 
¿Tiene curiosidad por saber lo que los planificadores tenían originalmente en mente para el futuro de Maiquetía? Sin más preámbulos, ¡echemos un vistazo!

UNA BREVE HISTORIA 

Conocido originalmente como Aeropuerto de La Guaira, el aeropuerto fue construido en 1930 por Pan American Airways. Para 1949, contaba con una pista de 1.524 metros, que posteriormente se amplió a 3.000 metros.

El edificio original de la terminal, hacia el extremo oriental del aeropuerto, se inauguró en 1948.

Esta vista aérea de 1948 de lo que entonces se llamaba Aeropuerto de La Guaira, muestra la pintoresca ubicación del aeropuerto en la orilla del mar.

PLAN MAESTRO

En 1970, Maiquetía atendía a 1,47 millones de pasajeros, lo que lo convertía en el tercer aeropuerto más activo de Sudamérica, después de los aeropuertos de Bogotá-El Dorado y São Paulo-Congonhas.

Desde su fundación en 1960, VIASA, la aerolínea nacional de Venezuela, se había convertido rápidamente en una de las principales compañías aéreas de Sudamérica, conectando ciudades de Sudamérica, Norteamérica y Europa. La aerolínea necesitaba un aeropuerto de origen que pudiera acomodar sus ambiciones de crecimiento.

En 1968, el gobierno contrató los servicios de la renombrada firma Tibbetts-Abbott-McCarthy--Stratton (TAMS) para preparar los planes para el futuro desarrollo de Maiquetía.

NUEVAS PISTAS

Los estudios de tráfico preveían que Maiquetía manejaría 30 millones de pasajeros en el año 2000, 20 veces más que en 1970, por lo que se requería una ampliación radical del aeropuerto.

Los planificadores previeron una ampliación a gran escala del aeropuerto hacia el oeste con dos nuevas pistas y un nuevo complejo de terminales de pasajeros.

En primer lugar, se construiría una nueva pista 09/27 de 11.483 pies (3.500 metros) entre la pista original 08/26 y el mar. Su construcción implicaría el movimiento de 650 millones de pies cúbicos de tierra. La pista se puso en marcha en 1975.

Más adelante, se construiría una segunda pista de 215 metros al norte y al oeste de la pista 09/27. Tendría una pista de rodaje de longitud completa y su construcción implicaría la eliminación de una serie de colinas junto a la orilla.

La pista debía estar terminada a principios de los años 80, tras lo cual probablemente se cerraría la pista original 08/26.

TERMINALES

En los planos de distribución definitivos, los planificadores prevén una serie de edificios terminales de pasajeros construidos a lo largo de una carretera principal.

Al norte habría cuatro módulos terminales para los vuelos internacionales. En el lado sur, el de la montaña, habría un edificio terminal alargado para los vuelos nacionales.

En total, habría 48 puertas servidas por puentes de embarque de pasajeros  : 24 puertas internacionales y 24 puertas nacionales. 

Los lados internacional y doméstico estarían conectados por edificios en la mediana de la carretera dorsal, que contendría espacios comerciales. Habría espacio para el estacionamiento de 2800 automóviles.  

El complejo era demasiado pequeño para justificar una plataforma automatizada de transporte de personas, pero se dejó espacio en el diseño para construirla eventualmente si fuera necesario.

DESARROLLO POR FASES

En un principio, todo el desarrollo tendría lugar en el lado norte, con terminales de pasajeros separadas para el tráfico internacional y nacional, que se inauguraron en 1978 y 1983 respectivamente.

Las terminales contaban con vestíbulos de embarque a lo largo de la terminal.
Más adelante sería posible añadir muelles perpendiculares, aumentando el número de puestos de contacto. 

En este momento, no está claro si se mantuvo la idea de una terminal doméstica sur a largo plazo o si se eliminó del Plan Maestro desde el principio. ¡Déjenos un comentario abajo si sabe la respuesta!

CRECIMIENTO MÁS LENTO

A lo largo de las décadas, el crecimiento del tráfico fue mucho más lento de lo previsto. Nunca se alcanzaron los 30 millones de pasajeros que se habían proyectado a finales de los años 60. El récord se sitúa en 12,18 millones de pasajeros en 2013, tras lo cual la economía entró en caída libre.

Como consecuencia, el Plan Maestro solo se aplicó parcialmente. La pista paralela 09/27 nunca se construyó. Tampoco se añadieron terminales de pasajeros adicionales.

En cambio, a principios de la década de 2000, se amplió y remodeló la terminal internacional existente. La terminal nacional no se ha modificado, sólo se ha dotado de nuevos puentes de embarque acristalados.

El Plan Maestro de Maiquetía de 1968 es el testimonio de una época en la que el cielo era literalmente el límite para Venezuela. ¡Esperemos que estos tiempos vuelvan algún día!

¿Qué opina de los planes originales para Maiquetía? Háganoslo saber en los comentarios más abajo.

​Este artículo ha sido traducido por Gianfranco Perticara. Puede encontrar la versión en inglés aquí. For the English version, click here.

Para la versión en español, haga clic aquí

Our fans in South America frequently send us messages requesting we don't neglect the airports on their beautiful and amazing continent. They are right of course, and today we will start correcting the record!

Deep in the AirportHistory.org vault, we recently found the 1969 Master Plan for Maiquetía "Simón Bolívar" International Airport, the main international gateway for Venezuela.

In the mid-20th century, Venezuela was a booming oil country. With air travel rapidly growing and money being plentiful, the government planned for a huge expansion project, which was only partially implemented.

​Curious about what the planners originally had in mind for the future of Maiquetía? Without further ado, let's take a look!

A SHORT HISTORY 

Known originally as La Guaira Airport, the airport was constructed in 1930 by Pan American Airways. By 1949, it had a 5,000-foot (1,524-meter) runway, which was later extended to 9,842 feet (3,000 meters).

​The original terminal building, toward the eastern end of the airport, was opened in 1948.

MASTER PLAN

By 1970, Maiquetía was handling 1.47 million passengers, making it the third busiest airport in South America, after Bogota El Dorado and São Paulo
Congonas airports.

Since its founding in 1960, VIASA, Venezuela's national airline, had quickly developed into of South America's premier airlines, connecting cities in South America, North America, and Europe. The airline needed a home airport that could accomodate its growth ambitions.

In 1968, the government engaged the services of the renowned firm Tibbetts, Abbott, McCarthy, and Stratton (TAMS) to prepare plans for Maiquetía's future development.

NEW RUNWAYS

Traffic studies projected that Maiquetía would handle 30 million passengers by the year 2000, 20 times more than in 1970, thus requiring a radical expansion of the airport.

Planners envisaged a large-scale expansion of the airport to the west with two new runways and a new passenger terminal complex.

First, a new 11,483-foot (3,500-meter) runway 09/27 would be built between the original runway 08/26 and the sea. Its consctruction would involve moving 650 million cubic feet of earth. The runway was commissioned in 1975.

Later on, a second runway would be built 705 feet (215 meters) to the north and west of runway 09/27. It would have a full length taxiway and its construction would involve the removal of a series of hills beside the shore.

The runway was to be completed in the early 1980s, after which the original runway 08/26 would likely be closed.

TERMINALS
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In the ultimate layout, planners envisaged a series of  passenger terminal buildings built along a spine road.

To the north would be four terminal modules handling international flights. On the south side--the mountain side--would be an elongated terminal building handling domestic flights.

A total of 48 gates served by passenger boarding bridges would be provided: 24 international gates and 24 domestic gates. 

​The international and domestic sides would be connected by buildings in the median of the spine road, which contained concessions. There would be parking space for 2,800 cars.

The complex was too small to justify an automated people mover shuttle but space was left in the design to construct one eventually if needed.

PHASED DEVELOPMENT

Initially, all development would take place on the north side with separate passenger terminals for international and domestic traffic, These opened in 1978 and 1983 respectively.

The terminals had boarding concourses running along the length of the terminal.
Later on, perpendicular pier could be added, increasing the number of contact stands. 

At this point, it is unclear if the idea of a south domestic terminal in the long run was retained or if it was dropped from the Master Plan early on. Leave us a comment below if you know the answer!

SLOWER GROWTH

Over the decades, traffic growth was much slower than anticipated. The traffic of 30 million passengers, which had been projected in the late 1960s, was never reached. The record stands at 12.18 million passengers in 2013, after which the economy went into free fall.

As a result, the Master Plan was only partially implemented. The parallel runway 09/27 was never built. Also, no additional passenger terminals were added.

Instead, in the early 2000s, the existing international terminal was enlarged and re-modelled. The domestic terminal has not been altered, only having been outfitted with new glass-cladded boarding bridges.

The 1968 Maiquetía Master Plan stands testament to a time when the sky was literally the limit for Venezuela. Let's hope these times will return one day!

What are your thoughts on the original plans for Maiquetía? Let us know in the comments below!

During our recent digs in the AirportHistory.org archives we unearthed a fascinating 1972 proposal to massively expand St. Louis Lambert International Airport.

The plan, called the Lambert-St. Louis 2000 Plan envisaged the construction of a third parallel runway and a huge new terminal complex north of the current airport. Let's take a closer look and see what this plan was all about!

BACKGROUND

The Jet-Age travel boom led to an ongoing capacity crisis at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, then called Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.

Between 1958 and 1969, the airport's passenger traffic increased almost fourfold. By 1970, Lambert handled 6.6 million passengers, ranking it the 13th busiest in the nation and 20th in the world.

Despite a planned terminal expansion, in 1968, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) concluded that Lambert would be unable to accomodate the air traffic demands expected by 1982 and that a replacement airport should be made operational by 1980.

THE COLUMBIA-WATERLOO PLAN

In May 1972, the newly created St. Louis Metropolitan Area Airport Authority, adopted a plan prepared by R. Dixon Speas Associates for a proposed USD 350 million airport to be located near Columbia and Waterloo, 19 miles (30 kilometers) southeast of St. Louis, in the neighboring state of Illinois.

In January 1972, the authority applied for USD 8.4 million to begin land acquisition.

THE LAMBERT-ST. LOUIS 2000 PLAN

There was fierce opposition to the plans, among others by the Missouri legislature.
It created the Missouri-St. Louis Metropolitan Airport Authority to oppose the Illinois airport plan.

In October 1972, the authority unveiled an expansion plan titled the Lambert-St. Louis 2000 Plan, designed to enable Lambert to adequately serve the city's needs until the year 2000. 

​The plan, developed by Wilbur Smith & Associates, called for adding 800 acres to the airport, building a new parallel northwest-southeast runway north of the McDonnell Douglas facilities at Lambert and constructing a new ninety-gate terminal building on the northeast side of the airport.

​The Lambert-St. Louis 2000 Plan carried a USD 370-million price tag, including USD 75 million for land acquisition, USD 75 million for the new terminal, and USD 30 million for the new runway and taxiways.

The runway would provide the FAA-required spacing to permit simultaneous instrument landings, which Lambert's configuration did not allow. Improvements under the plan would allow Lambert to handle 60 million passengers annually.

SUPPORT

The plan contains many letters of support, including from: US, state, and local officials; Ozark Airlines, which had its headquarters in St. Louis; Ford, which had a major assembly plant north of the airport; and the Norfolk and Western Railway Company, which was active in developing industry in the vicinity of the airport.

Interestingly, the plan didn't contain endorsements from Trans World Airlines (TWA), which had a major base at St. Louis-Lambert, and from the McDonnell Douglas Corporation, a major aerospace manufacturing firm and defense contractor, which was headquartered at the airport and had sprawling facilities there.

During a referendum and subsequent mayoral election in March 1973, support for the Victoria-Waterloo proposal was swept away. The focus shifted back to improving Lambert. Things were looking good for the Lambert-St. Louis 2000 plan.

However, a significant obstacle arose when James S. McDonnell, chairman of  McDonnell Douglas, criticized the plans on the grounds that it would wipe out some of the company's facilities and inhibit its future expansion at the site.

​As a result, new master plan studies were prepared. Due to the oil crisis of 1973 and the resulting decline in traffic, the plans focused on increasing capacity of the existing terminal.

​There was no provision for an additional runway, as improvements to the existing runway system were deemed sufficient to handle traffic growth into the mid-1990s.

DECLINE

In 2000, Lambert handled a record 30.5 million passengers, ranking it the eighth busiest airport in the United States. That same year the decision was taken to build a new runway 11-29 west of the airport. 

It was half the number of passengers once projected by the Lambert-St. Louis 2000 Plan back in 1972 and it was to be the highest number of passengers that Lambert would ever process.

Following the absorption of TWA into American Airlines in 2001 and the subsequent termination of TWA's St. Louis hub, traffic dwindled from 26 million passengers in 2001 to 13 million in 2004. In 2019, the last year before COVID, Lambert handled almost 16 million passengers.

The Lambert-St. Louis 2000 Plan stands as a testament to a time when the sky was literally the limit and St. Louis-Lambert was poised to become one of busiest hubs in the US and one of the world's pre-eminent gateways!

What do you think of the Lambert-St. Louis 2000 Plan? Do you think it could have meant a better future for St. Louis-Lambert Airport or would things have turned out more or less the same way?

​Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & FURTHER RECOMMENDED READING

For this article, I quoted from the book The Aerial Crossroads of America: St. Louis Lambert Airport, written by Daniel Rust. Published by the Missouri History Museum Press in 2016, this 336-page book is a scholarly, exhaustive history on Lambert International Airport up until 2015.

My only major criticism on the book is that there are very few illustrations, which is a missed opportunity. Still, Aerial Crossroads is a fine book and I highly recommend it.

Buy your copy from the University of Chicago Press or from Amazon.

Also, check out the avaiable STL publications in the AirportHistory library.