urban909

Awesome news. I've got an excellent view of the site from my office too.

I do as well.

Thanks for the link.

I was doing some research online today, and who would have thought that United's plan to back out would help us. There are multiple rumors that both Air France and British Airways are seriously looking into bringing A380s into IAH. It seems perfect because IAH is expanding and remodeling terminal D. Also less than a week ago Emirates CEO was quoted talking about bringing A380s to Houston, "the economics of Houston are very powerful. That would be an extremely attractive proposition."

The next major terminal development needs to be Terminal D so that there is the ability to handle several A380's at a time. Not to mention adding duty free, concessions, bathrooms, lounges and aesthesis befitting of a major international gateway. Terminal D is down-right embarrassing.

By the time the UL is politically ready it will probably just go straight down Richmond to save money and time. By then traffic will be horrendous and the train will be seen as too little, too late.

I believe that traffice+increase in inner-core living, etc will have eventually force rethinking of mobility (ie. not just car). This might offer a good opportunity for a reset. I voted for the refrerendum a decade ago and I am hoping that this delay, in the long term, will allow the creation of a better, all inclusive and streamlined system.

50 stories, 1M+ sf, old YMCA site. That's as much as I can share.

If that does come to fruition I will have a good view of it going up. And a fairly decent view of 1625 Main Street too.

I believe that is where the end of the SE/E light rail line will be. I had always thought that is where some kind of rail switch will be, so trains won't block the intersection.

Iah has announced Air China service to Beijing in 2013!

That would be nice, however, nothing has been officially announced by either the airport or the airline.

I've heard no more talk lately about a third airport west of the city. Has anyone else heard anything?

With the amount of investments being made (i.e. Terminal B south redo), and ample land to expand at IAH, I doubt this will come to fruition anytime soon. As far as the international terminal goes, isn't there supposed to be a pier expansion with an additional 6 gates? It's listed on the capital improvements page as an active project.

I haven't been through Terminal D in awhile, but I think one of the biggest improvements they can do (if they hadn't already) is add an extra elevator or two in the waiting area.

I'm interested to see what proposal they have for a station in Houston. Dallas's Union Station would work on their end, but Houston needs some major upgrades to the current "Amshack," lol.

I was curious about the same thing, whether they have plans to bring it into downtown or end somewhere further north (i.e. Greenspoint).

I saw a double-decker Tuesday evening coming from I-10 East to 45-South, presumably to downtown. I'm guessing this is the bus from New Orleans? Does anyone know what types of buses are going to Dallas, San Antonio, Austin(maybe?)....just curious as I bought tickets to Dallas for the June/July weekend and the kid in me is hoping it's a double decker!

The downtown stop is right below and across the street from my office. One, it looks like it has been nothing but double-decker buses and two, there has been a TON of people lined up to board (even in the rain) for the last couple of days.

I thought Turkish Airlines was pretty darn nice. Being compared to Lufthansa isn't that bad a thing.

Turkish Airlines won (in 20011) Southern Europe's Best Airline and Europe's Best Airline award (ahead of Lufthansa). The airline is also ranked 9th in the world (for best airline). I would definitely fly them, especially since Istanbul is on my travel list!

They will be using a 77W.

There is no way Copa is going to operate out of Hobby. They're ties with United are just too strong (they're even entering the Star Alliance later this year). Plus, they're happy to devote their fleet to Panama City - LatAm routes and let United feed it from IAH. I don't see them ever coming to Houston.

I can see Volaris, VivaAerobus, Allegiant, and maybe Spirit operating out of HOU.

You are right...I got Interjet and Copa mixed up in my head. Apparently my multi-tasking skills aren't quite working as well as I would like today.

I think it will depend on how much of a dent Southwest dings CONT passenger count.

One thing I've been curious about is what IS the largest plane that can fly out of HOU?

If you are talking about WN, the largest plane that they operate is a 738 (which are configured for ETOPS). If the international terminal is approved, I could see Y4 or CM taking interest.Volaris operates A320's and Copa has E-190's and 737/8's. The longest runway at HOU is 7600 ft., so I would imagine anything larger than a 757 would be hard to operate profitably (due to weight restrictions, fuel, etc).

The only airlines I see that DFW has, and that we don't, starting operations here is VX. QF started service because DFW is a huge oneworld hub. KE had hinted long ago about starting service to IAH, however, that was before CO moved to Star Alliance.

I could see either UA or another Star Alliance partner starting service to China, and TK has hinted from time to time about flying here as well (although I wouldn't hold my breath about flying non-stop to Instanbul soon).

To throw something into the mix:

http://www.houstonto...kable-urbanism/

More specifically (in this survey), about the shift in where people want to live, etc., which is found in the last paragraph.

I was thinking this would be an ideal line to run down Washington Avenue. Oh well.

You might find this interesting:

http://www.sn22.org/...Pres_042710.pdf

There is a symposium/workshop on May 19th regarding Houston's transit future. Might be an interesting event.

http://www.houstonto...transit-future/

Here is an animation of the (soon-to-be) modified gate at terminal D:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4QoD16q-bc&feature=player_embedded

Here is some more information on the new service. The second link will show what vehicles will be used, their design, etc.

http://www.downtownd...0Wrap%20RFP.PDF

http://www.downtownd...achment%20B.PDF

Houston, TX, Oct. 26, 2011 – Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University – Worldwide selected Houston as the city to offer new Master’s degrees in the fall of 2012 and relocate to a new facility in Houston at Ellington Airport in the first phase of a multi-year expansion program. The new degrees include:

• Master of Systems Engineering

• Master of Science in Logistics and Supply Chain Management

• Master of Science in Project Management

http://www.fly2houst.../0/83280D83283/

United wants B terminal at Bush

United Airlines would pay $686 million to expand and renovate Bush Intercontinental Airport's Terminal B and gain control over its operations — including concessions — under a deal on Wednesday's City Council agenda.

The city's share of the project will be $288 million, raised through a $3-per-passenger fee the Houston Airport System has been collecting since November 2009.

The city has the cash to pay the $55 million for the project's first phase, but may have to issue bonds to pay for subsequent phases, HAS Director Mario Diaz said. Those bonds would be paid off with continuing proceeds from the fee.

The deal aims to solidify the commitment of the world's largest airline to its largest hub, Diaz said.

I found this while floating around on airliners.net.

Dubai-Houston ranks 8th at 8168 miles; Doha-Houston ranks 12th at 8047 miles.

According to this report on CNN, the Qantas flight between Sydney and Dallas which is advertised here in Houston (and, I'm sure, elsewhere) was touted as the world's longest flight.

It didn't quite make it...

Again, according to the same report:

It's the worlds longest 744ER flight. The longest scheduled commercial flight is between Newark and Singapore on SIA's A345.