George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)

[Trae]

Speaking of Midway and ORD, R. Kelly is not guilty.

[Metro]

After traveling to DFW recently, I feel IAH could really use a facelift! The new TERMINAL D at DFW is beautiful and once again Dallas has one up on us.

IAH needs to pick up its game and start beautifying the airport and make a larger international presence.

DFW's terminal D is indeed very impressive, but as alluded to above, IAH currently receives more international traffic, as well as foreign flag carriers than DFW.

Compare major foreign flag carriers:

DFW

British Airways 7X weekly B777-200

Lufthansa 7X weekly A340-300

Korean Airlines 4X weekly B777-200

KLM 7X weekly A330

IAH

British Airways 14X weekly B777-200 (moving to 747-400s in fall)

Lufthansa 7X weekly B747-400

KLM 13X weekly (B747 / BBJ 737)

Air France ~12X weekly (777-200 / A330)

Emirates 7X weekly 777-200

Singapore 4X weekly 777-300

Qatar (starts in fall) 3X -> 7X weekly 777-200

IAH Terminal D may not be as pretty as DFW's, but she's winning the popularity contest right now.

[N Judah]

At least Hobby is looking nicer.

[ssullivan]

DFW's Terminal D isn't that much nicer than Terminal E at IAH, where most of Continental's mainline international flights operate. And overall, IAH's terminals, with the exception of B, are better laid out and nicer than most of DFW's terminals.

And when you get to comparing the secondary airports in both cities, HOU is MUCH nicer than DAL.

[kjb434]

IAH is under a master plan currently.

If you check their website under the master plan, a PDF file will open with how the airport will change.

Essentially, 90% of what you see now won't be there in the future. It will be complete overhaul.

[lockmat]

I just listened to a wsj.com podcast and a guy was talking about the "big" and "small" airports in los angeles.

[moni]

I just listened to a wsj.com podcast and a guy was talking about the "big" and "small" airports in los angeles.

LAX is the "big" airport, with Burbank, Ontario and John Wayne being the smaller airports. Lots of traffic at all of these.

[KimberlySayWhat]

I think it's pretty common for all cities to refer to their airports as "the big airport" or small one. You hear it occasionally on the cable news networks when they're reporting from different places.

Edited October 8, 2008 by KimberlySayWhat

[Vertigo58]

Eastern Airlines taking mom out of brand new Intercontinental Airport on to Miami! 1969

Airlines stewardess's get to stay for lay over's at apt's near Intercontinental Airport 1966.

Big sis (on right)

[Subdude]

She has Hulda hair!

[Vertigo58]

She has Hulda hair!

Big time! and I just did her girlfriend's mod shades.

Can you believe in order to get hired you had to be single, no children and hot! That was then. Although if you spoke another language it was a plus so sis was able to be stationed in Miami and San Juan, PR basically all along the Eastern seaboard and Canada. Even flying coach was like 1st class!

My how the times have changed.

[marketingwiz]

Typical Stewardess attire in the mid 60's. Had to be single, no children and beautiful!

Very common to see these ladies around our NEW Intercontinental Airport. This is my big sister.

Vert: Your sister was/is quite the dish! Hubba hubba. The photos are fantastic and thanks for sharing them. I had two older cousins who were 'stews' for Texas International Airlines (now Continental) and I lived in an apartment complex on Westheimer in the 70's where many of my friends flew for Southwest Airlines. They had a much better time than I did.

[lockmat]

I found these renderings. It's an upgrade to it's current state...

http://www.theldnet.com/details.php?project=Bush Airport

Edited November 12, 2009 by lockmat

[barracuda]

^ Looks like JFK Blvd.

[lockmat]

It's worth reading the whole article...

http://www.globest.com/news/1557_1557/houston/182634-1.html

The goal of the project, he tells GlobeSt.com is that of a travel center to cater both to the airport's Consolidated Rental Car Facility. As a result, there are certain things the Houston Airport System is requiring from Midway, including a convenience store with gas station, a sit-down restaurant, a fast-casual restaurant and a flight information board. Other than that, the site could boast a small office component measuring between 20,000-40,000 square feet, additional retail and maybe a hotel.

[urban909]

Courtesy of Houstonspotters.net:

Air France saw a decrease of 11.88%. They deplaned 5573 pax and enplaned 7256 pax. Load factors were 63% to IAH and 82% from IAH.

British Airways had a 17.90% increase. They deplaned 8404 pax and enplaned 9873 pax. Load factors were 54% to IAH and 63% from IAH.

Emirates saw an increase of 21.23%. They deplaned 5614 pax and enplaned 5748 pax. Load factors were 70% to IAH and 72% from IAH.

KLM had an increase of 0.22%. They deplaned 7168 pax and enplaned 7242 pax. Load factors were 75% to IAH and 76% from IAH.

Lufthansa increased 27.62%. They deplaned 8799 pax and enplaned 9224 pax. Load factors were 83% to IAH and 87% from IAH.

Qatar Airways saw a 25.59% increase. They deplaned 4325 pax and enplaned 4763 pax. Load factors were 56% to IAH and 61% from IAH.

Singapore Airlines had an increase of 73.67%. They deplaned 3611 pax and enplaned 3692 pax. Of the 3611 that got off at IAH, 2126 got on at SIN while 1485 got on at DME. Of the 3692 that left IAH, 1474 got off at DME while 2218 continued their journey to SIN. Load factors were 62% to IAH and 63% from IAH.

VivaAerobus had nine flights in September. They deplaned 620 pax and enplaned 564 pax. Estimated load factors were 46% to IAH and 42% from IAH.

[Hartmann]

The Singapore stats are extremely interesting. A lot of people have been worried that that particular route would be killed off.

[DrLan34]

The Singapore stats are extremely interesting. A lot of people have been worried that that particular route would be killed off.

Any information on Continental's numbers? I'm on their flights to Latin America at least twice a month so I'm doing my part.

[editor]

Singapore Airlines had an increase of 73.67%. They deplaned 3611 pax and enplaned 3692 pax. Of the 3611 that got off at IAH, 2126 got on at SIN while 1485 got on at DME. Of the 3692 that left IAH, 1474 got off at DME while 2218 continued their journey to SIN. Load factors were 62% to IAH and 63% from IAH.

This is the part that I find interesting. Even with a stop in Tokyo, going from IAH to SIN is brutal. I can't imagine being in coach for the entire flight!

[urban909]

This is the part that I find interesting. Even with a stop in Tokyo, going from IAH to SIN is brutal. I can't imagine being in coach for the entire flight!

I used to live in Jakarta during the mid-nineties. We flew from IAH to LAX/SFO to KAI to SIN to CGK and that took about 36 hours! Now that was a brutal! I truly wish we had this flight then, as it would have cut out around 14 hours or so.

[Hartmann]

This is the part that I find interesting. Even with a stop in Tokyo, going from IAH to SIN is brutal. I can't imagine being in coach for the entire flight!

I like that the price for the IAH-Moscow segment is actually somewhat reasonable. I bought a $650 ticket a few weeks ago and I'm happy with that.

[asubrt]

Some praise for Terminal E and IAH...

http://www.thestreet.com/story/10943629/5/4-most-beautiful-us-airport-terminals.html

[The Pragmatist]

I was just on the Houston Airport System site searching for some info on Hobby Airport and saw this press release for possible development at IAH. I guess I am just out of the loop since this was my first time hearing about it.

http://www.fly2houston.com/0/3502266/0/0/

[lockmat]

Topic on it here. But nice find on your link. http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/22553-10-acre-development-at-bush-airport/page__p__352525__hl__%2Biah+%2Bbush+%2Bdevelopment__fromsearch__1#entry352525

There really is a need for restaurants in that area. The only thing on JFK are fast food places, except for the one on JFK & the Beltway, and of course the ones inside the restaurants, but people get tired of the same old places. Two or three additions would help. I think it's a good idea to put this right next to the car rental terminals, too.

[The Pragmatist]

Topic on it here. But nice find on your link. http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/22553-10-acre-development-at-bush-airport/page__p__352525__hl__%2Biah+%2Bbush+%2Bdevelopment__fromsearch__1#entry352525

There really is a need for restaurants in that area. The only thing on JFK are fast food places, except for the one on JFK & the Beltway, and of course the ones inside the restaurants, but people get tired of the same old places. Two or three additions would help. I think it's a good idea to put this right next to the car rental terminals, too.

I agree. It'll be nice to have something like this around the airport. People can have a little more variety near the airport before heading out on a flight or after landing in the Houston without having to search too far.

[urban909]

Wanted to put this post in here (instead of starting a new topic), unless that is needed:

December/end of year traffic numbers for international flights at IAH:

Courtesy of Jim @ iahspottersclub via houstonspotters.net

Air France was down 14.66%. They deplaned 5516 pax and enplaned 6456 pax. Load factors were 72% to IAH and 84% from IAH.

For the year AF traffic was down by 15.6%.

British Airways had a 15.65% decrease. They deplaned 8910 pax and enplaned 9169 pax. Load factors were 60% to IAH and 62% from IAH.

For the year BA traffic was up by 1.3%.

Emirates saw an increase of 74.29%. They deplaned 11,819 pax and enplaned 14,824 pax. Load factors were 72% to IAH and 90% from IAH.

For the year EK traffic was up by 20.06%.

Emirates is now the biggest international airline at IAH, besides Continental. The last two months EK has carried more passengers than any other international airline.

KLM had a decrease of 3.28%. They deplaned 7328 pax and enplaned 7062 pax. Load factors were 78% to IAH and 75% from IAH.

For the year KL traffic was down by 2.6%.

Lufthansa decreased 0.67%. They deplaned 8393 pax and enplaned 8551 pax. Load factors were 85% to IAH and 87% from IAH.

For the year LH traffic was up by 14.2%.

Qatar Airways saw an increase of 1.26%. They deplaned 6380 pax and enplaned 8551 pax. Load factors were 79% to IAH and 94% from IAH.

For the year QR traffic was up by 53.26%.

Singapore Airlines increased 34.21%. They deplaned 5736 pax and enplaned 4728 pax. Load factors were 67% to IAH and 55% from IAH. Of the 5736 that flew to IAH 3705 started in SIN while 2031 got on at DME. Of the 4728 that left IAH 1355 got off at DME while 3373 continued to SIN.

For the year Singapore Airlines was up 52.94%.

VivaAerobus had estimated load factors of 72% to IAH and 62% from IAH.

Alaska Airlines had load factors of 74% to IAH and 69% from IAH.

Year end:

Now that 2010 is in the books we can take a look and see how IAH did for the year. Total passengers at IAH were 40,479,569. That's a 1.2% increase over 2009. Domestic passengers were down 0.7% with 31,971,691. Compare that to 2009 with 32,197,411. International passengers did well at IAH with an increase of 8.9%. There were 8,507,878 international passengers at IAH in 2010. In 2009 there were 7,809,943.

Cargo also had an increase in 2010. Air freight in lbs was 857,764,000. That's a 15.8% jump from '09.

[Pleak]

http://www.fly2houston.com/0/3919119/0/83280/

It will be cool to see the big plane in Houston.

[VicMan]

You know, even though United now has settled in Chicago, Houston can always try to win back the airline later, when the leases on the United buildings on Chicago are close to expiring.

Right now United's headquarters, training facilities, and flight operations are in separate locations. Maybe United would, once the merger is said and one and once the leases are about to expire, want everything in one nice facility?

The Houston Airport System could offer to develop a complex on the property of Bush Airport and have United move everything in - flight training simulators, corporate headquarters, crew hotels, flight operations, etc. in one facility. The city could offer a favorable lease rate to the airline, to entice them to move in. In Taiwan the equivalent type of complex also houses an airport hotel, so that is a possibility.

I do not believe that O'Hare has the room to have such a complex developed on the property.

In Houston we could go bold. We could include, next door to the airline facilities, educational facilities for post-secondary aviation careers (community college facilities and/or other post-secondary institutions).

We could even throw in a public magnet high school for aviation careers and international relations. Maybe have United provide some support, in exchange for the possibility of getting candidates who are well prepared for the airline industry. Some pilots enter aviation careers straight out of high school, and take college courses by correspondence.

Possible models include Cathay Pacific City at Hong Kong International Airport and CAL Park at Taipei Taoyuan Airport.

Edited December 21, 2011 by VicMan

[Enoch]

Up at Bush, huh? Well, they definitely have enough raw land up there...

[VicMan]

Up at Bush, huh? Well, they definitely have enough raw land up there...

Yup, the abundance of land would help the city build a facility favorable to the airline in every manner possible. Also the presence helps the airline "mark" the facility as its territory.