Talon International Airport
Talon International Airport Aéroport international de Talon | |||||||||||||||||||
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| File:RAT.png Logo of the Talonée Airports Authority | |||||||||||||||||||
| File:Pudong International Airport at night.jpg Talon International Airport at night as seen from across the Saint-François River | |||||||||||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||||||
| Owner | Region of Talonée (60%) Province of Linaque (40%) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Operator | Talonée Airports Authority | ||||||||||||||||||
| Serves | Talonée (Greater Talon) region | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Fort-Saint-Germain, Talon, Linaque | ||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | May 2, 1973 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hub for | |||||||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 23 m / 75 ft | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 30°19′N 22°36′E | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Runways | |||||||||||||||||||
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Talon International Airport (ITA: TLN) (French: Aéroport international de Talon) is the largest airport serving Talon, Linaque, Ainin's third-largest city, and the region of Talonée, its metropolitan area. It also serves neighbouring regions of northern Ainin in three provinces: Linaque, Ponant and Montagnes. As the main international hub of flag carrier Aininian, it is the busiest airport in Ainin by passengers served. It is located within the arrondissement of Fort-Saint-Germain in Talon, being a rare example of a major airport in an urban setting. Other notable airports serving the region are Mohammed-Faswa-Talonée Airport in Doval, Linaque, Brigitte Boisrond Airport in La Chapelle, Ponant, and Providence Presqu'vent International Airport under construction in Providence, Linaque.
The airport is jointly owned by the region of Talonée (60%) and the province of Linaque, while the city of Talon and neighbouring province of Ponant are also consulted on administrative decisions. As is standard in Ainin, air traffic control is provided by the Aininian Air Force. The airport is operated by the private Talonée Airports Authority under a fifty-year contract signed in 1999.
The airport has three runways, of which two are parallel to each other and one is perpendicular to the others. It has three numbered passenger terminal buildings and an additional cargo terminal. The largest of the three passenger terminals, Terminal 1, is reserved for internal (domestic and Esquarian Community) flights. The smaller Terminal 2 is used by Sapphire Alliance (SA) member carriers on international flights while Terminal 3 is used by non-SA carriers. Several dozen airlines fly to TLN and the airport consequently has destinations on all continents in Esquarium, including all member-states of the Esquarian Community. The airport has over a hundred year-round destinations in addition to several dozen seasonal services. It is also home to the headquarters and assembly facilities of Azimut Aerospace, the civilian division of the major Aininian aerospace manufacturer.
It is served by several transport connections, including the Talon Métro Airport Line, bus services operated by Transports de Talon, and Aininian Autoroute 171.
History
Origins and construction
Prior to the construction of Talon International Airport, the city was served by a former military aerodrome built in 1924, Ascension Field, located near the city core and a mere 1.1 km from the Gare d'Ascension. By the 1950s, due to its short runways, insufficient space, increasingly onerous noise restrictions and development pressures, it became widely acknowledged as deficient. However, with the National Party, who had not won a single seat in Greater Talon since 1917, in power, the city was unable to obtain funding for the project. After the Socialists came to power in 1955, planning began for a new world-class international airport serving Ainin's then-second-largest city. After a design was finalised in 1959, the National Party returned to power in 1960 and funding for the project once again evaporated until 1968, when construction finally began on a heavily-modified and expanded design.
The project was plagued by construction delays, as the escalation of the Concordian War in 1970 caused shortages of construction materials (especially metals) and heavy machinery. However, work continued in wartime, and the first runway and apron to be completed were soon requisitioned in 1970 by the Aininian Air Force as a storage location for damaged aircraft. By war's end in 1971, two terminals and all three runways were complete, and construction soon picked up. By 1973, work was substantially complete and the airport was opened to the public, although the metro link was only opened in 1977 and the bus terminal operated out of temporary facilities until 1980.
Privatisation
The airport's operation proved expensive. Overall demand fell short of the 1960s planners' optimistic predictions and the shortfall in landing fees and consumption taxes plunged the provincially-owned Talon Airports Corporation (CAT) into heavy debt. After the onset of the Recession of 1980, the government could ill-afford the expense and the CAT was privatised and listed on the Talon EsMax as the Talonée Airports Authority (French: Régie des aéroports de Talon, RAT) in 1982. The corporation oversaw the airport's return to profitability after lobbying for the closure and demolition of the old Ascension Field, which many passengers preferred due to its closer proximity to the city core.
Continued growth
The airport has continued to experience growth since the 1980s, with an estimated 71 million passengers passing through TLN in 2009. In 1995, the cargo terminal was upgraded to handle hazardous materials, while 2003 saw the opening of a unified 9,000-space parking garage underneath Terminal 2. In 2014, Talon mayor François Chenier proposed renaming the airport Talon–Samuel Verley International Airport after Talon-born Samuel Verley, 28th President of Ainin (1944-47, 55-60) and an iconic figure in the Socialist Party. The Linaque Assembly has yet to take up the matter.
Future expansion plans include an upgrade of the elevated Autoroute 171 from three to four lanes and the construction of an intercity rail station, tentatively known as Talon East Station, on the grounds of the airport. Both projects are currently in the planning stage and neither has received final approval from the national government. Construction on the train terminal is tentatively scheduled to start in 2021.
Facilities
Ground transport
Road
Rail
Bus
Destinations
Accidents and incidents
- 9 November 1984: An Aininian Air Force maritime patrol aircraft made an emergency landing at Talon International Airport after an onboard electrical fire damaged key systems.
- 23 June 1994: Aininian Flight 642, an Azimut P14 en route from Huimont Gérard Hébert International Airport to Talon, crashed into an Aininian Autoroute 71 overpass 2.2 km short of the runway after the crew improperly set the autopilot configuration, killing all 88 crew and passengers and an additional 19 on the ground.
- 31 December 1999: A crude incendiary bomb explodes in an empty metro train at the Terminal 2 station, injuring a responding firefighter. The incident forced the evacuation of the terminal and a 12-hour shutdown of the Métro Airport Line.
- 3 May 2006: A landing Air Luziyca aircraft carrying 295 passengers narrowly misses striking an Aininian airliner carrying 115 holding at the end of runway 15/33 as a result of controller error.
- 18 November 2006: Aininian Flight 199, a Azimut P7 en route from Talon to Mojing International Airport in Namor, suffers from a fuel starvation incident in midflight due to undetected damage to a fuel tank. The aircraft overshot the runway while making an unpowered emergency landing at Namo International Airport, killing 47 of 218.
- 1 June 2013: Nautaryan Airlines Flight 36, an Azimut P14 on a regularly-scheduled service from Talon to Bashir Rawleh International Airport in then-Libreville, Nautarya, is attacked by machine gun-wielding rebels on the tarmac at Libreville Airport, killing 3.