Aviation Specials – May 2018

Curfew

Sto er started out by outlining the curfew:

“Innsbruck has the strictest opening hours

of any Austrian airport. Due to its location

close to the city centre, concessions had to

be made. The basic hours are from 0630

until 2000 local time, but turboprops are

allowed in and out between 0600 and

2200, and commercial jets can land until

2300 but cannot depart after 2000.”

These requirements limit airline

scheduling fl exibility, but there are some

exemptions. Sto er continued: “The

opening hours have to be strictly adhered

to. Life-saving ambulance and transplant

fl ights may operate at any time throughout

the night of course, and this happens about

once a month. Airlines cannot plan arrivals

and departures beyond our normal opening

hours, but movements can be authorised

if the operator has clear and profound

reasons for a delay. Each case is looked at

and determined on its merits.”

Growth

It may seem odd in an era when air traffi c

is increasing across the globe, that the

number of scheduled and charter

fl ights using INN remained fairly

constant between 2000 and 2010, and has

decreased since. But Sto er had a couple

of logical explanations: “Firstly, there is a

cap on the total number of movements

at weekends which is entirely reasonable

at an airport that is limited not only by

physical size and the number of parking

stands available, but also by the terrain

surrounding it.”

His second reason was arguably more

revealing: “The aircraft are considerably

larger nowadays. In the years when

movements peaked, main types being used

were mainly Dornier 328s and Bombardier

Dash 8-300s. The traffi c was primarily

regional, whereas nowadays the focus is

on charter and low-fare operations. These

shifts contributed to passenger numbers

rising while movements declined.”

Busy days

Sto er continued: “On Saturdays we

handle up to 18,000 passengers and we

get as many as 9,000 on Sundays. Until

about 20 years ago Saturday was almost

exclusively the day for tourists to travel to

and from Tyrol, which was the traditional

‘bed change’ day in the local hotels. That

resulted in an enormous demand and the

need to manage it through airport

ACCIDENTS

Innsbruck Airport has had an enviable

safety record, but it hit the headlines

twice in the 1960s. On February 29, 1964,

a Bristol Britannia fl own by British Eagle

International Airlines hit high ground in

cloud, killing all 75 passengers and eight

crew on board. Accident investigators

concluded that the pilots had descended

below the minimum safe altitude of

11,000ft (3,400m) in an a empt to

penetrate the overcast. Just over four

years later, on August 9, 1968, a Vickers

Viscount fl own by the same company

hit ground on approach with the loss of

48 lives. On that occasion, the probable

cause was found to be an electrical

failure leading to loss of instrumentation

on the fl ight deck, causing the aircraft

to enter uncontrolled fl ight that resulted

in structural failure. On both occasions

neither Innsbruck Airport nor its

procedures were to blame. There have

been no major accidents since (although

two smaller aircraft have been lost in the

area) and the diligent approach of the

authorities has been vital in ensuring the

safety of everyone using

the facilities.

ABOVE LEFT:

The approach

to Runway 26

is over the city.

(AirTeamImages.

com / Danij el

Jovanovic)

ABOVE: The

6,562 (2,000m)

airstrip is

adequate for most

narrowbodies.

(AirTeamImages.

com / Danij el

Jovanovic)

BELOW: The apron

is fi lled with jets

fl own by British

airlines as the sun

slowly sets. (Peter

Norz – Innsbruck

Airport)

INNSBRUCK

18 // Extreme Airports

16-21_Innsbruck.indd 18 11/05/2018 14: