Italy
Venice
Marco Polo Airport
Venice is served by two airports, the main one being Marco Polo Airport (VCE) which is located on the mainland approximately 8.0 kilometres (5 miles) north of the city. The shots on this page were taken on Wednesday 9 November 2016 when I had some time to pass while waiting on a return easyJet flight to Edinburgh after a city break.
Marco Polo Airport is named after the world famous Venetian merchant traveller and explorer (c.1254 - 1324). The modern terminal was opened in 2002, but it is already at full capacity and further expansion is ongoing, including a newer, waterbus terminal. Passengers already have the option (albeit a fairly expensive one) of travelling too or from the city via the adjacent bay and canal network but the new facility should improve access to the service.
The other airport is Treviso Airport, often referred to as Venice-Treviso, which is situated further inland about 31 km (19 mi) from the city of Venice. It has a single runway with the terminal at the north-east corner of the site while a military base occupies the southern side of the runway. Treviso is served mainly by low-cost airlines, particularly Ryanair who have a base there and Wizz Air. There is also a daily DHL cargo flight.
With Venice being such a popular destination, Marco Polo Airport remains the fourth busiest airport in Italy. Numerous European carriers are supplemented by partly seasonal long-haul routes to the United States, Canada and the Middle East. There is also a large turnover of biz-jets although I only saw two. It must be hectic in summer but even though this was low-season, there was a moderate flow of traffic. The top shot and the one below were taken from the walkway outside the terminal but it looked as though there were no other nearby spots which allowed views of the apron. The distant snow-capped mountains made a nice backdrop to the Etihad Airbus on this occasion.
Once air-side, the terminal windows look out across the tarmac towards the runways and bay but photography was tricky due to the sunshine with resultant reflections and colour distortion. Also, I was travelling light with just a wide-angle 105mm telephoto and most of the landing or departing aircraft were just too far off for decent shots. Discretion is advised when in and around airports in Italy as there is usually a heavy police presence and anyone taking photos, especially with a camera equipped with a powerful zoom lens, will likely be questioned.
|
Left: This rather blurred effort from the plane on take-off shows a pair of Sukhoi 100s outside the SuperJet International (SJI) training facility. The company offers a selection of courses relating to the new passenger aircraft at its base here and another in Moscow, including flight training and maintenance.
The aircraft belong to Interjet, a Mexican low-cost airline with its HQ in Mexico City. Interjet, which started operations in December 2005 operates Airbus A320 and A321s but now has 22 Superjet SSJ100s in service with three more to follow. The airline flies between locations in Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala, Peru and the United States. Interjet has also become a popular choice for surfers travelling to Mexico because of their baggage policy of not charging extra fees for those passengers transporting a surfboard! |
Cessna 750 Citation X N228DB.
