Platinum Airways travels to Thin Air

Platinum Airways, the very Open Skies virtual airline, is sending its pilot to high altitude airports, as its next Destination of the Week special series, “Thin Air”, will feature the highest commercial airports with a scheduled service in five continents – Asia, South America, North America, Africa and Europe.

The Thin Air series will take Platinum Airways’ pilots back to familiar terrain. Previous DOTW series included the Conquest of the Snowy Mountains and Flying the Fjords. The criteria for Thin Air were simple: each continent’s highest elevation commercial airport with a scheduled service, accessible through FS9 or FSX with default or freeware scenery. This ruled out airports that only offered chartered or private flights. The highest airport that met all criteria is Qamdo Bangda Airport (ZUBD) in the Himalaya’s in Tibet, at 4,334 m or 14,219 ft. South America’s representative is El Alto (SLLP) in La Paz, Bolivia, at 4,062 m or 13,325 feet. North America’s highest is Telluride Regional Airport (KTEX) in Telluride, CO, at 9,078 feet or 2,767 m. The Ethiopian highlands deliver Africa’s representative, with and Bole International (HAAB) in Addis Ababa (HAAB) at 2,334 m or 7,656 ft. Finally, Europe’s highest commercial airport will be a challenging déjà vu experience, as Innsbruck Kranebitten Airport (LOWI), with an altitude of 581 m or 1,906 ft, was part of the Snowy Mountains series earlier this year. Thin Air will undoubtedly generate numerous breathtaking camera shots that will draw high scores in Platinum Airways’ monthly picture of the month competition, with the winning picture of a PT Airways aircraft in flight making it to the home page for a month.

Launched in June 2010, Platinum Airways is not a typical virtual airline. It combines an Open Skies policy, allowing members to fly any mission of their choice with the aircraft of their choice at the time of their choice, with a strategic hub network consisting of Newark (KEWR), Dallas-Fort Worth (KDFW), Vancouver (CYVR), Perth (YPPH) and Brussels (EBBR). Platinum Airways aims to be low on rules and high in content.

For more information, please contact info@platinumairways.org