Platinum Airways, the Open Skies virtual airline, has revealed its new Destination of the Week theme: Lower. It is visiting five airports that are located below sea level.

Lower has already started with the lowest airport in the world with scheduled civilian flights: Atyrau Airport (UATG) in Kazakhstan. The second Lower destination is the airport that holds the global below MSL record: Bar Yehuda (LLMZ). From there, Lower takes us to Furnace Creek (L06). The fourth Lower destination is in line with the saying that God created Earth and the Dutch created the Netherlands: Lelystad (EHLE). Lower ends with El Centro (KNJK) on the California-Mexico border.

As usual, DOTW offers charts to be downloaded and links to scenery files. A selection of YouTube videos usually contains flight deck and ground views with landings and departures. Continue reading →

Platinum Airways, the Open Skies virtual airline, will start the 2015 Destination of the Week series with a challenging theme. White Magic takes its pilots to four extremely difficult approaches of ski resort airports.

It has become a Platinum Airways custom to visit ski related airports in January. 2015 is no different, and the Open Skies virtual airline announces its new DOTW theme: White Magic. The series revisits four extremely challenging airports that are a gateway to prime mountain ski resorts on both sides of the Atlantic. White Magic kicks off with Sion (LSGS) – the Swiss Cat C airport that includes a 6 degree approach. The second destination is Aspen, CO (KASE): a one-way in and one-way out airport with difficult terrain and wind conditions. Magic White destination number 3 is Courchevel (LFLJ) in the French Alps with its short and sloped runway. We end White Magic at Glenwood Springs, CO (KGWS), another Rocky Mountains airport with high altitude, difficult terrain and short runway issues.

As usual, DOTW offers charts to be downloaded and links to scenery files. A selection of Continue reading →

Platinum Airways, the very virtual Open Skies airline, is commemorating the victims of air-borne terrorism. Its September Destination of the Week series, Terror in the Skies, visits four events that shaped history or led to improved security measures.

Platinum Airways condemns terrorist or any other aggressive behaviour that has a detrimental impact on innocent civilians. However, aviation has had to live with terrorist activity for many decades already, and events such as the shooting down of MH17 are a stark reminder that the fight against such despicable acts will always remain difficult.

Terror in the Skies commemorates the innocent civilians who lost their lives in the event itself or in its aftermath. The series begins with PanAm Flight 830 from Narita to Honolulu (PHNL) where a passenger was killed and 16 others injured by a bomb that had been planted underneath the killed passenger’s seat on the aircraft’s previous flight. Our second destination is Seoul’s Gimpo airport (RKSS), the destination for KAL007 that went off course due to a navigational error and was shot down by a Soviet fighter aircraft. Avianca 203 was a domestic flight in Colombia to Cali airport (SKCL) that was destroyed by a bomb that had been ordered by a drugs baron. And we conclude the series with Africa’s darkest pages in history: the Rwanda civil war that was ignited when the presidential aircraft was shot on its final approach of Kigali (HRYR).

As usual, DOTW offers charts to be downloaded and Continue reading →

Platinum Airways, the very virtual Open Skies airline, has announced its next Destination of the Week series. With Goooooooool, Platinum Airways hopes to score at the 2014 FIFA World Cup currently underway in Brazil.

Only people who are locked off from reality won’t know that the 2014 FIFA World Cup is being played in Brazil at the moment. With football (or soccer, as the sport is also known) arguably being the world’s most popular sport, Platinum Airways simply has to be present. The DOTW theme, Goooooooool, marks the Latin American way of celebrating a goal. Goooooooool kicks off at Brasilia (SBBR), the capital city of Brazil and a World Cup host city. The second Goooooooool DOTW takes us to the legendary Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro, where the final will be played on 13 July. In line with Platinum Airways’ tradition to go for the unexpected, the DOTW is not Rio’s major international airport, but Santos Dumont Airport (SBRJ) with its short runway and difficult approach. And as far as the third and final Goooooooool DOTW is concerned: we don’t know yet, because it will take us to the airport of the winning country’s capital city. We do expect our flight crew to remain sober during the flight, and leave the celebrating to the passengers.

As usual, DOTW offers charts to be downloaded and links to Continue reading →

Platinum Airways, the very virtual Open Skies airline, is visiting four airports that are focus cities or hubs for low-cost airlines. The Budget Destination of the Week series takes pilots to Schönefeld, Fort Lauderdale, Tan Son Nhat International and William P Hobby Airports.

Platinum Airways’ June theme of Destination of the Week is all about budget airlines and their hubs and/or focus airports. The series starts at Schönefeld Airport (EDDB), still Berlin’s secondary airport that focuses on low-cost airlines such as easyJet and Ryanair. The second budget DOTW is Fort Lauderdale (KFLL), the largest base for Spirit Airlines and JetBlue. Budget airport #3 is Tan Son Nhat International (VTTS) near Ho Chi Minh (formerly Saigon), a hub for Jetstar Pacific and VietJet. We conclude Budget with a visit to William P Hobby Airport (KHOU) near Houston, TX, focus city for Southwest.

As usual, DOTW offers charts to be downloaded and links to scenery files. A selection of YouTube videos usually contains flight deck and ground views with landings and departures.

About Platinum Airways:
Keen to deliver on its mission to keep the fun in the hobby, Platinum Airways is Continue reading →

Over the next five weeks, Platinum Airways, the very virtual Open Skies airline, will look at the effect of volcanoes on aviation. The Ash Destination of the Week series will take us around the globe.

Four years ago, large parts of European air space were closed due to volcanic ash clouds. Platinum Airways’ May DOTW theme will focus on the effect of volcanoes on aviation. The series starts with a visit to the Eyjafjallajökull in southern Iceland, as this volcano’s eruption led to the cancellation of thousands of flights, leaving millions of passengers stranded or rerouted. Our first DOTW is Reykjavík’s domestic airport (BIRK). Arguably the first major emergency caused by volcanic ash was BA9 from EGLL to NZAA, with several stops. On its leg from WMKK to YPPH, the B744 flew through a volcanic ash cloud that originated from Mount Galunggung. Its four engines shut down and the aircraft successfully diverted to Halim Perdanakusuma Airport (WIHH). The third Ash DOTW takes us to Clark International (RPLC), the closest airport to Mount Pinubo, the volcano with the strongest eruption over the past decades. The two final Ash DOTW’s look at what may happen in the future. The largest supervolcano on land is Ash destination #4: the Yellowstone Caldera. The main access airport into Yellowstone is Jackson Hole (KJAC). We end the series with the volcano that poses a potential threat to the largest population living underneath, Mount Vesuvius near Naples, Italy, and its airport, LIRN.

As usual, DOTW offers charts to be Continue reading →