You thought my fence blog was long - just you wait till you see this. It is very very VEEEERRYYYY long and you should not expect to read it all in one sitting. Plus as time goes on I plan to add bits and pieces to it making it even longer. The thing is, I don't always have my camera with me at work and sometimes I forget that I have a mobile cell phone that has a built in camera (though it is a lousy one). Sometimes I miss some really good shots because of that but who carries a camera everyday to work!
For now I will just try to start out with a few shots with easy captions for quick reading and you can jump around as you so feel. If you are truly bored with life then you may feel the need to read every single word for spiritual up lifting :)
When arriving to Copenhagen airport (CPH) you will claim your baggage on the ground floor of Terminal 3. You will see this neon sign welcoming you to CPH. Just behind the sign is the customs office where the guards will rummage through your luggage and take all the good stuff. Have a nice visit.
I really love this sculpture.
When you enter Copenhagen Airport by car you are welcomed by this piece of art. It's called De Fire Vinde (The Four Winds), symbolising the 4 wind directions.
It was created in 1960 by the Danish artist Henrik Starcke and is made of stainless steel, copper and enamel.
Originally it was placed in front of Terminal 2 but because of the expansion of the airport it has been moved several times. From 1991 to 1999 it was stored away.
Today it stands at the entry roundabout at Terminal 2.
This is a very recent addition to the airport. When standing outside of the building you may be reminded of the Sydney Opera House. The curves are borrowed from that structure which is also designed by Danish architect Jørgn Utzon.
Originally this was a flat, single level, extremely ugly building connecting the national airport Terminal 1 to the International Airport Terminal 2. In the beginning you still had to walk outside in the lovely Danish weather to get from terminal to the other. Then they created a passage through the building - still ugly and more like a long boring corridor.
However now a modern upstairs has been added with moving sidewalks, and sky lighting.
The building is constructed in such a way that it reduces the noise level for the near by residences.
A few years ago - good friend Tami sent me a bumper sticker to put on my bicycle. I guess she thought it was funny that I don't own a car and is rather amazed that I do everything by bike. But where on a bicycle can you put a bumper-sticker so that one can read it and so that it does not fall off. I ended up filing the bumper-sticker away with all my other cards and letter from friends and family. Then one day I got an idea.
Even though I don't own a car, I do drive a vehicle every day at work. So here in the photos you can see where I put the bumper-sticker and drove for months around the airport with it on the car. And when I am not at work, somebody else is driving the car. In the background you can see the cargo center where I work.
My job is to bring or receive packages directly to or from the plane. But it's the luggage guys that have the responsibility of putting the packages in or taking them out of the plane.
Then one day the President just happened to pop in for tea and biscuits with the Queen.
In the background you can see Air Force One. If you look carefully you can just barely see The United States Of America painted on the side of the plane.
Don't be surprised if one day you see it for sale on E-bay.
Sometimes the little packages are huge and too heavy to lift without a forklift.
Sometimes our packages have to go into a container. This heavy package was too big for the container but it absolutely had to go in. Then I came up with this crazy idea.
Very often I see this huge machine arrive from Korea. It only has front windows. It looks like a big shark eating. I will try to get an inside shot for you in the near future.
Between Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 on the ground level is a row of buses that take passengers to and from airplanes that do not taxi in all the way to one of the gates at one of the terminals.
The bus always has the right of way and is one of the very few vehicles that do not have to follow the road way. So of course when I saw this bus coming I stopped to let it make a left hand turn into my lane and drive on in front of me. I was taking lots of weight to one of the flights. I was a bit too close to the bus because what I didn't see was that there was another bus pulling out in front of this bus. The driver stopped rather quickly and I had to hit the brakes but the weight of what I was pulling was now pushing and I hit the back end of this bus. I was very glad that there were no passengers on this bus. When making a report on the accident a comment was made to me from one of the bus drivers - "don't worry about it - it happens all the time." I thought that was rather strange. So I took notice of the other buses and saw that indeed, several of the buses are rather banged up. I also notice later on that the bus I hit now had even more bangs in the back of it. Let this be a warning - if you are on a bus in the airport, hang on tight.
This is the new control tower built about 2 years ago. It's on the back side of the airport - meaning away from the terminals. It took quite a while to build. First they built the column and then they built the rest of it on the ground around the base of the column. When the big black control office was complete it was somehow driven up the column like an elevator very very slowly and it took almost 2 full days for the control office to reach the top of the column.
The bridge in the background goes to Malmö, Sweden. The last stop before going to Sweden is at the airport. Early one morning on my way to work I forgot to get off the train and I ended up in the wrong country. How many people can say that; - oops! wrong country. And not only that but turn around and go back to the right country and still be only 12 minutes late for work.
This is the train station that is under Terminal 3. It's just a 2 minute walk from where you saw the neon welcome sign in the baggage area. It's either a 13 minute ride to the center of town or the next stop in the other direction to Sweden. If instead of going downstairs to the train, you can go upstairs to the metro that will also take you to the center of town in 14 minutes. But if you are afraid of stairs you can just stay at street level and take the bus to the center of town in about 20 minutes. All 3 modes of transportation take the same ticket and it's about 4 dollars. A taxi to the center of town will cost about $50.
There really are all kinds of interesting, amazing and/or unusual things to see both inside and outside of the airport. In Denmark you can buy some truly wonderful world class porcelain from the Royal Porcelain factory. How appropriate then for the restrooms to be covered with porcelain tiles from the royal factory. If you are going to pray to the porcelain gods, this is the place to do it.
But it's not all work. A lot of the guys that I work with are very social. In my department alone there are quite a few guys into go-cart racing and they take it quite seriously with international competitions.
Above: Henning in his race suit making that last important call before slamming the pedal to the metal.
Below: Here is a shot of Henning and Glen in their race suits making their way to the race track.
One evening Glen invited me and a few others to a grill evening at his home.
But of course it is this kind of dining I prefer most. This is because it is taken from one of my pre-boarding tours going to somewhere or another. Moreover it's taken from the Diners lounge. In order for me to fly at an employee discount, I must have a Diners credit card. For some reason SAS and Diner's have a very close connection. Luckily since I have to have it and because of the close ties, we don't have to pay the annual fee AND it gives free entrance to the airport lounge in CPH and other airports that work with Diners. It entitles me to make a pig of myself before boarding. Hence the dining i prefer.
Some of my colleagues have been here for so long, they can do their job in their sleep.
And that's exactly what Michael does - daily!
One of the great things about my job is working outside in the wonderful sunshine.
One of the bad things is that there is not a lot of it - sunshine that is.
My envious eye took this picture of Hans and Per. You can't see them but they are on the inside of this Sterling plane on their way to some place warm.
Out at the airport I have seen many rainbows. This time I had my cellphone camera with me and I snapped these two shots. The second photo shows a double rainbow. My camera could not capture the whole thing but because the space is so wide and open at the airport, you can almost always see a full rainbow with pots of gold at each end.
Of course before the rainbows come, the rain comes too. On this day it just kept coming and coming and coming. These are taken just a few weeks ago in August. I was in a panic. It was 2 Augusts ago that our basement got flooded out. I kept calling and calling home to hear if there was water in the basement. I must have called 30 times. Finally I gave up and was on my way home because I just knew that Jens was in the middle of bailing out the basement. Why else wouldn't he answer the phone. I told my boss that I had to leave and just as I locked my locker, my cell phone rang - Hi Sweetie,what's up - said Jens. Jens didn't answer the phone because he was sleeping - in the basement in the guest room. It was barely wet outside he said. Meanwhile at the airport there was so much water pressure in the drains that the manhole covers were actually floating away. Inside the cargo hall was flooded too.
I often miss a lot of interesting cargo subjects, for example: penguiens, bears, cars being loaded onto planes, royal family members, and on and on. But this day I did happen to snap a wonderful Harly in transit.
I am not sure what is going on here but to my surprise the captain of this BA plane opened his front window and stuck 2 flags on his plane while taxing on the tarmac. I was lucky to be able to snap some pix and put a couple of them her for you to see.
Even with all these photos I feel like I am always missing something. Even more exciting than these BA shots was 2 years ago 2 airport fire trucks - one on each side of a Continentail plane, were shoting streams of water in an arch over the plane welcoming it to CPH upon its arrival. It was quite a specticle.
But there is always something happening here like the widening of terminal 2.
Here you can see a man on a lift crane. Where he is standing used to be a huge window where you could sit and have a drink while watching all the planes taxi in to their gates. And it was a pop out window at that. This addition is almost done and I will add it in here soon.
One really very interesting thing that my camera missed was the moving of this original CPH terminal. It used to be in the area of where a part of the new Terminal 3 is and also where there was made room for part of the new cargo center. They lifted up the building, put it on wheels and rolled it over night to the other side of the airport. It's an office building now but has some very important aviation history to it.
Notice the wavy roof line.
It's the same wavy ceiling line.
A bit further down in this blog you can read a bit more about this amazing historical building.
Whenever someone at the top is feeling love in his/her heart, there will be a weenier wagon driven into the airport as a kind of thank-you for this or for that. On this day a weenier wagon was set up for the luggage guys.
For the rest of us - we have to eat lunch at one of the two cantiens. One of them is in Terminal 3 on the top floor with great views and the other is between the cargo center and airplane hangar. That's where I normally eat because it's closer and easier to go to plus it has a roof top patio. This shot is from Terminal 3
It may be a bit hard to see but off in the upper left hand corner a flight is about to land.
WARNING:
The following photo may be very ofensive.
As you know I am doing my best to keep all blogs in a family friendly enviroment.
The following photo falls into the pervers catagory so please skip very quickly if you think that you may be offended.
Once again....
WARNING:
The following photo falls into the pervers catagory so please skip very quickly if you think that you may be offended.
As I have said before: At the airport there are always a wide range of coloful things to see. Outside of the airport on the main drag are 4 rolling billboards. Each billboard has 2 sides and each side has 3 posters that constantly roll up and down flashing a product every 3 to 4 seconds. Thats a total of 24 products flashing in just seconds. And you will see these signs whether you are on foot, bike, bus, metro, or car. You wont see them if you are taking the train. You will also see them from your very expensive 5 star room at the Hilton to which you can walk directly to from the neon Welcome to CPH sign without ever even having to step outside (which is a plus in liquid weather) and it takes only 4 to 5 minuts to walk to.
OK so anyway... back to the billboards.......
Before this poster was put up, the previous one was
"Fuck Like A Rock 'N Roll Star."
This is an ad for some sort of cheap alcoholic beverage. The Danes like to use this word and you will find it in many places that you would never expect. In the newspapers, on TV and on the radio but I don't mean in newspaper commercials, TV commercials nor radio commercials. The Danes think it's funny that the Americans use the word for everything. And if it's funny then why not adapt it to everyday life here in DK. Well for one, it's disgusting. But because it doesn't translate the word is not ofensive to the Danes. Of course there are swear words in Danish and they may sound just as dumb if you hear them in Danish or translate them to English. Likewise I have had a few apologies from people who would accidently swear when talking to me or near me. Oh sorry they would say. The bad word? - "for Satan" or "for Helevede". Those are very bad Danish words that in my ears just sort of makes me want shrug my shoulders. It's like shooting blanks. So when I have the same reaction to a Danish swear word, I can understand the comedy of the word "fuck" to a Dane. If you want to let out some steam but don't want to swear then you would say "for Søren" Søren is a mans name like "oh Steve". You could also say "for pokker" which is like "oh shoot" or "oh dang it".
Now really, Eddie!, some of you may be asking, why even snap this photo if you are trying to make a family friendly blog? Well what I am trying to show you is the bike ramp that I ride on daily going to and from work. The bike ramp goes over the motor way to and from Sweden and over the train tracks that follow the motor way. The bike ramp makes a gradual loop or there are stairs that lead over the motorway and tracks. Just on the other side of the overpass are rows and rows of apartments where a lot of airport employees live. It's not my fault the billboard got in the way of what could have been a rather very educational description of my daily bike commute.
Ok now back to some funny facts and on a much lighter level. The Danish royal family have a few dogs that they like to travel with. But you can't have a pooch poo in your multi million dollar airline. You need to curb your dog before getting on board and so there is a special poop pad for the royal k9's.
Also I may have mentioned that it's not just the airport that is interesting but also the surrounding area. There are several ways to ride my bike and to keep it interesting. I alternate between the city roads and the coast line. Here are shots taken at the harbor that I pass through when taking the coast line.
Earlier this summer one of the SAS propeller planes almost ate it when landing. It actually landed on it's belly. Then just a few days later on another plane the front wheel collapsed. This was a sign for SAS to ground the Dash 800 sieres before lives were lost. About 10 machines in all. That must be one heck of a price. The planes have been grounded now for several months. SAS is borrowing other planes from other companies and I just can't imagine how much mullah this is costing the company.
Copenhagen/Kastrup
Airport data
Airport history
About the Kastrup airport project
Copenhagen-Kastrup is a quite remarkable airport from many points of view. For us as scenery designers it is one of the most wanted airports from users all over Northern Europe and that is the main reason why we have chosen it as our first non-Swedish project. For us as Swedish flyers in the real world it is the airport we see most often outside our country and that is true also for passengers from the whole of Scandinavia. It is the airport where we very often wait for flights to other destinations and where we have spent uncountable hours during the years. Therefore a lot of us have a special hate/love relationship to this nice airport. During the construction of this scenery we have had the great opportunity to see a lot more of the airport than the premises you look at as an ordinary passenger and doing so we have found an airport filled with beautiful and fascinating architecture. We have also been impressed of the interesting history of the airport, which you can read much about in the end of this manual. One of the more remarkable facts is that the airport is among the oldest civil ones in the world and it has furthermore been located at the same place very near the city of Copenhagen since the start in 1925. Kastrup functions as the largest hub airport for traffic in Northern Europe which can easily be seen in the passenger statistics. About half of its passengers never leave the airport area but fly directly to other destinations from there. A lot of passengers therefore never visit Copenhagen or Denmark but see only the airport. That is also one of the reasons why a lot of money has been invested there in order to make the airport a showpiece of Scandinavian architecture and design. A rather uncommon idea but one that has made it one of the more beautiful airports around the world As a Scandinavian you can if you want also feel very proud that Kastrup airport has from big groups of travellers been voted ‘Best Airport’ several times. For example:
2004 (2 times): Best airport in Europe
2003 (2 times): Best airport in Europe
2002 (2 times) and 2000: Best airport in the world
1999: Best airport in Europe and 3rd best in the world
About the design of the scenery
As said further down in the Data and History section, Copenhagen/Kastrup is a really big airport. It is world famous for its design of the terminals, from the oldest one of Vilhelm Lauritzen from 1939 (now restored and moved to a new location) to the latest from 1999. To recreate all this as a Flight Simulator Scenery is a real challenge.
Airport data
Every day, 800 aircraft land and depart at Copenhagen Airport, and 50,000 passengers pass through the airport terminals. This makes Copenhagen Airport one of the most important traffic hubs in northern Europe. Located just 8 kilometres southeast of the Copenhagen city centre, Copenhagen Airport is in Kastrup, a town on the island of Amager. The airport is northern Europe’s main airport, i.e. the transfer airport for air traffic between other parts of the world and the many national and regional airports in Scandinavia and the area south of the Baltic Sea.
The airport is the hub for SAS and thus one of the hubs in the Star Alliance. In addition, the airport is the northern European hub for DHL, the express air freight company. The airport is owned and operated by Copenhagen Airports A/S, a company listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange. There are about 22 000 employees in the many different companies that together provide the services that have made Copenhagen Airport one of the highest ranking in the world. In terms of passengers, the three largest airlines serving Copenhagen Airport are SAS, Maersk Air and Sterling European. Direct connections are available from Copenhagen Airport to a total of 119 destinations worldwide, 10 of which are in Denmark including the ones in Greenland and The Faroe Islands, 24 in the other Scandinavian countries, 66 in the rest of Europe and 19 intercontinental airports.
Number of operations in 2003 (take-offs and landings): 259,002
Number of passengers in 2003: 17.7 million
Cargo volumes in 2003: 335 731 tonnes
Main destinations and countries 2003:
Approximately 48% of passengers at Copenhagen Airport are transfer passengers, i.e. passengers who primarily change flights between European and Scandinavian destinations. Copenhagen Airport is the largest traffic hub in Northern Europe and, in terms of the ratio of transfer passengers to total number of passengers, it is the second largest transfer airport in
Europe, only surpassed by the airport in Frankfurt.
Area and runway systems
The three runways divide the airport area, which is approximately 11.8 square kilometres, into four geographical areas:
The North Area, which contains the three passenger terminals, a railway station, a car park, a police station and other administrative functions, the Gate Gourmet catering facilities, SAS Cargo Center and SAS's technical area, the last with four large hangars. The East Area, which holds cargo terminals for DHL and SAS, the Veterinary and Customs Centre, forwarding agencies and LSG Sky Chefs catering facilities. The South Area, which accomodates technical bases for Maersk Air, My Travel, Sterling, Danish Air Transport and North Star. The West Area comprises Noviair traffic control and Copenhagen Airports’s technical maintenance facilities.
Airport history
It all began in 1925
Founded in 1925, Copenhagen Airport was one of the first civil airports in the world. The early years were characterised by the pioneering spirit in a day and age when flying was for the privileged few. The airport was an attraction in itself, also for the many people who did not have the opportunity to fly. A Sunday outing to the grass field in Kastrup, from where the large birds took off, soon became an attraction extraordinaire for the Copenhageners. In 1939, when flying was really gaining momentum and construction of Vilhelm Lauritzen’s new air terminal was completed, World War II broke out and temporarily stopped the growth of the airport. But when the war ended in 1945, Copenhagen Airport was ready for tremendous growth, and things have developed quickly since then. From 6,000 take-offs and landings in 1932 to almost 290,000 in 2001.
The pioneer era
Copenhagen Airport was inaugurated on 20 April 1925. It consisted of a large, impressive terminal built of wood, a couple of hangars, a balloon mast, a hydroplane landing stage and a few grassy meadows that could be used as runways. The grass on the runways was kept short by sheep, which were shepherded away before take-offs and landings. Aviation was popular then, although mostly among daredevils. For the first few years, aviation was a summertime activity and usually only in good weather. Both pilots and the few passengers onboard were out in the open and there was no navigation equipment. Aviation evolved steadily until 1930, when radio and weather services allowed aviation throughout the year and at night as well. Aircraft grew larger and passengers were offered a seat within a closed cabin (and a few years later pilots joined them), and from then on the pace accelerated. Det Danske Luftfartsselskab (DDL), the oldest airline in the world, which is called SAS Denmark today, increased the number of scheduled flights it offered. Copenhagen Airport soon became the natural transit airport between the Nordic region and the rest of Europe.
The growth era
Aviation was fashionable – among those who could afford it. From 1932 to 1939, take-offs and landings rose from some 6,000 to 50,000 annually, and the number of passengers sextupled to 72,000. The airport was becoming too small. In April 1939, it expanded by a couple of meadows, an aircraft stand of concrete and a new state-of-the-art airport terminal, which was six times the size of the old one. The terminal was designed by Vilhelm Lauritzen, who was considered a pioneer among architects, in terms not only of architecture and construction, but also of service and passenger comfort. On 19 September 1999, the terminal was moved to another location and later restored to its original condition. 1939 was a record year in the history of aviation. New direct scheduled flights were started, and Copenhagen Airport acquired two new four-engine Condor planes. As something new, a stewardess served drinks during the flight. Thus, prospects were bright until World War II broke out at the end of the year. Intercontinental 1940 - 1972 On 9 April 1940, the war caught up with Copenhagen Airport. Almost all civil air traffic was halted, military squadrons were deployed and camouflage netting transformed the new airport terminal into the only hill in the area. The airport remained untouched by actual acts of war; during the war years there was quite a bit of civil air traffic to Sweden, Berlin, Vienna and a couple of other destinations. In the spring of 1941, a combination of huge masses of snow and a sudden thaw caused aircraft to bog down in the grass runways of the airport. As a result, the first concrete runway was laid that summer; it was 1,400 metres long and 65 metres wide. In subsequent years, another three runways and a system of taxiways were constructed. Since at the same time the terminal had barely been used, when WWII ended in May 1945, Copenhagen Airport was the most modern – and unscathed – international airport in Europe.
A European hub
The airport went intercontinental in 1946. Both American Overseas Airlines and the newly founded SAS began operating scheduled flights to the US. In 1948, the airport was the third largest in Europe, with more than 150 daily take-offs and landings and almost 300,000 passengers. The airport continued its rapid growth. The terminal was expanded several times and new hangars were erected. In 1954, the Los Angeles city limit moved to Copenhagen with the opening of the first polar flights to Copenhagen. The number of passengers climbed to 700,000 – which required new automatic baggage handling facilities. Aviation was now a necessity for businesspeople, and airmail was increasingly important to international trade; in 1954, 11,000 tonnes of cargo and mail were handled by the airport.
The jet age
In the 1950s, the motto was "larger, better and faster": jet planes were on the way. In 1956, the airport served one million passengers, and a comprehensive expansion programme was launched to make Copenhagen Airport the world’s most modern jet airport. The runways were lengthened and fitted with technically advanced equipment. A new giant terminal with a system of piers was erected some distance from the "old" terminal. The first jet plane, which was Russian, landed in 1957, and both SAS and its foreign rivals acquired jet planes with increasing speed. The propeller aircraft phased out by the scheduled airlines formed the basis for a completely new type of airline: the charter companies that flew tens of thousands of Scandinavians to southern Europe each year. By 10 May 1960, when the new airport terminal (now Terminal 2) was inaugurated, the daily number of jet operations had increased to 28, and still traffic kept on growing. The large new airport terminal soon became too small, and in 1969 yet another huge expansion programme was launched. Domestic traffic was relocated to a new domestic terminal (the eastern part of Terminal 1). The (current) international terminal was supplemented with a new pier (C) and a separate arrivals hall (the building between Terminals 2 and 3). A new control tower and 3,600 metres of additional runways allowed take-offs and landings to take place at the same time. When the comprehensive expansion was completed in 1972, the number of take-offs and landings exceeded 180,000 and there were more than eight million passengers.
Hub 1973 - 1999
Throughout the 1970s, airport traffic continued to grow, but the airport was not expanded further. A new large airport on the island of Saltholm (with a connecting bridge to Denmark and Sweden) was on the drawing board. It would be a huge investment, and the proposal was evaluated thoroughly by many experts. In 1980, however, the Danish parliament instead decided to expand the capacity of Copenhagen Airport to 20-22 million passengers by the year 2000. This solution was far cheaper than building a new airport and because the new types of aircraft were less noisy, an airport on Saltholm did not offer a decisive environmental gain. The expansion of the airport began in 1982, after the necessary period of planning. The intention was not to build Europe’s largest airport, but to build transit passengers’ favourite airport. A stay at the airport was supposed to be an integral part of the travel experience. Efficiency and precision were obvious demands, but focus was also on generating an oasis where international travellers could relax: beautiful architecture, Scandinavian design, and pleasant, light and comfortable surroundings with plenty of shops, restaurants and other facilities providing enjoyment and pleasure. The construction of new cargo facilities began in the eastern area of the airport, far from the passenger terminals: new terminals, new aircraft stands (15 in all) and other technical facilities.
The airport of our time
In 1986, the old Pier B was replaced by a new, elegant pier constructed according to the most modern handling and comfort principles. The transit hall was expanded and modernised – among other things it included the world’s first ‘real’ airport shopping centre. The underlying idea was for the light and relaxing surroundings to give travellers an individual experience in terms of shopping and recreation. In 1989, a new main domestic terminal (the western part of Terminal 1) was constructed and the international terminal expanded again. Two multi-storey car parks with a total of 2,400 parking lots were erected, as well as a new Pier A. A number of important construction projects were completed in 1998: a pier connecting the domestic and international terminals; a new arrivals hall; new modern baggage handling facilities; an underground railway station with two large underground parking facilities; and above it all the spacious and impressive delta-shaped terminal (Terminal 3). The first stage of the new Pier D was completed in the spring of 1999.
The airport today 2000+
A new motorway and railway connection between Copenhagen Airport and Sweden opened on 1 July 2000. The many passengers from Sweden and Denmark now come to the airport by car, bus or train. It takes four hours to go from Stockholm to Copenhagen Airport by train; it takes two and a half hours from Gothenburg in Sweden and from Aarhus in Denmark; it takes 20 minutes from the centre of Malmo and only 12 minutes from the heart of Copenhagen. The distance from the train platform to the check-in counters is less than 100 metres, and it only takes a couple of minutes to go to the security check and the large airside transfer area, where passengers may stroll freely among 50 shops, 15 restaurants and bars, business class lounges, conference facilities, a hotel area, a sauna and much, much more. A new large five-star Hilton Hotel with 382 rooms opened in the spring of 2001 as well, and that same year, a new large area for non-Schengen travellers was added to Pier C.
About 2 years after Bush arrived here in CPH, Robert Gates also stopped in for a spot of tea.
I guessed word got out that the danish is really tasty in Denmark.
Still can't sleep? Then read the following.
For now I will just try to start out with a few shots with easy captions for quick reading and you can jump around as you so feel. If you are truly bored with life then you may feel the need to read every single word for spiritual up lifting :)
When arriving to Copenhagen airport (CPH) you will claim your baggage on the ground floor of Terminal 3. You will see this neon sign welcoming you to CPH. Just behind the sign is the customs office where the guards will rummage through your luggage and take all the good stuff. Have a nice visit.
I really love this sculpture.
When you enter Copenhagen Airport by car you are welcomed by this piece of art. It's called De Fire Vinde (The Four Winds), symbolising the 4 wind directions.
It was created in 1960 by the Danish artist Henrik Starcke and is made of stainless steel, copper and enamel.
Originally it was placed in front of Terminal 2 but because of the expansion of the airport it has been moved several times. From 1991 to 1999 it was stored away.
Today it stands at the entry roundabout at Terminal 2.
This is a very recent addition to the airport. When standing outside of the building you may be reminded of the Sydney Opera House. The curves are borrowed from that structure which is also designed by Danish architect Jørgn Utzon.
Originally this was a flat, single level, extremely ugly building connecting the national airport Terminal 1 to the International Airport Terminal 2. In the beginning you still had to walk outside in the lovely Danish weather to get from terminal to the other. Then they created a passage through the building - still ugly and more like a long boring corridor.
However now a modern upstairs has been added with moving sidewalks, and sky lighting.
The building is constructed in such a way that it reduces the noise level for the near by residences.
A few years ago - good friend Tami sent me a bumper sticker to put on my bicycle. I guess she thought it was funny that I don't own a car and is rather amazed that I do everything by bike. But where on a bicycle can you put a bumper-sticker so that one can read it and so that it does not fall off. I ended up filing the bumper-sticker away with all my other cards and letter from friends and family. Then one day I got an idea.
Even though I don't own a car, I do drive a vehicle every day at work. So here in the photos you can see where I put the bumper-sticker and drove for months around the airport with it on the car. And when I am not at work, somebody else is driving the car. In the background you can see the cargo center where I work.
My job is to bring or receive packages directly to or from the plane. But it's the luggage guys that have the responsibility of putting the packages in or taking them out of the plane.
Then one day the President just happened to pop in for tea and biscuits with the Queen.
In the background you can see Air Force One. If you look carefully you can just barely see The United States Of America painted on the side of the plane.
Don't be surprised if one day you see it for sale on E-bay.
Sometimes the little packages are huge and too heavy to lift without a forklift.
Sometimes our packages have to go into a container. This heavy package was too big for the container but it absolutely had to go in. Then I came up with this crazy idea.
Very often I see this huge machine arrive from Korea. It only has front windows. It looks like a big shark eating. I will try to get an inside shot for you in the near future.
Between Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 on the ground level is a row of buses that take passengers to and from airplanes that do not taxi in all the way to one of the gates at one of the terminals.
The bus always has the right of way and is one of the very few vehicles that do not have to follow the road way. So of course when I saw this bus coming I stopped to let it make a left hand turn into my lane and drive on in front of me. I was taking lots of weight to one of the flights. I was a bit too close to the bus because what I didn't see was that there was another bus pulling out in front of this bus. The driver stopped rather quickly and I had to hit the brakes but the weight of what I was pulling was now pushing and I hit the back end of this bus. I was very glad that there were no passengers on this bus. When making a report on the accident a comment was made to me from one of the bus drivers - "don't worry about it - it happens all the time." I thought that was rather strange. So I took notice of the other buses and saw that indeed, several of the buses are rather banged up. I also notice later on that the bus I hit now had even more bangs in the back of it. Let this be a warning - if you are on a bus in the airport, hang on tight.
This is the new control tower built about 2 years ago. It's on the back side of the airport - meaning away from the terminals. It took quite a while to build. First they built the column and then they built the rest of it on the ground around the base of the column. When the big black control office was complete it was somehow driven up the column like an elevator very very slowly and it took almost 2 full days for the control office to reach the top of the column.
The bridge in the background goes to Malmö, Sweden. The last stop before going to Sweden is at the airport. Early one morning on my way to work I forgot to get off the train and I ended up in the wrong country. How many people can say that; - oops! wrong country. And not only that but turn around and go back to the right country and still be only 12 minutes late for work.
This is the train station that is under Terminal 3. It's just a 2 minute walk from where you saw the neon welcome sign in the baggage area. It's either a 13 minute ride to the center of town or the next stop in the other direction to Sweden. If instead of going downstairs to the train, you can go upstairs to the metro that will also take you to the center of town in 14 minutes. But if you are afraid of stairs you can just stay at street level and take the bus to the center of town in about 20 minutes. All 3 modes of transportation take the same ticket and it's about 4 dollars. A taxi to the center of town will cost about $50.
There really are all kinds of interesting, amazing and/or unusual things to see both inside and outside of the airport. In Denmark you can buy some truly wonderful world class porcelain from the Royal Porcelain factory. How appropriate then for the restrooms to be covered with porcelain tiles from the royal factory. If you are going to pray to the porcelain gods, this is the place to do it.
But it's not all work. A lot of the guys that I work with are very social. In my department alone there are quite a few guys into go-cart racing and they take it quite seriously with international competitions.
Above: Henning in his race suit making that last important call before slamming the pedal to the metal.
Below: Here is a shot of Henning and Glen in their race suits making their way to the race track.
One evening Glen invited me and a few others to a grill evening at his home.
But of course it is this kind of dining I prefer most. This is because it is taken from one of my pre-boarding tours going to somewhere or another. Moreover it's taken from the Diners lounge. In order for me to fly at an employee discount, I must have a Diners credit card. For some reason SAS and Diner's have a very close connection. Luckily since I have to have it and because of the close ties, we don't have to pay the annual fee AND it gives free entrance to the airport lounge in CPH and other airports that work with Diners. It entitles me to make a pig of myself before boarding. Hence the dining i prefer.
Some of my colleagues have been here for so long, they can do their job in their sleep.
And that's exactly what Michael does - daily!
One of the great things about my job is working outside in the wonderful sunshine.
One of the bad things is that there is not a lot of it - sunshine that is.
My envious eye took this picture of Hans and Per. You can't see them but they are on the inside of this Sterling plane on their way to some place warm.
Out at the airport I have seen many rainbows. This time I had my cellphone camera with me and I snapped these two shots. The second photo shows a double rainbow. My camera could not capture the whole thing but because the space is so wide and open at the airport, you can almost always see a full rainbow with pots of gold at each end.
Of course before the rainbows come, the rain comes too. On this day it just kept coming and coming and coming. These are taken just a few weeks ago in August. I was in a panic. It was 2 Augusts ago that our basement got flooded out. I kept calling and calling home to hear if there was water in the basement. I must have called 30 times. Finally I gave up and was on my way home because I just knew that Jens was in the middle of bailing out the basement. Why else wouldn't he answer the phone. I told my boss that I had to leave and just as I locked my locker, my cell phone rang - Hi Sweetie,what's up - said Jens. Jens didn't answer the phone because he was sleeping - in the basement in the guest room. It was barely wet outside he said. Meanwhile at the airport there was so much water pressure in the drains that the manhole covers were actually floating away. Inside the cargo hall was flooded too.
I often miss a lot of interesting cargo subjects, for example: penguiens, bears, cars being loaded onto planes, royal family members, and on and on. But this day I did happen to snap a wonderful Harly in transit.
I am not sure what is going on here but to my surprise the captain of this BA plane opened his front window and stuck 2 flags on his plane while taxing on the tarmac. I was lucky to be able to snap some pix and put a couple of them her for you to see.
Even with all these photos I feel like I am always missing something. Even more exciting than these BA shots was 2 years ago 2 airport fire trucks - one on each side of a Continentail plane, were shoting streams of water in an arch over the plane welcoming it to CPH upon its arrival. It was quite a specticle.
But there is always something happening here like the widening of terminal 2.
Here you can see a man on a lift crane. Where he is standing used to be a huge window where you could sit and have a drink while watching all the planes taxi in to their gates. And it was a pop out window at that. This addition is almost done and I will add it in here soon.
One really very interesting thing that my camera missed was the moving of this original CPH terminal. It used to be in the area of where a part of the new Terminal 3 is and also where there was made room for part of the new cargo center. They lifted up the building, put it on wheels and rolled it over night to the other side of the airport. It's an office building now but has some very important aviation history to it.
Notice the wavy roof line.
It's the same wavy ceiling line.
A bit further down in this blog you can read a bit more about this amazing historical building.
Whenever someone at the top is feeling love in his/her heart, there will be a weenier wagon driven into the airport as a kind of thank-you for this or for that. On this day a weenier wagon was set up for the luggage guys.
For the rest of us - we have to eat lunch at one of the two cantiens. One of them is in Terminal 3 on the top floor with great views and the other is between the cargo center and airplane hangar. That's where I normally eat because it's closer and easier to go to plus it has a roof top patio. This shot is from Terminal 3
It may be a bit hard to see but off in the upper left hand corner a flight is about to land.
WARNING:
The following photo may be very ofensive.
As you know I am doing my best to keep all blogs in a family friendly enviroment.
The following photo falls into the pervers catagory so please skip very quickly if you think that you may be offended.
Once again....
WARNING:
The following photo falls into the pervers catagory so please skip very quickly if you think that you may be offended.
As I have said before: At the airport there are always a wide range of coloful things to see. Outside of the airport on the main drag are 4 rolling billboards. Each billboard has 2 sides and each side has 3 posters that constantly roll up and down flashing a product every 3 to 4 seconds. Thats a total of 24 products flashing in just seconds. And you will see these signs whether you are on foot, bike, bus, metro, or car. You wont see them if you are taking the train. You will also see them from your very expensive 5 star room at the Hilton to which you can walk directly to from the neon Welcome to CPH sign without ever even having to step outside (which is a plus in liquid weather) and it takes only 4 to 5 minuts to walk to.
OK so anyway... back to the billboards.......
Before this poster was put up, the previous one was
"Fuck Like A Rock 'N Roll Star."
This is an ad for some sort of cheap alcoholic beverage. The Danes like to use this word and you will find it in many places that you would never expect. In the newspapers, on TV and on the radio but I don't mean in newspaper commercials, TV commercials nor radio commercials. The Danes think it's funny that the Americans use the word for everything. And if it's funny then why not adapt it to everyday life here in DK. Well for one, it's disgusting. But because it doesn't translate the word is not ofensive to the Danes. Of course there are swear words in Danish and they may sound just as dumb if you hear them in Danish or translate them to English. Likewise I have had a few apologies from people who would accidently swear when talking to me or near me. Oh sorry they would say. The bad word? - "for Satan" or "for Helevede". Those are very bad Danish words that in my ears just sort of makes me want shrug my shoulders. It's like shooting blanks. So when I have the same reaction to a Danish swear word, I can understand the comedy of the word "fuck" to a Dane. If you want to let out some steam but don't want to swear then you would say "for Søren" Søren is a mans name like "oh Steve". You could also say "for pokker" which is like "oh shoot" or "oh dang it".
Now really, Eddie!, some of you may be asking, why even snap this photo if you are trying to make a family friendly blog? Well what I am trying to show you is the bike ramp that I ride on daily going to and from work. The bike ramp goes over the motor way to and from Sweden and over the train tracks that follow the motor way. The bike ramp makes a gradual loop or there are stairs that lead over the motorway and tracks. Just on the other side of the overpass are rows and rows of apartments where a lot of airport employees live. It's not my fault the billboard got in the way of what could have been a rather very educational description of my daily bike commute.
Ok now back to some funny facts and on a much lighter level. The Danish royal family have a few dogs that they like to travel with. But you can't have a pooch poo in your multi million dollar airline. You need to curb your dog before getting on board and so there is a special poop pad for the royal k9's.
Also I may have mentioned that it's not just the airport that is interesting but also the surrounding area. There are several ways to ride my bike and to keep it interesting. I alternate between the city roads and the coast line. Here are shots taken at the harbor that I pass through when taking the coast line.
Earlier this summer one of the SAS propeller planes almost ate it when landing. It actually landed on it's belly. Then just a few days later on another plane the front wheel collapsed. This was a sign for SAS to ground the Dash 800 sieres before lives were lost. About 10 machines in all. That must be one heck of a price. The planes have been grounded now for several months. SAS is borrowing other planes from other companies and I just can't imagine how much mullah this is costing the company.
Copenhagen/Kastrup
Airport data
Airport history
About the Kastrup airport project
Copenhagen-Kastrup is a quite remarkable airport from many points of view. For us as scenery designers it is one of the most wanted airports from users all over Northern Europe and that is the main reason why we have chosen it as our first non-Swedish project. For us as Swedish flyers in the real world it is the airport we see most often outside our country and that is true also for passengers from the whole of Scandinavia. It is the airport where we very often wait for flights to other destinations and where we have spent uncountable hours during the years. Therefore a lot of us have a special hate/love relationship to this nice airport. During the construction of this scenery we have had the great opportunity to see a lot more of the airport than the premises you look at as an ordinary passenger and doing so we have found an airport filled with beautiful and fascinating architecture. We have also been impressed of the interesting history of the airport, which you can read much about in the end of this manual. One of the more remarkable facts is that the airport is among the oldest civil ones in the world and it has furthermore been located at the same place very near the city of Copenhagen since the start in 1925. Kastrup functions as the largest hub airport for traffic in Northern Europe which can easily be seen in the passenger statistics. About half of its passengers never leave the airport area but fly directly to other destinations from there. A lot of passengers therefore never visit Copenhagen or Denmark but see only the airport. That is also one of the reasons why a lot of money has been invested there in order to make the airport a showpiece of Scandinavian architecture and design. A rather uncommon idea but one that has made it one of the more beautiful airports around the world As a Scandinavian you can if you want also feel very proud that Kastrup airport has from big groups of travellers been voted ‘Best Airport’ several times. For example:
2004 (2 times): Best airport in Europe
2003 (2 times): Best airport in Europe
2002 (2 times) and 2000: Best airport in the world
1999: Best airport in Europe and 3rd best in the world
About the design of the scenery
As said further down in the Data and History section, Copenhagen/Kastrup is a really big airport. It is world famous for its design of the terminals, from the oldest one of Vilhelm Lauritzen from 1939 (now restored and moved to a new location) to the latest from 1999. To recreate all this as a Flight Simulator Scenery is a real challenge.
Airport data
Every day, 800 aircraft land and depart at Copenhagen Airport, and 50,000 passengers pass through the airport terminals. This makes Copenhagen Airport one of the most important traffic hubs in northern Europe. Located just 8 kilometres southeast of the Copenhagen city centre, Copenhagen Airport is in Kastrup, a town on the island of Amager. The airport is northern Europe’s main airport, i.e. the transfer airport for air traffic between other parts of the world and the many national and regional airports in Scandinavia and the area south of the Baltic Sea.
The airport is the hub for SAS and thus one of the hubs in the Star Alliance. In addition, the airport is the northern European hub for DHL, the express air freight company. The airport is owned and operated by Copenhagen Airports A/S, a company listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange. There are about 22 000 employees in the many different companies that together provide the services that have made Copenhagen Airport one of the highest ranking in the world. In terms of passengers, the three largest airlines serving Copenhagen Airport are SAS, Maersk Air and Sterling European. Direct connections are available from Copenhagen Airport to a total of 119 destinations worldwide, 10 of which are in Denmark including the ones in Greenland and The Faroe Islands, 24 in the other Scandinavian countries, 66 in the rest of Europe and 19 intercontinental airports.
Number of operations in 2003 (take-offs and landings): 259,002
Number of passengers in 2003: 17.7 million
Cargo volumes in 2003: 335 731 tonnes
Main destinations and countries 2003:
Approximately 48% of passengers at Copenhagen Airport are transfer passengers, i.e. passengers who primarily change flights between European and Scandinavian destinations. Copenhagen Airport is the largest traffic hub in Northern Europe and, in terms of the ratio of transfer passengers to total number of passengers, it is the second largest transfer airport in
Europe, only surpassed by the airport in Frankfurt.
Area and runway systems
The three runways divide the airport area, which is approximately 11.8 square kilometres, into four geographical areas:
The North Area, which contains the three passenger terminals, a railway station, a car park, a police station and other administrative functions, the Gate Gourmet catering facilities, SAS Cargo Center and SAS's technical area, the last with four large hangars. The East Area, which holds cargo terminals for DHL and SAS, the Veterinary and Customs Centre, forwarding agencies and LSG Sky Chefs catering facilities. The South Area, which accomodates technical bases for Maersk Air, My Travel, Sterling, Danish Air Transport and North Star. The West Area comprises Noviair traffic control and Copenhagen Airports’s technical maintenance facilities.
Airport history
It all began in 1925
Founded in 1925, Copenhagen Airport was one of the first civil airports in the world. The early years were characterised by the pioneering spirit in a day and age when flying was for the privileged few. The airport was an attraction in itself, also for the many people who did not have the opportunity to fly. A Sunday outing to the grass field in Kastrup, from where the large birds took off, soon became an attraction extraordinaire for the Copenhageners. In 1939, when flying was really gaining momentum and construction of Vilhelm Lauritzen’s new air terminal was completed, World War II broke out and temporarily stopped the growth of the airport. But when the war ended in 1945, Copenhagen Airport was ready for tremendous growth, and things have developed quickly since then. From 6,000 take-offs and landings in 1932 to almost 290,000 in 2001.
The pioneer era
Copenhagen Airport was inaugurated on 20 April 1925. It consisted of a large, impressive terminal built of wood, a couple of hangars, a balloon mast, a hydroplane landing stage and a few grassy meadows that could be used as runways. The grass on the runways was kept short by sheep, which were shepherded away before take-offs and landings. Aviation was popular then, although mostly among daredevils. For the first few years, aviation was a summertime activity and usually only in good weather. Both pilots and the few passengers onboard were out in the open and there was no navigation equipment. Aviation evolved steadily until 1930, when radio and weather services allowed aviation throughout the year and at night as well. Aircraft grew larger and passengers were offered a seat within a closed cabin (and a few years later pilots joined them), and from then on the pace accelerated. Det Danske Luftfartsselskab (DDL), the oldest airline in the world, which is called SAS Denmark today, increased the number of scheduled flights it offered. Copenhagen Airport soon became the natural transit airport between the Nordic region and the rest of Europe.
The growth era
Aviation was fashionable – among those who could afford it. From 1932 to 1939, take-offs and landings rose from some 6,000 to 50,000 annually, and the number of passengers sextupled to 72,000. The airport was becoming too small. In April 1939, it expanded by a couple of meadows, an aircraft stand of concrete and a new state-of-the-art airport terminal, which was six times the size of the old one. The terminal was designed by Vilhelm Lauritzen, who was considered a pioneer among architects, in terms not only of architecture and construction, but also of service and passenger comfort. On 19 September 1999, the terminal was moved to another location and later restored to its original condition. 1939 was a record year in the history of aviation. New direct scheduled flights were started, and Copenhagen Airport acquired two new four-engine Condor planes. As something new, a stewardess served drinks during the flight. Thus, prospects were bright until World War II broke out at the end of the year. Intercontinental 1940 - 1972 On 9 April 1940, the war caught up with Copenhagen Airport. Almost all civil air traffic was halted, military squadrons were deployed and camouflage netting transformed the new airport terminal into the only hill in the area. The airport remained untouched by actual acts of war; during the war years there was quite a bit of civil air traffic to Sweden, Berlin, Vienna and a couple of other destinations. In the spring of 1941, a combination of huge masses of snow and a sudden thaw caused aircraft to bog down in the grass runways of the airport. As a result, the first concrete runway was laid that summer; it was 1,400 metres long and 65 metres wide. In subsequent years, another three runways and a system of taxiways were constructed. Since at the same time the terminal had barely been used, when WWII ended in May 1945, Copenhagen Airport was the most modern – and unscathed – international airport in Europe.
A European hub
The airport went intercontinental in 1946. Both American Overseas Airlines and the newly founded SAS began operating scheduled flights to the US. In 1948, the airport was the third largest in Europe, with more than 150 daily take-offs and landings and almost 300,000 passengers. The airport continued its rapid growth. The terminal was expanded several times and new hangars were erected. In 1954, the Los Angeles city limit moved to Copenhagen with the opening of the first polar flights to Copenhagen. The number of passengers climbed to 700,000 – which required new automatic baggage handling facilities. Aviation was now a necessity for businesspeople, and airmail was increasingly important to international trade; in 1954, 11,000 tonnes of cargo and mail were handled by the airport.
The jet age
In the 1950s, the motto was "larger, better and faster": jet planes were on the way. In 1956, the airport served one million passengers, and a comprehensive expansion programme was launched to make Copenhagen Airport the world’s most modern jet airport. The runways were lengthened and fitted with technically advanced equipment. A new giant terminal with a system of piers was erected some distance from the "old" terminal. The first jet plane, which was Russian, landed in 1957, and both SAS and its foreign rivals acquired jet planes with increasing speed. The propeller aircraft phased out by the scheduled airlines formed the basis for a completely new type of airline: the charter companies that flew tens of thousands of Scandinavians to southern Europe each year. By 10 May 1960, when the new airport terminal (now Terminal 2) was inaugurated, the daily number of jet operations had increased to 28, and still traffic kept on growing. The large new airport terminal soon became too small, and in 1969 yet another huge expansion programme was launched. Domestic traffic was relocated to a new domestic terminal (the eastern part of Terminal 1). The (current) international terminal was supplemented with a new pier (C) and a separate arrivals hall (the building between Terminals 2 and 3). A new control tower and 3,600 metres of additional runways allowed take-offs and landings to take place at the same time. When the comprehensive expansion was completed in 1972, the number of take-offs and landings exceeded 180,000 and there were more than eight million passengers.
Hub 1973 - 1999
Throughout the 1970s, airport traffic continued to grow, but the airport was not expanded further. A new large airport on the island of Saltholm (with a connecting bridge to Denmark and Sweden) was on the drawing board. It would be a huge investment, and the proposal was evaluated thoroughly by many experts. In 1980, however, the Danish parliament instead decided to expand the capacity of Copenhagen Airport to 20-22 million passengers by the year 2000. This solution was far cheaper than building a new airport and because the new types of aircraft were less noisy, an airport on Saltholm did not offer a decisive environmental gain. The expansion of the airport began in 1982, after the necessary period of planning. The intention was not to build Europe’s largest airport, but to build transit passengers’ favourite airport. A stay at the airport was supposed to be an integral part of the travel experience. Efficiency and precision were obvious demands, but focus was also on generating an oasis where international travellers could relax: beautiful architecture, Scandinavian design, and pleasant, light and comfortable surroundings with plenty of shops, restaurants and other facilities providing enjoyment and pleasure. The construction of new cargo facilities began in the eastern area of the airport, far from the passenger terminals: new terminals, new aircraft stands (15 in all) and other technical facilities.
The airport of our time
In 1986, the old Pier B was replaced by a new, elegant pier constructed according to the most modern handling and comfort principles. The transit hall was expanded and modernised – among other things it included the world’s first ‘real’ airport shopping centre. The underlying idea was for the light and relaxing surroundings to give travellers an individual experience in terms of shopping and recreation. In 1989, a new main domestic terminal (the western part of Terminal 1) was constructed and the international terminal expanded again. Two multi-storey car parks with a total of 2,400 parking lots were erected, as well as a new Pier A. A number of important construction projects were completed in 1998: a pier connecting the domestic and international terminals; a new arrivals hall; new modern baggage handling facilities; an underground railway station with two large underground parking facilities; and above it all the spacious and impressive delta-shaped terminal (Terminal 3). The first stage of the new Pier D was completed in the spring of 1999.
The airport today 2000+
A new motorway and railway connection between Copenhagen Airport and Sweden opened on 1 July 2000. The many passengers from Sweden and Denmark now come to the airport by car, bus or train. It takes four hours to go from Stockholm to Copenhagen Airport by train; it takes two and a half hours from Gothenburg in Sweden and from Aarhus in Denmark; it takes 20 minutes from the centre of Malmo and only 12 minutes from the heart of Copenhagen. The distance from the train platform to the check-in counters is less than 100 metres, and it only takes a couple of minutes to go to the security check and the large airside transfer area, where passengers may stroll freely among 50 shops, 15 restaurants and bars, business class lounges, conference facilities, a hotel area, a sauna and much, much more. A new large five-star Hilton Hotel with 382 rooms opened in the spring of 2001 as well, and that same year, a new large area for non-Schengen travellers was added to Pier C.
About 2 years after Bush arrived here in CPH, Robert Gates also stopped in for a spot of tea.
I guessed word got out that the danish is really tasty in Denmark.
Still can't sleep? Then read the following.
Gates Visits |
“This is an ally who, in my opinion, is really punching above its weight, and I want to visit and basically thank them for that,” Gates said before landing in the country.
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