Airports where pax had to use stairs to board 747, DC-10, L-1011

727LOVER · Mon Jun 11, 2018 7:14 pm

I have no idea about outside the USA....but in the USA

The only one I know for sure is CLT

My analysis on others

MIA - when the 747 arrived in 1970, I think all the gates had bridges.

JAX - opened in 1968, all gates had bridges

TPA - new terminal opened before the tri-jets flew. Not sure if any airline brought in the 747 before April, `971

MCO - I think this is one. The jetways, I think, started showing up around 1976/77. National, Eastern & Delta had tri-jets in way before that

PBI - not sure about this one. DL terminal opened in 1974 with the bridges. Not sure when the main terminal got bridges
.
ATL - hmmmmm...well DL had bridges from the opening of the 1961 terminal (BEFORE actually)......Eastern, I believe, put the jetways on
Concourse A specifically for the L-1011. Don't know about Northwest Orient & the DC-10

JFK - The questionable terminals would be 1,2,3,& 4

Airports like MSY, BUF, DTW, STL or CLE...I have no idea

Dominion301 · Mon Jun 11, 2018 7:27 pm

YOW needed stairs for widebodies until the expansion of the old terminal in approximately 1988.

In 1978 four loading bridges were added to the old terminal. However, I believe that the DC-8 was the largest aircraft they could handle. Might have even been the 727. They were low to the ground.

777PHX · Mon Jun 11, 2018 7:27 pm

STL had plenty of widebody gates back in the day, capable of handling up to the 747. LAX still uses the remote gates, which while they still utilize jetways, they're not much more than structures with stairs that lead up to the jetway.

747d10 · Mon Jun 11, 2018 7:28 pm

KOA has no jet bridges. UA has flown D10 and 747 equipment there.
I think I boarded a DL L1011 with airstairs at OGG back in the late 80's.

FromCDGtoSYD · Mon Jun 11, 2018 7:30 pm

I remember back when ICN wasn't open yet, GMP wasn't very big and I recall being bussed to 747s.

KICT · Mon Jun 11, 2018 7:33 pm

The old Dubai airport comes to mind...

BUFJACK10 · Mon Jun 11, 2018 7:47 pm

BUF always had jetways for widebody American DC 10’s in the old east terminal and Eastern L1011 in the old West Terminal

As far as I know there are a couple gates in the new terminal that can handle 747 aircraft now.

SyracuseAvGeek · Mon Jun 11, 2018 7:49 pm

SYR, United 747-400 flew one in and used stairs. The jetbridges can go high enough, but the terminal can't handle a plane with that wingspan

880dc8707 · Mon Jun 11, 2018 7:51 pm

CDG was one of the worst. ARR A340 stairs Lv 747 stairs Arr 777 jetway depart A340 jetway
nest trip Arr A319 stairs Dep A340 stairs
They were all AF within 2 years, due to that we try to avoid AF at all costs
In addition ground staff was less than accommodation, In the air wonderful, like it was a different airline

evank516 · Mon Jun 11, 2018 7:56 pm

Pretty sure EA flew L1011s to DAB at one point so I guess we can add that to the list too. No jetways before 1992.

mbmbos · Mon Jun 11, 2018 8:00 pm

In the early 70s TWA operated an L-1011 from ABQ - ORD daily. The first jetaway at ABQ was built for that L-1011 and other jumbos (charter operations), but I believe when TWA first started operating it, they had to rely on stairs.

KICT · Mon Jun 11, 2018 8:03 pm

Speaking of ONT, the CI 77W flight uses airstairs...

727LOVER · Mon Jun 11, 2018 8:03 pm

SyracuseAvGeek wrote:
SYR, United 747-400 flew one in and used stairs. The jetbridges can go high enough, but the terminal can't handle a plane with that wingspan

Gate 5, if you block off gate 4?
On the UA side, gate 23?

philvardon · Mon Jun 11, 2018 8:06 pm

I have boarded BA 747s and KLM 777s by airstair at ACC. That is about to change as Kotoka is about to open a brand new Terminal 3 with air bridges.

philvardon · Mon Jun 11, 2018 8:06 pm

I have boarded BA 747s and KLM 777s by airstair at ACC. That is about to change as Kotoka is about to open a brand new Terminal 3 with air bridges.

727LOVER · Mon Jun 11, 2018 8:08 pm

evank516 wrote:
Pretty sure EA flew L1011s to DAB at one point so I guess we can add that to the list too. No jetways before 1992.

Oh....YES, YES, YES.....I forgot about that one !

AirMatt · Mon Jun 11, 2018 8:09 pm

AA flew a DC-10 to ONT during the late 90's for a short period, prior to the new terminals opening and it was a stairway. Also, I believe HA flew a DC-10 as well in the 90's.

Matt

n729pa · Mon Jun 11, 2018 8:11 pm

We used stairs for the Lufthansa 744s at TXL last year when they were using them on the FRA runs.

Years ago, 1986 I remember stairs at ORD boarding a BA 747. Seem to recall the international flights lined up with stairs including a SN DC10.

1990 ATH boarding an Olympic A300 plus seeing their 747s sitting on the apron for boarding too.

727LOVER · Mon Jun 11, 2018 8:16 pm

n729pa wrote:
We used stairs for the Lufthansa 744s at TXL last year when they were using them on the FRA runs.

Years ago, 1986 I remember stairs at ORD boarding at BA 747. Seem to recall the international flights lined up with stairs including a SN DC10

1986?...That late? WOW !

SurlyBonds · Mon Jun 11, 2018 8:17 pm

I used airstairs to deplane from a 748 on the apron at FRA (originating at LAX) - I think this was about three years ago.

n729pa · Mon Jun 11, 2018 8:23 pm

Actually just remembered (shows short memory not as good as 1986!) ...boarding a BA 777 at MAD and that was last year. Disembarked at MAD from a B767 too using stairs, so occasionally they use a remote stand adjacent the main T4S

LupineChemist · Mon Jun 11, 2018 8:25 pm

MCT was only stairs until just a few months ago.

KICT · Mon Jun 11, 2018 8:26 pm

Easter Island is stairs only. Has been since opening. Currently LAN flies there with B787 but it has been other equipment in the past, incl. A340, etc.

evank516 · Mon Jun 11, 2018 8:26 pm

727LOVER wrote:
evank516 wrote:
Pretty sure EA flew L1011s to DAB at one point so I guess we can add that to the list too. No jetways before 1992.

Oh....YES, YES, YES.....I forgot about that one !

Yup people today wouldn't recognize the DAB of yesteryear

hlior · Mon Jun 11, 2018 8:27 pm

I believe it happens more than one might think...

TLV didn't have any jet bridges until 2004, I clearly remember boarding/de-boarding LY's 747s in TLV where they used 3 staircases and plenty of buses to unload a jumbo...

jubaexpress · Mon Jun 11, 2018 8:32 pm

In November and December 2017 I disembarked and boarded BA 747s at Nairobi via the stairs. Unclear if intended or the stairs and jet bridges are just broken.

SyracuseAvGeek · Mon Jun 11, 2018 8:49 pm

727LOVER wrote:
SyracuseAvGeek wrote:
SYR, United 747-400 flew one in and used stairs. The jetbridges can go high enough, but the terminal can't handle a plane with that wingspan

Gate 5, if you block off gate 4?
On the UA side, gate 23?

I don't know about that, although because they don't usually get B747's they don't have a mark on the ground for a B747

hiflyeras · Mon Jun 11, 2018 8:51 pm

I'll never forget deplaning in DPS (Denpasar, Bali) from a Garuda DC-10 down the stairs. There were blooming frangipani trees nearby and the smell was amazing!!

klm617 · Mon Jun 11, 2018 8:52 pm

I boarded NW DC10 flights at FRA well into the 90's. The very end of concourse C was via air-stairs not to mention the remote parking areas. In 1996 boarded a ATA 757 via the air stairs at FRA in 1996

nomorerjs · Mon Jun 11, 2018 8:52 pm

727LOVER wrote:
n729pa wrote:
We used stairs for the Lufthansa 744s at TXL last year when they were using them on the FRA runs.

Years ago, 1986 I remember stairs at ORD boarding at BA 747. Seem to recall the international flights lined up with stairs including a SN DC10

1986?...That late? WOW !

T1, the original International was torn down while UAs new terminal was being built. T5 was not yet built and the parking garage was set up as the temporary international terminal. Flights deplaned / boarded where T5 is now and were bussed to the parking garage (T4).

As a kid I remember when BA & TW each had 1 flight to LHR, NW to NRT, AF to CDG, SR to ZRH, SN to BRU, LH to FRA, EI to SNN, FI to KEF, MX D10s, and not much more.

Things have change a lot!

paullam · Mon Jun 11, 2018 8:53 pm

Almost everytime I'm in Dubai I deplane EK's A380's via stairs. They seem to use remote stands rather frequently. Or maybe I'm just lucky. I'm always pleased when it happens as I can breathe some fresh air between two longhaul flights and it's quite an experience to walk around the A380.

bluejuice · Mon Jun 11, 2018 8:54 pm

I've deplaned via airstairs at SFO in the 90s.

Fuzzy memories of the 80s and I could be wrong but I seem to recall Pan Am 747s sometimes boarded at a remote stand at JFK.

alancostello · Mon Jun 11, 2018 8:57 pm

Disembarked from a Qatar A340-600 using stairs last week at Doha. Boarded to my connecting 787 flight via stairs too.

ER757 · Mon Jun 11, 2018 9:01 pm

FPO back in the 80's
Flew in on an EA L1011 and there was a PA 747 there at the same time - both de-planed and boarded via stairs

TC957 · Mon Jun 11, 2018 9:04 pm

Many of the Caribbean airports don't have jetties.

bpat777 · Mon Jun 11, 2018 9:08 pm

TC957 wrote:
Many of the Caribbean airports don't have jetties.

Actually many of the larger airports now have jetties including: MBJ, KIN, PAP, SDQ, BGI, POS and NAS. I know STT still uses stairs.

n729pa · Mon Jun 11, 2018 9:10 pm

2 years ago I also boarded a Finnair A350 at Helsinki.

Love the old picture of Dubai airport. How times have changed!

Iemand91 · Mon Jun 11, 2018 9:13 pm

Zanderij in Suriname.

(old picture, but still the same today)

KLDC10 · Mon Jun 11, 2018 9:13 pm

Berlin Tegel (TXL) 2017! (Lufthansa 747-400)
And if you'd like to bring in other widebodies, I disembarked from an A340-600 by stairs there a month or two ago too.

Begues · Mon Jun 11, 2018 9:20 pm

Neither Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm or Helsinki had any jetways when 747, DC10 or the tristar began operating for SAS and Finnair or any foreign airline. And most european airports on the continent had widebody traffic long before any jetways were installed. Only London, Paris, Amsterdam, Zurich and Frankfurt had any jetways installed before the mid to late 1970s, and many such as Vienna, Lisbon ,Barcelona, Milano, Athens, etc had non until the 1990s.

F27500 · Mon Jun 11, 2018 9:34 pm

I boarded an Eastern L1011 at Hartford-BDL via airstairs in 1976 …. and in Orlando in 1977 (old terminal)

SLCUT2777 · Mon Jun 11, 2018 9:34 pm

To this day none of the gates at SLC can take any 744 or 748, A34X or A388 any carrier brings in. KLM has used a 77W on an equipment substitution as recently as May 20 & that’s as big as will fit at gates D-1, D-3 or E-1 that are directly connected to the FIS desk. 2 years from now, the new international concourse u/c will take any of the super jumbos.

airtrantpa · Mon Jun 11, 2018 9:40 pm

PIE i had to use airstairs to board a TZ L1011

Im not sure if people express used the 747 at PIE

Everyone used airstairs before they built the 2 jet bridges.

SmithAir747 · Mon Jun 11, 2018 9:41 pm

I've done it twice if I remember rightly.

In 1994 I disembarked my TWA 747 at MAD (after arriving from JFK) via stairs and was bussed to what was then the international terminal in an articulated 5th-wheel-style bus. (This was long before T4.)

In 2002 I disembarked my EI A333 at DUB (after arriving from ORD) via stairs and was bussed to the terminal that was then used for international flights (the one with the large banjo).

SmithAir747

Brickell305 · Mon Jun 11, 2018 9:41 pm

For outside the US, just think of any Caribbean airport where BA/KL/AF/etc has historically flown the 747. Many of the airports now have jet bridges but most of them got them relatively recently and would have definitely been using stairs prior to that.

Old BW also flew the L-1011 to several Caribbean airports (including its own POS hub) that lacked jet bridges at the time.

sspontak · Mon Jun 11, 2018 9:42 pm

I remember using airstairs for TWA L-1011 and EA A300 in Nassau in the early 80's. Also airstairs for TWA L-1011 in Freeport in the early 80's.

Zidane · Mon Jun 11, 2018 9:55 pm

bpat777 wrote:
TC957 wrote:
Many of the Caribbean airports don't have jetties.

Actually many of the larger airports now have jetties including: MBJ, KIN, PAP, SDQ, BGI, POS and NAS. I know STT still uses stairs.

BGI doesn't have jetways, SVD does.

KL682 · Mon Jun 11, 2018 9:56 pm

I Flew AMS-YUL-IAH-MEX v.v. about a dozen times between 1972-1975 with KLM 747-206B; deplaning in YUL was with stairs, transit in large seperated areas with CP Orange chairs, (can also recall IB 747 at that same airport/area); IAH was definitely equiped with jetways; MEX used stairs until 1974, after that KLM operated on the first jetways installed there.

SpaceshipDC10 · Mon Jun 11, 2018 9:59 pm

ZRH and GVA were stairs only at first. Once the former built it's new terminals A & B, less wide-bodies were parked on a hard stand. I also remember arriving in 1989 at ORD on board a Swissair or Lufthansa flight from Europe and having to walk down stairss to be bused to the terminal where the immigration was conducted. International flights then departed from the Delta terminal, at least at the opposit end of UA's.

gwrudolph · Mon Jun 11, 2018 10:18 pm

As recently as the early 2000s most if not all of the inbound UA 747s at NRT used airstairs and a bus to customs and immigrations. Outbounds were at the terminal. I think the issue was that with the onward Asia operations at the time, they would have 15 or so aircraft on the ground at one time. As they shrunk the onward Asia operations and the terminal had gates added, they went to all bridges

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