South Pole City-Metropolitan International Airport

South Pole City-Metropolitan International Airport  (ACAO Code:SPC) is an major international airport serving South Pole City and the Polar District as well. The airport is one of four serving the city, and is operated by the South Pole Airports Network, which is one of the largest in the country, in terms of passenger numbers. The airport is located 22 kilometers southwest of the Metro Island of South Pole City, and occupies approximately 14 sq. miles of land in Rooks, and is accessable via The Polar Expressway, the Metro Airport Route, and the MetroAirport Express train, which operates service to and from Grand Pole Station.The airport is a major hub for SkyJet Airways, SkyJet Flyer, SkyJet Express, Air South Pole, Air Antarctic, Antarctic Airlink, CP Airways, and  CP Airways Express. The airport handled a total of 88,898,672 passengers in 2010, a 25% increase from the previous year, and had a decrease in aircraft operations, as Club Penguin AirFlights has now moved to the far-off Dellas airport.

Construction and Early Success
South Pole City-Metropolitan International Airport was first known as New Antarctica International Airport, after the New Antarctica Marina, which it displaced when it was built. The airport was the replacement airport for the South Pole Airstrip, which is now South Pole City-Orion Freddy Regional Airport, and closed down in 2001, due to safety concerns with the ice runway, and airport traffic concerns. The city was left without an airport for 7 years until the construction of the Metro Airport. Then, in late 2007, the name was changed to South Pole City International Airport, by a vote by the South Pole Council in 2006. After the official opening of the airport on August 7, 2006, the airport began as a hub for the former MammothAir, now SkyJet Airways, Club Penguin AirFlights and Air Antarctic the major carriers at the time, and began both domestic and international flights the following morning. After a month international carriers, also began operating from the airport as well.

The International Years (2007-2009)
Prior to the construction of Blizzardville International Airport, the re-opening of South Pole City-Orion Freddy Regional Airport and the opening of the reliever airport, South Pole City-Dellas International Airport,the Metro airport was called simply South Pole City International Airport. The airport was re-named due to the South Pole City Airports Act, which created the South Pole Airports Network, which therefore changed the airport's name to South Pole City-Metropolitan International Airport in 2010, when the law was finally enforced.

Metro Airport (2010-present)
After the opening of South Pole City-Dellas International Airport, one of the major airlines,Club Penguin AirFlights, pulled out of the airport, and sought to move to the city's reliever airport, in an effort to end any delays and cancellations at th airport. The airport also utilized the former CPAF terminal for UnitedTerra flights and temporarily placed airport administrative offices in the regional concourse area of the Terminal.

Facilities
The airport has five Terminals, Terminal 1, Terminal 2, Terminal 3, Terminal 4, and the Cargo Terminal most of the flights departing come from Terminal 1. It also has 150 gates, 40 in Terminal 1, 30 in Terminals 2, 3 and 4 and 20 in the Cargo Terminal. The airport has a refueling station in every gate. It also has baggage claim and handling services. It has 19 hangars, 2 of which belong to the USA's Air Force. There are two Inter-terminal monorails called LINK trains that go from the Parking Building, to Terminals 1,2,3,4. The airport also has train services to Grand Pole Station by the SkyLink. The Airport has a 250 foot high control tower built in 2009 to replace the old 50 foot high tower, built in 2006. The airport also has many snack shops, restaurants and newsstands.

Terminal 1
This terminal has two concourses, Concourse A and B, the biggest concourse, Concourse A is solely for SkyJet Airways flights, and operates domestic and international flights. Concourse A has 20 gates. In the smaller concourse, or Concourse B, is solely for SkyJet Flyer, Air South Pole and SkyJet Express flights, and operates mostly domestic flights and some international flights as well. The terminal is the largest out of all the dive terminals at the airport.

Terminal 2
Terminal 2 is the fourth largest terminal at the airport, and exclusively features only Terrain airlines. The terminal has historically been the CP Air Flights terminal, until 2010, when the airline moved operations to Dellas airport. The second concourse has been demolished, as it is of no use. Airlines operating in this terminal are UTA, AirTerra and NCPAir.

Terminal 3
This terminal operates international and domestic flights as well. This terminal has two concourses like the others, Concourses A3 and B3.The only airline operating from the terminal is Air Antarctic. The larger concourse is Concourse F, and has flights only international flights by Air Antarctic. While the slightly smaller Concourse E operates domestic flights only.The terminal is also home to the airport's inner-airport hotel, operated by Snowzertel, and located in-front of the Departures and Arrivals drop-off.This terminal has 23 gates in total.

Terminal 4
Terminal 4 is known as International Terminal 1 as Designated on LINK trains and some airport signs.The terminal has 5 airlines, UTA, Margate Antarctic Airlines, Dorkair.co.dk, Antarctican Airlines and Peninsula Airlines.The terminal has two concourses, Concourse A4 and B4. Margate Antarctic Airlines, Dorkair.co.dk and UTA all operate from Concourse A4, which has 8 gates in total. The other concourse, known as Concourse B4, has two airlines operating from it, they are Peninsula Airlines and Antarctican Airlines.The concourse is slightly smaller than Concourse A-4, with only 5 gates in total

Terminal 5
Terminal 5 operates both domestic and international flights, and has two main concourses, A5 and B5. The terminal has only one tenant, which is CP Airways.Concourse A5 is designed for intternational flights and has 19 gates.The smaller Domestic concourse is Concouse B5 and has 17 gates.The terminal is home to the airport's administration offices, which also house a FAAA office as well.The terminal went under renovations twice, since it's construction in 2007.

Terminal 6
Terminal 6, alternitively known as International Terminal 1, is a terminal that houses both domestic and international flights, and is home to six airlines, Emperorland Airways, Polar Airways, Air Calada, Farleyan Airlines, Air Culldrome and TransAir. Concourse A6 is served by Polar Airways, Emperorland Airways and TransAir. It has 15 gates and caters for both international and domestic flights. The slightly smaller Concourse B6 also serves three airlines; Air Calada, Farleyan Airlines and Air Culldrome. There are 12 gates in Concourse B6.

Terminal 1

 * Cumulus Club (SkyJet Airways)

Terminal 2

 * PolarLounge (Club Penguin AirFlights)

Terminal 3

 * ArcticClub (Air Antarctic)

Terminal 4

 * United Lounge (UTA)
 * NerdClub (Dorkugal Airways)
 * Cumulus Club (CP Airways)
 * EtanaClub (Airlines of New North Etana)
 * PWNLounge (Air FG)
 * MargateClub (Margate Airlines)

Terminal 5

 * PengolianClub (Air Pengolia)
 * AmazingLounge (AmazingAir)
 * WeddellClub (Weddell Airways)
 * Fryslounge (Aer Frysland)
 * Snowzerclub  (Snowball Airlines)
 * SheildLounge (Sheild Air)
 * FrosianLounge (Frosian Airwaves)

Terminal 6

 * High-Flier Club (Air Culldrome)

Traffic and Statistics
South Pole City-Metropolitan International Airport is currently the largest airport in the country, in terms of passenger traffic and in terms of aircraft movements.The airport had 87,898,672 passengers in 2010, as per a survey conducted by SPAN. The airport also had 978,566 aircraft movemnets throughout the year as well. South Pole City-Metro is very busy, and has approximately one aircraft take off and land every thirty-three seconds.

The airport is also a large and major hub for many airlines, most notably SkyJet Airways, Air Antarctic, Polar Airways, and CP Airways. Below is a list of the largest airlines operating at the airport, and the percentile of flights the airline operates at the airport over the course of the year of 2010.

1.SkyJet Airways (including SkyJet Express, SkyJet Flyer and Air South Pole) 48.3%

2.CP Airways 19.04%

3.Air Antarctic 7.51%

4.Polar Airways 4.61%

Inter-Terminal Transport
The inter-terminal transport is provided by the LINK monorail systems used in major airports of the country.The LINK trains operate between each terminal at the airport, there are at least 4 LINK trains operating at any given time at the airport. The LINK trains travel at a speed of 70 mph at this airport. The track goes around the airport grounds,and parking buildings and it takes forty-nine minutes to circulate the track on a regular schedule. There are seven stops along the way from Parking Building A, B, Terminal 1,2,3,4 and the Airport Train Station.

Ground Transportation
There is a SkyLink monorail, called AirportExpress, with service from Grand Pole Station to the Airport's Terminal 2 Train Station. The airport has car-rental services in the Arrivals Hall of all terminals. The airport also has a bus service to South Pole City and the other suburbs of the city, by the SouthPole Transit. The airport has taxis,as well as a pick-off and drop-off zone at the departure and arrival halls of the airport. The airport is accessed by the Terminal Access Road, which circles the airport grounds.The airport has free short-term parking and inexpensive long-term parking services as well.

Accidents and Incidents
OnAugust 2, 2009, Penjet Express Flight 556, originated from Beachville and was to make a stop-over in South Pole City and continue on to Lichenblossom, then,when the aircraft, a Snowwing 737-800 was cruising at 30,000 feet,suddenly a large hole blew near the wings,about the size of a king size mattress,in the fuselage, then, the plane made an emergency landing in Bern Municipal Airport ,All 120 passengers and 5 crew on board had no injuries what so ever. This incident is still under investigation by the National Safety Board and the Federal Air Transport Board.

On September 15, 2009, MammothAir Flight 287 was descending into South Pole City originating from Neo Domino City, when the plane crashed into a tall hill, just 30 miles away from South Pole City International Airport's Runway 18. The aircraft was an Snowing 747-400, the aircraft has 22 crew, 20 cabin crew, two pilots and 517 passengers on board. 123 were injured and are making a full recovery. The National Safety Board has condemned the pilots flying the aircraft for" Flying too low, 6,000 ft. below a recommended height of 7,220 ft." Since the hill was 1,990 feet high, most aircraft landing at Runway 18, were to fly at an altitude of 7,220 ft., as told to the cockpit crew by South Pole Approach in the area, but during that incident, the aircraft was at a height of 1,200 ft, due to a stall while the aircraft was making a banked turn used while approaching at Runway 18, making the aircraft hit the side of the hill, thus crashing the aircraft.

On January 27, 2010, Dorkair.co.dk Flight 344, bound for Googolplex overshot the Runway upon takeoff. The aircarft was a Snowing 747-400, and had 423 passengers and 20 crew.The aircraft landed on a small road, and damaged the starboard wing and fourth engine.The accident is still under investigation, but may be because of pilot error, due to foggy conditions on that day.