Polaris City International Airport

Polaris City International Airport (ACAO Code: PCY, AATA Code: IPCY) is a major international airport serving Polaris City and the Greater Polaris City Area, and is situated on Ontrel Island. The island and the airport are located 17 miles from downtown Polaris City. The airport is the second-largest in Antractica in terms of passenger and aircraft movements, and serves various domestic and international destinations throughout Antarctica.

The airport handled an estimated 92.4 million passengers as of 2016, with over 45 airlines operating from the airport. About 39.71% of all passengers at the airport flew with SkyJet Airways, making ut the most prominent carrier at the airport. Currently, the airport operates 2,910 flights daily as of 2017, and is expected to pass South Pole City-Metro in both aircraft movements and passenger numbers in 2011. The amount of passengers per day equates to about 256,000, with a majority of them being domestic flights.

The airport serves an extensive number of destinations across Antarctica, including the United States of Antarctica, the Asiapelago, and the UnitedTerra, as well as various domestic and regional routes. The aiport sees approximately 1.900 departures on a daily basis. Polaris City International Airport is owned by the Greater Polaris Airport Authority, a subsidiary of the federal Department of Transportation.

Construction(1965-1972)
With the burgeoning economic activities seen within Polaris during the early 1960s, the lack of an airport as the era of long-haul train passenger service had came to a close had differentiated Polaris from economic centres such as South Pole City, which had already been in the process of constructing its second major airport as Polaris was beginning to establish its own major air terminal for passengers and freight. The Polaris City Council, had drafted a resolution to establish and maintain an airport within the city's vicinity,; Ble to handle the wide-bodied aircraft used by airlines across the continent. The Governor for the District of Polaris committed approximately $56.57 million for the construction of the airport, whose location remained a perhaps unanswerable question to even the most experienced civil engineers.

Though the city itself is based on a strong, thick layer of bedrock, enabling the city to maintain its substantial amount of high-rises, there existed no place in proximity to the downtown core of the city. Surveyors suggested the nearest available site would have been 35 miles away, considering the lack of available space within Polaris City. Scattered throughout Polaris Bay, the Barrier Islands situated along the coast of Polaris acted as an urban getaway for the businessmen of the city, development, perhaps booming. If by a miracle, the largest island, Arianasa Island was particularly flat, and measured approximately 4,450 hectares in area, ideal for the construction of the airport. The developer, Janoc-Delmar Properties went under receivership in July 1963, had liquidated its assets, selling the island to the Polarian government; citing lack of potential customers to the island, located a few miles from the city's center.

With the approval of the project by the Governor of the District, AME/Partners and Pan-Antarctic Contractors were commissioned to design an airport able to handle over 100 million passengers per annum, as predicted by several major analysts early on in the process. The plan conceived by the commissioned contractors would have five runways, three of which were parallel at 9/27, the other two also being parallel at 10/28. One runway, (9L/27R) was to be built on an artificial extension of the island, in order to relieve congestion on the airport. The contractors suggested having virtually parallel runways in order to maximize the amount of events which are able to occur daily. The island would be accessible to vehicular traffic through a 9-mile long road and rail tunnel in addition to a variety of bridges (one of which; a four-lane concrete pier bridge had been built beforehand in 1955), which would culminate in a semi-circular road, accessing the multiple terminals, arrivals and departures areas, as well as a prodigious parking facility and car rental plaza situated between the semi-circular road. The terminals would be interconnected through an inter-terminal monorail line, and would adopt a new concept of airport terminals, semi-circular terminals and piers, which allow for aircraft to be parked on both sides of a facility, as opposed to a conventional airport design, in which only one side of a terminal would be available to use for aircraft parking. The terminals were purposely spaced far from one another, and created large ramps, in order to accommodate future expansion of the aircraft facilities.

Having reviewed the plan for three months, the Airport Development Board, a ad-hoc commission created by Governor G.A. Karlsburg in 1964 in order to find any discrepancies and missteps within the plan. Finding no significant faults within the plans, contractors had assembled swaths of machinery, and 24,750 workers, skilled and non-skilled in order to complete the airport by the start of the next decade on January 2nd, 1965. First to be built were the essential components of the airport, the apron, taxiiways and runways (with the exception of Runway 9L/27R) had been completed by November 23rd, 1970. Alongside the runways, the roads, tunnels and bridges which provided access to the airport had commenced construction in February 1965, however, this infrastructure had been slower to complete than the runways, having finished all progress on the bridges and roads (with the exception of the road/rail tunnel, which was completed in 1978), had concluded two days prior to the opening of the airport itself.

Construction of the terminals had finished in its entirety on the 2nd of April, 1972, where the roads had been completed; the air terminal prepared for its first departure. Since the airline industry in the continent years was in its stages of infancy, having only two major airlines dominating the airline industry, Club Penguin AirFlights, which continues to operate at the present, and Air Penguin, a primitive pioneer of the airline industry, having delivered thousands of pounds of cargo yearly, albeit carrying only a handful of passengers aboard its fleet. The first scheduled, for-profit departure at the airport occurred on April 3, 1972 in which Club Penguin AirFlights had inaugurated a newly-built Snowing 707-200 at the airport, through a ceremony attended by the Governor of the Polaris District, in addition to the Mayor of Polaris at the time being. At first, Club Penguin AirFlights had been the only airline to service the city, Thus, it left seven terminals empty for several years to come, citing a lack of passenger traffic, although were maintained meticulously by the airport administration in the years between the construction of each terminal, and its usage thereafter. Club Penguin AirFlights operated feight non-stop services from its exclusive terminal, offering thrice-daily service to South Pole City, Club Penguin, New Club Penguin, and Frostborough. Twice-daily services were offered to the cities of Snowville, Penguville, Enderby City and Dodson.

Expansion and development (1971 to present)
In 1973, a second airline, sponsored by the Water Kingdom government,known as Royal Air Lines, commenced operations in Terminal 2 of the airport. The expansion of the service to Terminal 2 of the airport had reaffirmed that the government's intentions for the airport were good.immense subsidies went into Royal Air Lines, the Governor of Polaris was keen on making intercity air travel, both domestically and internationally, affordable for all Polarians. Compared to privatized air carriers such as Penguin Chat Airways, Royal Air Lines introduced fares significantly lower, and expanded service to more cities, in modern aircraft, than ever offered at the air terminal before. This drastically increased competition between airlines, and lowered prices, which introduced air travel as the replacement for rail as the main method to travel the continent for middle-class Polarians.

Facilities
The airport itself is situated on 4,258 hectares of land situated on the Airport Island within the city of Polaris, at an elevation of 29.5 feet above the sea level, rendering it to be one of the lowest airports in terms of elevation in all of Antarctica. Served by five runways, the airport is able to handle swaths of air traffic due to the nature of the construction of the runways and their alignment. Runway 09L/27R is located on an artificial jetty connected to the taxiiway to the main terminals by two taxiiways. The runway is renowned for its famous approach, as it is the sole approach with close proximity to the skyscrapers of Polaris Island, however, is seldom used for takeoffs. The airport has been noted to suffer erosion from the formidable waters of Polaris Bay, but has been encased in a thick concrete seawall to halt the expansion of the erosion.

Each of the passenger terminals are centered around an oblong, open-ended, eight-lane service known as the PAE (Polaris Airport Expressway) and runs 12.5 miles from Polaris Highway 1, which directly connects with the city center of Polaris. There exists eight passenger terminals, two of which are dedicated exclusively to individual or amalgamnated groups of air carriers. There are 237 gates in total, a plurality, (62), apportioned to Terminal 1. The smallest of the terminals is Terminal 5, which was originally conceived as a commuter airline terminal, yet services international carriers. Over its existence, the terminals have been renovated immensely, and are not so recogizable from their appearances when the airport had been first inaugurated.

Terminal 1
Terminal 1 is the largest out of the six terminals and is exclusive to SkyJet Airways and it's affiliates SkyJet Express and SkyJet Flyer. The terminal is also the oldest, having been completed in 1970 in a Brutalist style, but has since undergone various renovations. The terminal was initially designed The Terminal is divided into two concourses, Concourse A and Concourse B. The larger, more prominent one is Concourse A, which has forty-five gates in total and is utilized for mainline operations for SkyJet Airways. The second concourse is Concourse B, which has twenty gates in total, and is used for regional operations of SkyJet Flyer.

Terminal 2
Terminal 2 is one of the smallest terminals at the airport, and only has 12 gates. Terminal 2 was originally the Concourse C of the Terminal 1. However, following an appeal from two airlines, CityExpress Airways and Air South Pole, Terminal 2 was segregated from Terminal 1. This has led to the peculiar arrangement whereby Terminal 1 and 2 are conjoined through a pair of two pedestrian bridges, which is unique between the terminals at the airport. The terminal has three holding lounges and one ExpressLounge, operated by current tenant CityExpress Airways.

Terminal 3
Terminal 3 is located adjacent to Terminals 1 and 4. This terminal is served by CP Airways, Club Penguin AirFlights, Weddell Airways, UTA and AirTerra. The terminal is divided into two piers, Pier D and Pier E. Pier D has 8 gates, and is home to all airlines excluding CP Airways. Pier E has 21 gates and is exclusive to CP Airways. The terminal also has many gourmet restaurants and shopping outlets as well.

Terminal 4
Terminal 4 is served by Air Antarctic, Antarctic Airlink, CP Airways Express, Airlines of New North Etana and Air Pengolia. Unlike the other terminals, Terminal 4 only has one concourse, which is called Pier G. Pier G has 16 gates, and has many restaurants and snack stalls. A PremiumLounge operated by Air Anatrctic is also located here. Terminal 4 is located adjacent to Terminals 3 and 5.

Terminal 5
Terminal 5 is colloquially known as the "International Terminal" due to the large presence of international carriers at the terminal. The terminal was the last to be completed, and underwent a significant renovation in 2003. Terminal 5 is segregated into Piers I and H. Pier I is served by Aer Frysland, Pacifica Airlines,Margate Antarctic Airlines and Dorkair.co.dk. Pier I is larger than Pier H, as Pier I has 10 gates, whilst Pier H has only 7. Pier H is served by Air Calada,Orbit Oceanic Airways,Trans Air and PuffleAir.

Inter-Terminal Transport
Inter-terminal transport between terminals is serviced by the AirportExpress trains, which offer direct service from each terminal.The underground "people-mover" network connects all six terminals, the airport's train station located at the southern end of the airport grounds and the airport's parking garages. A bus service is also available to the commuter terminal as well. The trains travel at an average service speed of 75 miles per hour, and carry more than 81,882,550 passengers a year according to some estimates. The trains are operated by LINX National, a division of the Antarctic Express.

Road
Highway access to the airport is provided through the Airport Freeway (PFH-105A), a 8.4-kilometre, twelve-lane extension of PFH-105 that comprises of a bridge linking Ontrel Island to the mainland. The expressway loops to connect all terminals, hangars, parking garages and other facilities. The freeway was first completed in 1984, replacing an earlier four-lane bridge. Extensive structural work, including its expansion from ten lanes to twelve lanes was completed in 2014. It is estimated that the Airport Expressway handles nearly 125,000 vehicles daily, including various taxi and limousine for passengers.

The airport contains seven parking garages, which allow for short- and long-term parking arrangements for airport patrons and employees. The rising cost of parking at the airport remains a point of contention among several Polarian municipal officials, who have sought ways of reducing the exorbitant cost of parking at the airport's parking facilities.

The airport is also served by a Car Rental Centre located in the mid-field of the Airport Freeway loop, providing passengers with access to affordable car rental services. The Car Rental Centre was completed in 2004, moving car rental operations from the cramped lower concourse of Terminal 3.

Train
The airport is served by several rail lines, including the regional MAPTA and intercity PARTA through the Airport Rail Terminal, a modern four-platform rail terminal completed in 2001 that is  situated at the southern end of the airport proper. The ART is accessible through the inter-terminal AirportExpress system, and through a number of inter-terminal bus systems, and serves passengers travelling to and from the Greater Polaris City Area on a round-the-clock basis.

The Airport Rail Terminal (ART) is served by the following rail divisions and lines as of April 2017:


 * Polaris Metro (rapid transit)
 * Silver Line (to Cathrick station)
 * Blue Line (to Promenade Park-Northwest station)
 * Pink Line (to Centennial-Memorial station)


 * Metrex (heavy-rail, regional commuter)
 * AirExpress (to Joinville Plaza Terminal)
 * Barrier Islands (to Colbey Shore or Alton West station)


 * Polaris Shuttle (heavy-rail, intercity)
 * New Westshield Coastal (to Conaskana or Driscoll)

Most rail carriage cars serving the ART are equipped with a special layout to provide more space for baggage storage for passengers, and better accessibility for differently-abled passengers. It is estimated that 46 million passengers use ART rail services annually as of 2016.

Several airlines, notably SkyJet Airways, and CP Airways have established prolific interline agreements with various rail services, allowing air passengers to seamlessly connect with rail transportation between cities on the ground.

Bus
The airport is served by several public transit and private coach bus services, which operate from the Mezzanine of the ART, below heavy-rail services and above the Polaris Metro. The Airport Bus Terminal contains 16 loading bays for a number of transit operators that serve the airport. The following transit operators and routes serve the airport:


 * Polaris City Transit
 * Routes 12A, 18A/C,64A 495X, 908A, DTC-X
 * Lammett Transit
 * Routes 8B, 13X
 * Larkin Regional Transit
 * Routes 14B, 33C, 87, 112, 807X
 * Gilderson Transit Authority
 * Routes 12A, 22X, 490C

Like most train carriages, buses that serve the airport are equipped with more luggage racks, and are typically articulated to accomodate a higher than usual volume of passengers. Some airlines have been able to establish interline connections with some bus companies, but this venture has been considerably less successful than that with rail companies.