I suppose 400,000 people a year need to fly to the tropics to relieve their SAD = seasonal affective disorder each year. Or maybe twice a year.
That's 2,000 flights = 6 a day.
Plus, there are tourists going to Alaska to ogle the streets paved with gold, so that must be another 6 a day. Plus family and friends visiting from the southern states. Plus suppliers and oil producers doing regular trips.
So there must be 24 airliner flights a day. Over a 10 hour period, that's 3 an hour. Then there must be local flights by various small aircraft. Maybe the US Air Force uses it too for efficiency which would require a lot more landing times. Plus, it might be a refueling stop for international aircraft A380s, 747s etc,and a hub for smaller flights to cities across USA/Canada.
Cold, dense air is good for aircraft taking off and landing and airports are weather-proof anyway, so it would make a good hub, with cheap fuel handy. Refineries might as well be built there as down south. They are okay in the cold.
I'd better stop or I'll convince myself it's logical for millions of people to move to Alaska. Having lived in the relatively tropical Ottawa, with a high of -18 deg C one week and a low of -32 deg C, I know it's not a good idea. People know it because despite the loot, the population is tiny.
Mqurice |
