The end of 2011 is in fact the end of an epoch in the history of Hungarian air traffic control. I do not want to qualify this epoch, future generations might do that in the fullness of time. The fact remains, an important generation of controllers have retired. I call them the “beat-generation”. About 40… Continue reading In Place of Praise
Category: Tower chronicles
Regular and less regular reports from the life of selected ATC towers in the world.
Another Good Day at Budapest Ferihegy Airport
October the second, 2011. This was an interesting day in the history of Ferihegy Airport. We were privileged to witness the first visit by Airbus’ “jumbo”, the A380. The expectations? Beyond belief. We were expecting her already during the summer months but she failed to put in an appearance. Probably this only increased the expectations… Continue reading Another Good Day at Budapest Ferihegy Airport
A quiet summer. Summer quiet??
This summer passed at Budapest Ferihegy Airport almost without any noteworthy events. So much so that the bureaucrats were really in trouble figuring out what to do. In the end they managed to make a “serious” incident from a non-event. They are still mulling over this incident and it has even become one of the… Continue reading A quiet summer. Summer quiet??
No place like home…
I am happy to report that I have just survived my first encounter with Liszt Ferihegy’s latest pride, the Skycourt. It was not easy to organize but I managed. Here is the story. With my better half we were preparing for an early Summer break in Jordan, a country we consider almost as a second… Continue reading No place like home…
BUD Welcomes the EU Presidency
If, based on my earlier writings, my esteemed readers have come to the conclusion that I am a grumpy old man, I am afraid I will have to largely agree with them. But believe me I would love to talk also about the nice things in the life of Ferihegy Tower, except that there are… Continue reading BUD Welcomes the EU Presidency
Winter season survived at Ferihegy
It would appear that we have survived the 2011 winter season without major hiccups. Events arose only when a bored office-bug decided to fabricate an elephant from a flea… Luckily either they were not bored enough or there was a lack of fleas but the number of overblown events were also thankfully low. What was… Continue reading Winter season survived at Ferihegy
Budapest-Ferihegy SkyCourt, viewed from the tower
Our esteemed readers had the occasion to read my friend, Steve’s account of SkyCourt, Budapest Ferihegy Airport’s new pride. Now I would also like to add a few words about this wonder, as seen from the control tower. Of course I need to go back a bit further in time since this story started much… Continue reading Budapest-Ferihegy SkyCourt, viewed from the tower
From tragicomedy to tragedy
Earlier on I called the history of the Ferihegy control tower a tragicomedy. By the first half of 2010 it seems we have been left with tragedy only. There were so many sad and somber events that even a guy with an essentially optimistic outlook like me is left wondering… Why have we deserved all… Continue reading From tragicomedy to tragedy
Who shall be boss?
The story started back in 2009, on 20 April to be exact. As you will see the dates are important, this is why I am trying to remember them exactly. It was on this date that I completed the usual yearly proficiency test and I was so pleased with my 92 % result it never… Continue reading Who shall be boss?