By Robert L. Candiotti

Late last month, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) released forecasts for worldwide air transport in 2011. According to IATA, airlines will handle 2.75 billion people that year (620 million more passengers than 2006) and 36 million tons of freight (7.5 million tons more than in 2006).

Of special significance to Southern Nevada's proposed Ivanpah Valley Airport - which is planned to be primarily an international airport accommodating the newest and largest long-haul aircraft - is IATA's forecast that the global international air passenger total will be 980 million in 2011 (up from 760 million in 2006).

This will entail an annual average growth rate (AAGR) of 5.1%. Cargo volumes are expected to increase by 4.8% over the period.

States IATA's October 24, 2007, news release regarding 2011, "The numbers clearly show that the world wants to fly. And it also needs to fly. Air fabric is critical to the fabric of the global economy."

This, basically, is the position of the website home of this blog, IvanpahValley.com.

The release states that 32 million people around the world make their livings in aviation-related jobs, and US$ 3.5 trillion is generated in economic activity.

Still, infrastructure development needs to keep up with the growth, cautioned Giovanni Bisignani, the IATA Director General and CEO. He stated, "A looming infrastructure crisis could put these benefits at risk. And failure to prepare adequately to meet demand will have an environmental cost with inefficient use of airspace and delays. There is no panacea, but the starting point for a sustainable solution is a common vision for efficiency that is acted on by government and industry. With infrastructure planning timelines measured in decades, there is no time to lose."

This statement relates directly to Ivanpah Valley Airport. For the Southern Nevada area, credible forecasts predict Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport will reach its growth limit by 2015. The evidence is the supplemental Ivanpah Valley Airport will need to be approved and completed by 2017 at the latest.

Even though, according to IATA, North America will be the slowest growing region of the world at 4.2% due to the maturing of the North American markets and an expected slowdown of U.S. economic growth, international passenger traffic will increase by 41 million in 2011.

It seems, looking ahead one decade, if Las Vegas is to continue to be an attractive and comfortably accessible destination for the rapidly-expanding world air markets, Ivanpah Valley Airport will be needed to intelligently absorb the region's added airport business demands.

Note: For more information about IATA's October 24, 2007, news release, go to the Infrastructure Essential For Growth page at IvanpahValley.com.

By Robert L. Candiotti

Ivanpah Valley Airport, if it is eventually built, is destined to have a much different flavor than its neighboring McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas.

One big reason for the difference is Ivanpah would actually have a much higher ratio of international flights than McCarran. With exra-long runways - stretching across the flat desert 30 miles south of Las Vegas - to handle the largest and most modern aircraft carrying trans-continental passengers, Ivanpah will have a more robust international aroma. 

The world has many exceedingly nice international airports.

Here are the winners of the Top 10 Airports in the Skytrax 2007 Airport of the Year survey. Skytrax is an aviation research organization that says its international passenger feedback is based on more than 7.8 million detailed passenger surveys completed over an 11 month period throughout the world.

The Skytrax Top 10 Airports in the world for 2007:

1. Hong Kong International Airport

2/3. Two airports are tied for second and third place

        Seoul Incheon Airport

        Singapore Changi Airport

4. Munich Airport

5. Kuala Lumpur International Airport

6. Zurich Airport

7. Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

8. Vancouver International Airport

9. Kansai International Airport

10.Madrid Barajas Airport

Is it thinking too big to imagine that one day Ivanpah Valley Airport could be in the world's Top 10? To achieve such a degree of success would be difficult. It would take a lot of work and much lofty thinking. Still, it is achievable.

In any case, the designers of Ivanpah need to study thoroughly what makes the world's most successful and satisfying international airports attain their degrees of perfection.

By Robert L. Candiotti

IvanpahValley.com - the mother site of this blog - has published a page that makes references to the IPCC "Climate Change 2007" study.
The Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change study's final portion, the "Synthesis Report," was released about a week ago on November 17, 2007.

The name of the added page on IvanpahValley.com is Heathrow Green Campaigners, Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change, Ivanpah Valley Airport Future. It makes an effort to tie together Heathrow Airport growth debates, the IPCC greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions conclusions, as well as issues that may possibly come up in Southern Nevada as the Ivanpah Valley Airport Environmental Impact Statement moves forward to a conclusion in 2010.

By Robert L. Candiotti

On the one side, there is the argument that aviation growth - fundamentally, for economic reasons - is necessary, and, on the other side, there is the earnest plea to keep things as they are, and let people live the lives they are used to.
Both sides are understandable, but, according to articles published November 23 (it is already November 23 in London), opponents to the expansion of Heathrow Airport seem to be becoming resigned to the inevitability of the change.
The unsurprising reason, states The Guardian: "beefing up our airports will boost the economy."
Air travel increases are inevitable, believes Britain's Department of Transport. The number of air passengers in Britain is expected to double by 2030. Therefore, authorities need to either expand the infrastucture, or give up the business - and then suffer.

This matter does pertain to the proposed Ivanpah Valley Airport, which, if approved, will open in 2017. (Ironically, this is the same year that Heathrow's controversial new third runway is projected to open).
Ivanpah Valley Airport may be necessary and inevitable, and, to some, may make all the sense in the world, but it will most likely not proceed unopposed. The Ivanpah Airport authorities can learn from the arguments put forward to legitimize the expansion of Heathrow. It may not be a perfect route, but it is the best route.

The Southern Nevada airport authorities will be wise to have good answers about Ivanpah to what will most likely be very good questions, as well as substantive skepical opinions.

By Robert L. Candiotti

When the Ivanpah Airport News blog was published on October 26 saying MGM and its business partners should slow down the renovation plans in Jean, I was not aware that the entire project had already been put on hold. Not too many months after it was announced, the master-plan concept had been shelved.

What inspired me to write the October 26 blog was my feeling that probably whatever had been conceived for the tiny town south of Las Vegas was not good enough. Not visionary enough. Not "green" enough. Not exciting enough. And not consistent with the breadth and luminous potential of the proposed Ivanpah Valley Airport.
But these types of apprehensions are not what slowed the project down. Not surprisingly, it was plain old business concerns that brought everything to a halt.
Apparently, according to an October 12, 2007, story by Richard N. Velotta in the Las Vegas Sun, a downturn in the real estate market, the high price of construction and the huge expenditure required to extend water and sewer pipelines have caused the project partners to stop and take a long, sober look at the 166 acres involved.

The Environmental Impact Statement for Ivanpah Valley Airport, which will be adjacent to Jean, is currently being prepared by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The EIS is scheduled to be decided upon in 2010.
Maybe it is best for everything in Jean to be put on hold until that time.
There is still one operating casino in Jean - the Gold Strike - and that's probably enough. In any case, there is no way Nevada Landing can be resurrected. It is bent over and dazed now, like a weary boxer that has taken a huge shot to the solar plexus.

As stated in the Sun article, I think it is a good thing MGM Mirage and its partners are now talking about Jean's relationship to Ivanpah Valley Airport. I believe the future and the excitement of the area is with the proposed supplemental airport.

Consequently, I do think the long pause in the plans to develop Jean is, in fact, a blessing in disguise. I am confident something better will emerge from the reconsideration of Jean's future.

No house should ever be on a hill or on anything. It should be of the hill. Belonging to it. Hill and house should live together each happier for the other.

Frank Lloyd Wright

This quotation of Frank Lloyd Wright directly relates to what I feel about the proposed Ivanpah Valley Airport. I see it so simply. Ivanpah Valley Airport should be of Ivanpah Valley. The airport should be of the desert. It needs to absorb the essence and dignity of ther desert. Ivanpah Valley and Ivanpah Airport should live together - each happier for the other.

Robert L. Candiotti

By Robert L. Candiotti

The Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change will release its Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) on November 17, 2007.

The IPCC was established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme. On the IPCC's website, it is stated "the role of the IPCC is to assess on a comprehensive, objective, open and transparent basis the scientific, technical and socio-economic information relevant to understanding the scientific basis of risk of human-induced climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation."
On November 17, the release of the "Synthesis Report" will be the final part of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, titled Climate Change 2007.

Of special relevance to IvanpahValley.com will be an abundance of information about jet aircraft fuel efficiency, airframe technology, the possibility of new fuels for aviation and the potential for greenhouse gas (GHG) engine emission mitigation.
This site will cover information released at the Synthesis Report conference on November 17. It is the plan of IvanpahValley.com to create a page for the IPCC's aviation-related climate change information.

The IPCC says the information in the completed Climate Change 2007 will be relevant and useful for years to come.