YWG A-OK!

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/10/2011 (5173 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Check-in

Mere steps inside the front doors, passengers will come upon self-service kiosks and bag-tag stations. But unlike in the old building, these kiosks and stations aren’t specific to one particular airline.

Instead of permanent signage on the wall, the screens behind the bag-tag stations will change depending on which airline is using them.

This will enable the WAA to allocate more stations to WestJet or Air Canada, for example, when they are particularly busy. It will also make it more cost-effective for smaller carriers to service the Winnipeg market – say with three flights a week – because they don’t need to have a permanent space.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drop Off

The major upgrades from the old air terminal building and the new one are evident even before you’ve been dropped off. An upper roadway takes departing passengers to the building’s second level. This keeps them separate from arriving passengers one floor below and eliminates the “bumping of suitcases” between people coming and going.

 

 

 

Glass bridges

Glass, glass, everywhere is glass. Winnipeg’s airport is the second one in Canada, Vancouver is the other, to have glass bridges connecting planes to the terminal building. Not only are they less claustrophobic but they also help you get oriented before you’re out of the tunnel. What’s the first thing most people do after they get off a plane? Go to the bathroom, of course. And you can spot the washroom signs from the bridges.

 

Glass

The glass concept also applies to the internal walls. The public and secure sides of the departure level are separated by walkways on both sides of the arrivals area below. If you’re wondering whether you’re tardy travelling companion has checked their bags, just look through the glass walls and across the way.

Body scanner

There are two of these high-tech security devices in the new air terminal building and they could hardly be less intimidating. All you’ve got to do is walk inside what looks like a fancy phone booth (ask your parents), put your feet on the painted shoe prints on the floor and bring your hands to chest height. Security personnel behind a wall – of the non-glass variety – can then tell if you’re carrying anything that could be considered dangerous.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The arrivals area

This was designed specifically to maintain the hero’s welcome that people in Winnipeg are used to getting when they come down to the baggage carousels. (It’s in stark contrast to other airports, such as Toronto, where passengers get their bags themselves, then walk out into the public area where their greeters wait behind a railing and sliding doors.) The three giant carousels can handle more than triple the number of suitcases that their predecessors could. Perhaps the best part about it for people doing airport pick up is you don’t need to know which airline your friends or loved ones are travelling on. In other words, no more end-to-end dashes.

Shopping

Shop, shop, ’til you stop (because your flight is departing). The new terminal building has its own mini-shopping mall with more than 20 retailers, the vast majority of which are in the post-security area. This distraction will be particularly welcome for U.S.-bound passengers, who had access to a “hole in the wall” at which they could buy a sandwich and drink in the old building.

 

 

 

James Armstrong Richardson

Father is watching over you: at the east end of the new terminal building stands a 13.5-foot statue of James Armstrong Richardson, the father of commercial aviation in Canada, which oversees the departure area. The statue was unveiled at a VIP gala earlier this month by his grandson, Hartley, and other members of the Richardson family.