Flughafen Biberwiesen
The Flughafen Biberwiesen, located just outside of Miervatia City, is the largest airport in Mikitivity and one of the few international airports located in the Thuvian Mountains. The airport supports airship, small passenger planes, and military fighter craft. It is noted for serving more airships than airplanes, and is hub for Eule Fluglinien. The majority of its flights are destined to other locations in the International Democratic Union.
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History and Operations
Originally built in 1919 as a balloning base for the Miervatian Luftwaffe, the base was expanded to include civilian use in 1921 and designed to be primarily an airship base. Built on a meadow land south of Miervatia City that was once the home to numerous beavers (who had long ago been hunted to near extinction), the site is one of the few areas along the Risden River valley flat enough to be easily converted into an airstrip. The airport is also known as Beaver Meadows Field in English.
Commerical passenger and military traffic continue to share the field to this day, though the majority of the Miervatian Luftwaffe airstrips are located to the east in Hawkins canton. Due to limited visibility conditions and high winds, flights are usually restricted to business day hours. The limited hours of operation of the airport has made flights out of Biberwiesen expensive, thus most cargo is actually transfered to Miervatia canton via rail.
International Flights
As an international airport, it is considered a port of entry into Mikitvity. All passengers that arrive at the airport from non-IDU based flights must go through a customs check. The Flughafen Biberwiesen international airport code is MIK.
Incidents
Being situated in a deep valley, treacherous winds have limited the use of the airport and resulted in a number of accidents.
- Sep. 1921, a fire onboard Eule Fluglinien Flight 8 ignited the hydrogen in the first gas chamber in the LS-5, resulting in the explosion of the first and second chambers, killing 4 people.
- Aug. 1936, a thunderstorm forced Eule Fluglinien Flight 14 into the side of a mountain, killing 187 of the 260 people aboard.
- Jan. 1948, Eule Fluglinien Flight 242 slid off the runway while completing its trip from Grosseschnauzer when it sank into the Risden River, killing 45 of the 80 people aboard.
In response to these disasters, the Council of Mayors has enacted strict aviation regulations throughout all of Mikitivity, including limiting the size and number of fixed wing aircraft that can land at Biberwiesen.
Emergency Operations
Though the airport is prepared for emergency landings, when possible, flights are escorted south to Sober Thought or to the east (over the mountains) to Ellington Field by the Miervatian Luftwaffe, which maintains a defensive cap over Mikitivity. Following the tragedy of Eule Fluglinien Flight 242, Miervatia City also maintains a year round river rescue team, should any craft crash into the Risden River.
The airport has served as a point of debarkation for refugees in humanitarian operations. Mikitivity Rote Kreuz actually owns and operates a small airship which is based at Biberwiesen.
List of Airlines Served
Ground Transportation
Mikitivity Bahn operates a free commuter train service from the airport to its main hub in Miervatia City. With trains departing and arriving every 15-minutes in daylight hours, the rail service has made it practical for Mikitivitians flying to other countries to take the train to Miervatia City and then fly out of Biber-Wiesen.
