Whose Airport Is It Anyway? Trivia Quiz

Answer: George Best

George Best Belfast City Airport is based at what was originally the runway for the Short Brothers airport factory. It was used as a naval base during World War Two and later opened to civilian flights as Belfast Harbour Airport.

On approach, the airport is dominated by two giant cranes at the Harland and Wolff shipyard. The shipyard had a long history, but will always be associated with the construction of the ill-fated RMS Titanic. To put to bed one ill-founded rumour: it was not the shipyard that claimed the Titanic was "unsinkable".

George Best was born in Belfast and had a stellar footballing career with several football clubs in Great Britain and an international career with Northern Ireland. Those who saw him play classed him as one of the best European footballers of all time. In the 21st Century, when top footballers in England commanded salaries of over £100,000 (US$131,000) a week (you read that right) it is impossible to imagine what Best would have earned in that climate.

By the end of 2019, the airport was handling 2.5m passengers a year.

Answer: Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport was not the first to serve the city, but by the 1930s the original had become too small. Work began on a replacement, but WW2 intervened and it was not until 1946 that commercial flights started.

At that time it was named Moisant Field, after aviation pioneer John Bevins Moisant. The name was changed to the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in in August 2001, in honor of the famous native-born jazz great's 100th birthday.

By the end of December 2019, the airport was catering for about 6.5m passengers a year.

Answer: Charles M. Schulz

That dog was Snoopy, one of the most memorable characters in the "Peanuts" cartoon strip created by Charles M. Schulz, who lived nearby in Santa Rosa for many years.

In 1942, as part of the US war efforts, a new airstrip, Santa Rosa Army Air Field, was opened. In 1946 it was reopened to civilian air use.

Most of the routes served from Santa Rosa are to and from destinations west of the IUS Rocky Mountains. It catered for just under 400,000 in 2019.

Charles M. Schulz was a cartoonist who created the "Peanuts" strip in 1950. It was to run for 50 years in newspapers across the world. It was also adapted for television. Among its many iconic characters were Snoopy, the beagle who fancied himself as a writer and imagined himself as a WW1 fighter ace, and the lead character, Charlie Brown, a hopeless and hapless character for whom nothing ever went right.

Answer: Robin Hood

Did Robin Hood ever exist?: that is a question that long fascinated writers and historians. Certainly the legend of a bandit who robbed the rich and gave the money to the poor has existed for centuries. It is thought it is based on a real person, but the story has been twisted and romanticised many times in literature, television and the movies.

The airport is located close to the cities of Sheffield and Doncaster in Yorkshire and was handling about 1.5m passengers by the end of 2019.

Answer: Bob Hope

Commercial flying began at Hollywood Burbank airport in 1930. Situated just 13 miles from Los Angeles, it was billed as the ideal gateway to tinsel town.

The airport went through several names until it became Bob Hope Airport in 2003. In 2017 it was renamed again as Hollywood Burbank Airport. Around 5.9 million people used the airport by the end of 2019.

Bob Hope was born in London, England, in 1903, but the family moved to the USA when he was five. He began a long-lasting career as a busker and vaudeville performer before hitting the big time in Hollywood movies. He had a long movie association with Bing Crosby.

Answer: John Lennon

Liverpool Airport opened in 1930 and was initially known as Speke Airport, the area in which it was built. It became an RAF base during WW2.

By the end of 2018 (latest figures) passenger numbers had risen to 5m annually. It was renamed Liverpool John Lennon Airport in 2002 in honour of the Beatles founder member. It was the first British airport to be named after a famous individual

Answer: Marco Polo

Marco Polo was a 13th century explorer who was born in Venice. He made many trips and discoveries, including opening up the 'silk road' to China.

Venice Marco Polo Airport sprang from a US Army Air Force base constructed during WW2. By the earky part of the 21stCentury it was catering for 11.5m passengers annually.

Answer: W. A. Mozart

The city of Salzburg is the gateway to the Tyrol area of Austria and thousands of skiers and mountain lovers pass through each year. Salzburg Airport W. A. Mozart is Austria's second busiest airport and opened for commercial flights in the 1920s. Within 100 years it was handling around 2 million passengers a year.

Unfortunately for many travellers, the airport is often prone to the whims of the weather in winter. This quiz author spent a week there waiting for the fog to lift one afternoon.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart became one of the 18th Century's most prolific composers and his music enjoyed great popularity over the next 200 years. Mozart was born in Salzburg and his home can be visited today.

Answer: Lester B. Pearson

The area of the city we now know as Toronto was inhabited by indigenous people before the first Europeans arrived. The earliest settlers had called it "tkaronto" in their own language. Today, Toronto is the capital city of Ontario and is also Canada's largest city by population, around 2.7million.

In the late 1930s, plans were laid to build two airports near Toronto. One became the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, named after a WW1 air ace and the other eventually became the Lester B. Pearson International Airport .

Pearson was Canada's 14th prime minister. He was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for his work with the United Nations in ending the Suez crisis.

By 2019, the airport was handing 21 million passengers each year.

Things you did not known you did not know department: The international designations of all airports in Canada start with the letter "Y". Why did I hear you say? Yes Y. Oh you mean "why, how come?" A story is told of a man who boarded a flight in Canada and ended up in a place that sounded like the one he intended to go to, but was not. After that, the letter "Y" was added to all Canadian airports to give the three letter IATA code.
That, of course, may be an old wives' tale. Long ago airports had a two letter code until IATA, the International Air Transport Association, came along and insisted they be made into three. Canada decided to add Y in front of the codes it already had.

Answer: Charles Kingsford Smith

Sir Charles Kingsford Smith was the first pilot to fly from the United States to Australia. Kingsford Smith had served with the Australian forces in Europe in WW1, but transferred to the Royal Flying Corps. Part of his left foot was amputated after he crashed in 1917. He was awarded a Military Cross.

After the war, he flew for periods in Britain and the USA, before becoming one of the first holders of a commercial pilot's licence in Australia. He established a number of flying records, including the first-ever flight around the world. In 19335, Kingsford Smith and his co-pilot disappeared during an overnight flight between India and Singapore while trying to establish a new record time between England and Australia.

Amy Johnson was the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia. Bert Hinkler was the first man. Hinkler flew in 1928 and Johnson in 1930.

The first flights from what is now known as Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport took place in 1923. Within a century it was coping with 45 million passengers each year.