Category Archives: News

ATTENTION: New Corporate Offices

East Island Aviation is excited to announce that we have relocated our corporate offices in New York from Melville to Huntington.

Please make note of our new address and update your files as needed.

East Island Aviation Services, Inc.
18 West Carver St.
Suite # 1
Huntington, New York 11743

Hours:
M-F, 9:00am – 5:00pm

Main Corporate Line: (631) 385-1239
Fax: (631) 385-0888

New Passenger Walkway for Spirit Airlines in Chicago

Spirit Airlines passengers flying out of Gate L-11 in Chicago’s O’Hare Airport won’t have to be subject to the harsh winter weather anymore.

In a cooperative effort with the Chicago Depart of Aviation, Spirit purchased and contacted East Island Aviation to install a custom enclosed passenger walkway for their ground boarding operations. Similar to Denver’s ground boarding operation, ORD’s layout utilizes both “fixed mobile modules” with floors and expandable Commute-A-Walk® sections that mate up with a KCI Ramp.  In addition to Spirit, a local regional carrier flying turbo-props, Chicago Air Express is allowed to use the walkway for their passengers too!

Unlike the AVI Ramp, the Commute-A-Walk® line  and the KCI Ramp are both “Made in America”.

For more information on East Island Aviation’s Ground Boarding Equipment, please contact us.

Thousand-Foot Modular Walkway For Perth Airport Authority

modular walkway, east island aviation, perth airport authorityEast Island Aviation Services just completed the installation of a common use, modular walkway for passengers at Terminal 2 for the Perth Airport Authority, PAPL. The contract, valued at over $1,000,000, was to design, fabricate and install a passenger walkway for multi-use gates at the domestic operation.

This custom modular walkway is the first to ever be constructed at 8’ wide. The extra width allows passengers to move freely to and from all 7 gates while being protected from the extreme heat and sun. Perforated Lexan and aluminum panels allow air to enter the walkway thereby lowering the ambient temperature for passengers.

The East Island Aviation modular walkway was chosen over a conventional buildout primarily for its reduced cost and short lead time from order to completion. Constructing a brick & mortar concourse was estimated at nearly 10 times the cost and would have taken over a year to complete. The East Island Aviation Services modular walkway was fabricated in less than 3 months and assembled & installed in 6 weeks!

East Island’s exclusive AU sales & service agent, Wattle Facilities Group was instrumental in meeting the schedule goal for the project. For more information on modular walkways or other ground boarding equipment,  within Australasia contact Wattle Facilities Group or jlarson@eiaviation.com for U.S. and worldwide sales.

United DASH-8 Passengers Are Dry & Safe At EWR!

commute-a-walk, ground boarding equipment, east island aviation, ewr, newark airport, united airlinesUnited Airlines awarded a contract to East Island Aviation to design and install five Commute-A-Walk ® passenger walkways at the remote Hard Stand Regional Operation in Newark Liberty International Airport.

As a result of United’s recent growth in regional service out of EWR and with gate space at a premium, they were forced to quickly develop a DASH-8 Hard Stand Operation to accommodate the new flights.

Passengers are quickly bused from Gate #130 to each individual aircraft stand. Prior to the walkways, the only protection from the bus to the aircraft were a few Jersey barriers and construction cones.

East Island Aviation Services provided five walkways utilizing both mobile “FX” fixed modules and its patented flexible Commute-A-Walk ® sections. Buses pull right up to the back of the fixed sections at one end and Ramp Agents easily deploy the flexible sections to the KCI Ramp or directly to the aircraft stairs.

Passengers are protected from blowing wind, noise, and rain. Passengers have been quoted saying that they “really appreciate the little tunnels and Slinkys, especially when passengers are queued up on the stairs”.

Commute-A-Walk ® is an exclusive patented passenger walkway system and is offered in multiple configurations for ground level boarding operations. For more information about East Island Aviation’s Commute-A-Walk ® passenger walkway system, please Contact Us.

United Airlines Launches EWR Inter-Terminal Airside Bus Operations!

United Airlines JFK Airside Bus OperationsUnited Airlines will start airside bussing between operations at Terminals B & C at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR).

United contracted with East Island Aviation Services to design, fabricate and install a fully enclosed passenger boarding ramp at Terminal B. The ramp protects passengers from inclement weather and is gently sloped thereby allowing passengers easy access to the second level boarding area at Terminal B.

The passenger boarding ramp is the main component of a $1.5 million facility improvement project.

To learn more about our full line of custom designed and built airside walkways and passenger boarding ramps contact East Island Aviation directly at (631) 465-2010 or visit our Contact Us page.

Patent Award: East Island Aviation Passenger Gantry for connecting DASH-8 and similar aircraft to a passenger boarding bridge

East Island Aviation Passenger Gantry Patent Award - passenger boarding bridgeEast Island Aviation awarded patent for its DASH-8 passenger boarding bridge gantry.

The East Island Aviation gantry was designed to safely connect any DASH-8 turbo-prop series aircraft to any passenger boarding bridge. It can also be used with many other turbo-prop and regional jets. Unlike other products, the gantry sits firmly on the tarmac and eliminates virtually any chance of a passenger falling to the ground while traversing to or from the aircraft. It also keeps the loading bridge from contacting the aircraft thereby eliminating any chance of aircraft damage.

East Island Aviation gantries are currently being used by several international carriers, such as Qantas, where safety is viewed as a top priority in their mission statement.

Since the first gantry operation back in 2012, there have been over 2,000 boarding cycles without incident. For more information on our DASH-8 passenger boarding gantry and other ground boarding products, feel free to Contact Us.

 

New Ground Level Boarding Walkway installed at Denver International Airport

Earlier this month, the Denver International Airport cut the ribbon on two new ground level passenger walkways manufactured and installed by East Island Aviation Services, Inc.

The walkways were installed at Gate’s A 56 & 60 and will be utilized by Spirit Airlines. Each passenger corridor utilizes our fixed “FX” sections an several articulating patented Commute-A-Walk® sections.

The walkway safely connects passengers between the KCI boarding ramp (also American made) and the terminal.

STEVE KARST, PROJECT MANAGER – FACILITY SERVICES says: “Spirit loved it! They have ground loading at other airports but don’t have anything this nice.”

Watch for the next phase to be installed later this year. For more information on our exclusive passenger walkways and other ground boarding products feel free to Contact Us.

Regional Boarding Ramp: One Year in Service at Delta County Airport

Escsanaba Regional Boarding RampLast January East Island installed an extended length Regional Boarding Ramp in Escanaba, MI. at the Delta County Regional Airport.

The regional boarding ramp is currently be used exclusive by Delta Airlines which has daily non-stop service to Detroit.

The airline does not use a push-back tractor for its ground operations so we modified the length to allow additional wingtip clearance when the regional jet taxis out for departure.

The unit has also been upgraded to handle Michigan’s Upper Peninsula  single digit temperatures common throughout the long winter season.

Delta Airlines ESC Station Manager says….”The largest benefit is not having to use a mobile lift anymore. This has made a significant impact for passengers that were not able to ascend/descend stairs. The lift device was time consuming, and would usually result in a delay on our turned flights. And it was degrading for some that had to use it (not to mention exposed in the rain/wind/snow).

The 2nd thing I’d like to mention is that we are able to expedite the deplaning process, as they can now wait for their valet bags on the boarding ramp. Passengers are not exposed to the weather elements like they were before either. We have gotten a lot of positive feedback from passengers appreciating that we finally have a regional boarding ramp in ESC. “……Jennifer Nelson, ESC/GM.

To learn more about East Island Aviation’s Regional Boarding Ramp or any other ground boarding equipment, please feel free to Contact Us.

 

Four year anniversary. Commute-A-Walk ® at Nagasaki Passenger Cruise Ship Seaport reaches milestone date.

This November East Island Aviation’s Commute-A-Walk ® retractable passenger walkway system reached a significant achievement in Japan. Our Commute-A-Walk ® installed in 2011 has just pasted four consecutive years of service without any downtime. The seaport operators have documented nearly 700 arrivals and departures of various size cruise ships from  more than 6 different nations. The Nagasaki seaport has become a preferred point of landing for tourists coming to Japan throughout the Pacific rim region.

Prior to the Commute-A-Walk ® installation, passengers were subject to inclement weather conditions while waiting to clear Immigration. In addition, the seaport operators were challenged with trying to contain passengers on the pier until they cleared Customs. East Island’s retractable passenger walkway, Commute-A-Walk ® has dramatically reduced the staffing necessary to contain passengers and improved the overall arrival experience in Nagasaki. We applauded the seaport operators for taking such a bold step in passenger handling.

To learn more about East Island Aviation’s Commute-A-Walk ® system, or any other ground boarding equipment, please feel free to Contact Us.

For more information in Japan, please contact our Japanese agent, ARI.

New Narita Commute-A-Walk

narita-commute-a-walk-1On April 7th The Narita Airport Authority (NAA) cut the ribbon on its latest terminal development project. Terminal 3 is now open for business and exclusively servicing Low Cost Carriers (LCC’s) for both domestic and international flights. Twelve new domestic and 7 new international destinations are now linked to Narita with service from Jetstar, Vanilla, Spring and Jeju just to name a few. The original concept was to have passengers traversing the live tarmac unprotected. However, in October 2014, that changed dramatically for the better. East Island Aviation’s exclusive sales and service provider in Japan (ARI) secured the contract to install 11 Commute-A-Walks™ at nine gates. Our retractable articulating patented walkways were manufactured and installed in record time to be fully operational for the grand opening. The financial impact in charges to the carriers is minimal but the benefits are unmatched. Passengers are now covered from the elements and secure from all hazardous apron activity. CAW walkways have been in service throughout Japan for over a decade but never to this magnitude in one facility. For more information please contact us directly.

For more information in Japan, please contact our Japanese agent, ARI.

Commute-A-Walk is a patented product and registered Trademark of East Island Aviation Services, Inc.

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