Dulles International Airport Mobile Lounge Ride

Riding the Mobile Lounge at Dulles Airport in Northern VA just outside the Washington DC area. We're going from one terminal to the other. From the wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dulles_International_Airport

"Dulles is one of the few remaining airports to use the "mobile lounge" system for boarding and disembarkation from aircraft. The "lounge" consists of a 54-by-16-foot carriage mounted on a scissor truck, capable of carrying 102 passengers. When mobile lounges were first introduced, they had ramps at one end that could be raised or lowered to the floor height of an aircraft. However, when they were retrofitted to be used only for inter-terminal passenger transport, the ramps were removed and doors that could interlock with a terminal building were fitted to either end. Mobile lounges have a driver's cab at each end. The airport's designers thought that by shuttling from the main terminal directly to a midfield jet ramp, they could save passengers from long walking distances amidst weather, noise, and fumes on the ramp. But the advent of the jet bridge and construction of the midfield concourses diluted the system's advantages.

Before, the airport used 19 mobile lounges to transfer passengers between the midfield concourses and to and from the main terminal building, as well as 30 plane mates. They have all been given names based on the postal abbreviations of 50 states.

A new train system began in 2010 to transport passengers between the concourses and the main terminal. The train is intended to replace the mobile lounges. Mobile lounges continue to service the D Concourse from both the main terminal and the A Concourse. Mobile lounges will continue to transport international arrivals to the IAB facility. Dulles has stated that the wait time for a train does not exceed four minutes, compared to the average 15-minute wait and travel time for mobile lounges."

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Dulles
• International
• Airport
• Mobile
• Lounge
• Ride
• Transfer
• Shuttle
• Bus
• aviation
• airplane
• vehicle
• planemate
• plane
• mate

[seanlee747]

Is that a plane mate or mobile lounge? I thought mobile lounges had cabs on both ends and did not have a scissors lift

[chip104]

It's a mobile lounge.

[chip104]

@seanlee747 actually, I just found out that mobile lounge and plane mates are the same thing with interchangeable names

.

[tbsla13]

I would like to buy one of those things, make a moving party lounge out of it.

[Wh0rse]

one of these things could run over a school bus like a monster truck runs over a car

[ablogic2]

When JFK was remodeling the International Terminal i guess about 1971 they used one to transport us from a Aer Lingus 747 to the Intl Arrivals. It is gigantic inside, larger than even double wide bus with big windows and air conditioning. it was a shock at first boarding that and not going directly into the terminal, at that time.

[TheGleeVids]

@travelplus1 we dont care .

[travelplus1]

Im so glad San Francisco airport does not have this mobile lounge. The setup of the International Terminal at SFO is one of the best in the world. With two concourses separated it makes clearing customs a breeze compared to LAX and other airports. This si why I choose to arrive at SFO over other airports such as JFK where I have to connect to another flight as opposed to clearing customs at my final destination.

[JT041196]

My dad hates these things. Thank God for the AeroTrain, so now every time we go to Dulles to catch a flight he won't be complaining.

[Spaceshotx7]

They are starting to phase out the moble lounges and replacing them with an underground peoplemover. planemates will still be used for aircraft on hard stands.

[TheChicanoboi]

i love mobile lounges they are so smooth when they move!

[golds079]

looke me nice for a ride in this bus