7E72004 From United States of America, joined Mar 2004, 3586 posts, RR: 1 Posted (8 years 2 months 1 week 3 days 15 hours ago) and read 2499 times:
I was never inside the old PHL overseas terminal but i was wondering a couple of things...how many gates did it have, what did it look like on the inside, was there a separate entrance to get to the overseas barn vs. the domestic terminal? I am just interested in any information anyone can share. thanks and cheers
The next generation of aircraft is just around the corner!
PHLBOS From United States of America, joined Mar 2004, 7253 posts, RR: 25 Reply 1, posted (8 years 2 months 1 week 3 days 14 hours ago) and read 2458 times:
Quoting 7E72004 (Thread starter): was there a separate entrance to get to the overseas barn
The old Overseas Terminal was a completely separate facility from the other terminals; so yes, it did indeed have a separate entrance.
I'm not sure how many jetaways it had, but I do remember that a fair amount of flights used the old-fashioned 'roll stairs' for boarding/deboarding.
I've never been inside the building.
Here's a recent airside shot of the building (which was a reconditioned hangar) w/AF 1 parked in front of it.
7E72004 From United States of America, joined Mar 2004, 3586 posts, RR: 1 Reply 2, posted (8 years 2 months 1 week 3 days 13 hours ago) and read 2401 times:
I have never seen the inside of it...i used to fly out of PHL all the time and wondered what that building is like inside since it did not appear to have many windows.
The next generation of aircraft is just around the corner!
PHLBOS From United States of America, joined Mar 2004, 7253 posts, RR: 25 Reply 3, posted (8 years 2 months 1 week 3 days 13 hours ago) and read 2394 times:
The windows of the Overseas Terminal are located on the street side (Island Ave.).
"TransEastern! You'll feel like you've never left the ground because we treat you like dirt!" SNL Parady ad circa 1981
IADPax From United States of America, joined Jan 2005, 18 posts, RR: 0 Reply 4, posted (8 years 2 months 1 week 3 days 8 hours ago) and read 2277 times:
I went through customs there in the late 1980's after arriving on a military charter (ATA?). I don't remember much about it except the street side was kind of "barn" like-a lot of open space. One end must have been used for domestic, I remember AIG planes (yes, the car rental/insurance company) planes parked at one end.
Jetjack74 From United States of America, joined Jul 2003, 7336 posts, RR: 52 Reply 5, posted (8 years 2 months 1 week 3 days 7 hours ago) and read 2234 times:
I used to fly out of the old Overseas Terminal. It was very dark, very old. It had some foriegn flags hanging from the rafters. It had a Ellis Island type customs and immigrations hall. It had one jetway for a 747. It had busgates for all others. It was closed March 1st, 1991 when Terminal A opened. It's basically been a transient line for non-contract visitors
Airlines /Aircraft that used it:
BOAC/British Airways-707/747/Tristar, PHL-LHR
Air France-707/747, PHL-CDG
Lufthansa-707/DC10, PHL-FRA
Air Jamaica-DC8/727, PHL-MBJ
TWA-707/Tristar, PHL-CDG,LHR
Swissair-DC10/743, PHL-ZRH
Mexicana-727, PHL-CUN
Taesa-727, PHL-COZ
Pan Am-707, PHL-LHR-FRA, Charters
American Trans Air-707/727/Tristar, AMC Charters
Carnival-727, PHL-FLL
World Airways-707/747/DC8/DC10, AMC Charters
Lrgt From United States of America, joined Jul 2004, 710 posts, RR: 0 Reply 6, posted (8 years 2 months 1 week 3 days 6 hours ago) and read 2196 times:
Crownvic From United States of America, joined Oct 2004, 1595 posts, RR: 6 Reply 7, posted (8 years 2 months 1 week 3 days 3 hours ago) and read 2111 times:
Lrgt & Jetjack74,
You bring back great memories! As for the flights, the original #40/41 did start as a DC-9-30 and later went on to a combination of DC-8/727 operations. To add to the list, don't forget about the following:
Alitalia #686- DC-8 to Rome
Capitol DC-8
TIA 727/DC-8
Saturn DC-8
Universal DC-8
Skystar 707
Arrow 707/DC-8
American Flyers 727/DC-8
ONA DC-8
Aeronaves/Aeromexico DC-8
Airlift DC-8
TransOcean/Guf Air 727/DC-8
Jet America 707
etc
The old terminal was a large cavernous building similar to a hangar. It was open and airy. There was only one jetway on the north end. The rest of the "gates" were simply glass doors at ground level that led to the ramp. The location was the former Penna. ANG hangar that United later used. The down side to this terminal was the lack of a connection to the main terminal. Although shuttle buses connected the two, passengers resisted having to transfer their luggage on their own making connections at PHL for 20 years quite difficult. Pan Am resisted so much so that they were one of the few "International" carriers to operate from the main terminal. When the "A" terminal finally opened, it made connections at PHL much more convenient. Having flown out of this building many times in the 70's & 80's, it was quite unique as a U.S. style terminal and reminded me of older European terminals from Europe.
Jetjack74 From United States of America, joined Jul 2003, 7336 posts, RR: 52 Reply 8, posted (8 years 2 months 1 week 1 day 11 hours ago) and read 2010 times:
Most of those were probably before my time.
I also flew PHL-LGW-PHL in 1984
ARCJET From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 9, posted (8 years 2 months 1 week 1 day 9 hours ago) and read 1955 times:
I arrived at the Overseas Terminal on November 29, 1989. I came in on a Hawaiian DC-8 Military Contract Flight from Keflavik, Iceland. There were no
jetways, just the basic airstair trucks. When our DC-8 arrived and pulled up to the building, all of us departed the aircraft, went thur customs and took the shuttle back to the main terminal. I went to catch my American Airlines Flight to RDU en route to CAE.
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