The Future: Airports at Sea

As Flight 452 from Paris circles New York International Airport, passengers look down to see a grid of runways six miles long floating in the open Atlantic 35 miles seaward of Sandy Hook. Wind speed at sea level is 40 m.p.h. and the swells are 6 ft. high, but inside a protective barrier of huge plastic bags the water surrounding the airport is calm. An immense pipe, dropping into the ocean from one end of the airport, is actually a pneumatic subway tube carrying passengers and freight to shore . . .

2001...

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