Airport Check-in: Plans for pet hotel; terminal honors veterans

— -- DALLAS: Pet hotel plans move forward

Dallas/Fort Worth plans to open a pet hotel. To be situated on the airport's north side, it will cater primarily to passengers looking to drop off pets on their way out of town.

The facility will be a 24/7 operation with webcams allowing pet owners to check up on their pets online. It will provide boarding and grooming services, and feature a wading pool and a pet retail store. The airport will pick a vendor by the end of the year and begin construction next spring.

INDIANAPOLIS: Terminal honors veterans

The opening of Indianapolis International's new passenger terminal will be delayed by two weeks to honor veterans.

The $1.1 billion terminal, which is named after Indiana World War I pilot Col. H. Weir Cook, was scheduled to open on Oct. 28. But airport officials pushed the opening to Veterans Day, Nov. 11, because it would be "more meaningful," the airport said in a statement.

Airport officials also believe opening the new terminal after the presidential election will generate better news coverage, spokesman Dave Dawson says. The project was ahead of schedule and could have opened on the original date, he says.

LOS ANGELES: Qantas sees gate shortage for A380 flights

Qantas says it may consider moving its Airbus A380 flights from Los Angeles to San Francisco if LAX doesn't build more large gates that can conveniently handle the superjumbo jet.

The airport has eight large gates that can do the job, but only two are attached to the terminal. Passengers arriving in remote gates will be bused to the terminal, a prospect that isn't sitting well with the Australian carrier.

On Oct. 20, Qantas begins its Melbourne-Los Angeles service using the A380. Its Sydney-Los Angeles service will soon follow. "By 2010, there will be a shortage of gates attached to terminals," says Wally Mariani of Qantas. "We're not prepared to use remote gates for regular schedule service."

LAX spokesman Paul Haney says the airport plans to have eight more attached gates by 2012. But Qantas is concerned that construction might be delayed, and that it would be forced to use remote gates, Mariani says.