5
$\begingroup$

The murderer has fled the scene, you have a feeling he will try to leave the country. You get access to his credit card records and see that he has recently spent £500 on flights at Getaway Travel Agency. You immediately rush to the shop to inspect their records.

Unfortunately, Getaway is a very old-fashioned Travel Agency and they still use hand-written tickets with carbon-copies. Even worse, the staff have no memory of the man who bought the ticket and the carbon copy has not worked very well.

All you can see for the departure airport is:

THE

"The what?" you ask the manager.

"I don't know," says the manager, looking puzzled. "We always write-in the full name of the Departure airport in that box".

Being the genius that you are, you immediately dispatch your men to the correct airport where he is arrested boarding the plane.

Which airport?

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
5
  • $\begingroup$ Given that he's trying to leave "the country", and we must be in that country, what country is it? Or would that give too much away? Edit: Looks like I might know the country, anyway $\endgroup$
    – Joe
    Nov 11, 2014 at 10:09
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @Joe, it sounds like you've been a jolly clever chap - or is that giving too much away? $\endgroup$
    – Lefty
    Nov 11, 2014 at 10:20
  • $\begingroup$ I have, but I can't find a matching airport. The best I can get is ... ooh $\endgroup$
    – Joe
    Nov 11, 2014 at 10:21
  • $\begingroup$ Why is "THE" in full caps and left aligned if its supposed to come in the middle of a word? I feel like you should have gone with the Brazilian answer given the way you introduced the handwritten note. $\endgroup$
    – DiscOH
    Nov 11, 2014 at 23:44
  • $\begingroup$ @DiscOH This is virtually the same as Michael's comment below. $\endgroup$
    – Lefty
    Nov 12, 2014 at 7:41

7 Answers 7

Reset to default
10
$\begingroup$

Most likely, Southend.

The killer paid the ticket in pounds, so we're probably in England. The only international airport with 'the' in its name, is London Southend Airport.
All other airports in the UK containing 'the' are private, military, or local.

Another option would be St. Catherine International Airport in Egypt. It contains 'the' as well and Egypt uses the pound, like England does. (Hat tip to Ergwun).

I haven't been able to find any other airports with 'the' in its name in a country using the pound as its currency.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
10
  • $\begingroup$ Well done! I didn't expect it to take this long for anyone to work it out! $\endgroup$
    – Lefty
    Nov 11, 2014 at 10:40
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Well, there are also Netherthorpe Airfield, Hethel Airport, RAF Weston-on-the-Green and Airfield Camp Netheravon $\endgroup$
    – Narmer
    Nov 11, 2014 at 10:42
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Most of them are military tough, the only available remains Hethel Airport $\endgroup$
    – Narmer
    Nov 11, 2014 at 10:43
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Yep, actually also Hethel is military (and also dismissed in 1948) $\endgroup$
    – Narmer
    Nov 11, 2014 at 10:45
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ There's also St Catherine International Airport in Eqypt, where the currency is also pounds. $\endgroup$
    – Ergwun
    Nov 12, 2014 at 3:22
10
$\begingroup$

You send your men to...

Senador Petrônio Portela Airport in Teresina, Brazil - its airport code is "THE" (in the same way LA International is LAX)

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
3
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ WRONG! You're missing a vital clue too. $\endgroup$
    – Lefty
    Nov 11, 2014 at 10:05
  • 5
    $\begingroup$ @Lefty not that wrong, actually. A flight on British Airways can be paid in pounds. $\endgroup$
    – njzk2
    Nov 11, 2014 at 16:14
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ I'm sure that's true - but it was just intended to guide people toward a UK Civilian airport. Also, I did explicitly state that it was the full name of the airport, trying to steer people away from codes and informal, local names. $\endgroup$
    – Lefty
    Nov 11, 2014 at 16:24
4
$\begingroup$

Answer:

Thetford

Reasoning:

We know that the killer spent £500, so we're dealing with a Pound currency. The most common of them is GBP, so we're looking for airports in the UK.

(I have checked airports in all other pound-currency countries, and none contain "THE" in upper or lowercase.

The only airport in the UK starting with "THE" is Thetford in Norfolk

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
4
  • $\begingroup$ I was holding-out high hopes for you! Your statement that "No airport contains THE" is wrong. But you're on the right lines with "contains" though! $\endgroup$
    – Lefty
    Nov 11, 2014 at 10:29
  • $\begingroup$ @Lefty Thorne contains all the letters, but there's not a big enough gap in the written THE for that $\endgroup$
    – Joe
    Nov 11, 2014 at 10:31
  • $\begingroup$ @Lefty edited, after I looked at another list of airfields (just UK ones, not world :P ) $\endgroup$
    – Joe
    Nov 11, 2014 at 10:34
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ nice try, but Thetford is Military. SQB beat you to it! $\endgroup$
    – Lefty
    Nov 11, 2014 at 10:38
3
$\begingroup$

The airport in question is 'Theodore' in eastern Australia - the only airport whose full name starts with 'The'

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ WRONG! You're missing a vital clue. $\endgroup$
    – Lefty
    Nov 11, 2014 at 10:05
2
$\begingroup$

Key word is "that box". Airport code is spelled backwards:

Airport is (EHT) Rentschler Airport.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ Nice try - but it's "full name of the departure airport". $\endgroup$
    – Lefty
    Nov 11, 2014 at 10:32
0
$\begingroup$

The name of the airport is

"Departure".

Reasoning:

It is written in upper case, so it seems to be a proper name and not just where the airplane departs from.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ No, it really is an airport... $\endgroup$
    – Lefty
    Nov 11, 2014 at 10:27
0
$\begingroup$

is it..

Heathrow Airport in England ? the word Heath means a wasteland or uncultivated land (the ROW is empty hence it's a HeathRow).

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ This is far more clever than my question - but wrong nonetheless! $\endgroup$
    – Lefty
    Nov 11, 2014 at 10:30

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.