Make good at London Stansted

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On Friday I returned to the airport where I had the initial idea for this blog: London Stansted Airport (IATA: STN). Last time I wasn’t very lucky when my Friday evening flight to Copenhagen was delayed by over an hour and on the way back I went through an even bigger pain (see my very first post).

This time my fate changed for the better. On the way out to Düsseldorf Weeze (IATA: NRN) we were only slightly delayed because of some minor baggage and cargo loading problems. Luckily Ryanair was able to make up the delay and we arrived with the usual punctuality fanfare at the Lower Rhine (Niederrhein) airport.

So I guess, I have to admit that Stansted usually is quite a nice airport. It’s certainly not that close from London (it takes 45 minutes from Liverpool Street station) and it costs a staggering £26 return, but once you are there it’s quite pleasant. The terminal is big and roomy, there are lots of good shops (e.g. Reiss) and plenty of eateries and coffee shops. No wonder is Ryanair eying to purchase this airport once it will be split off from the current owner BAA.

But let’s get to the fun part. This time I decided to play a little game: I wanted to find the best and worst looking, women’s perfume flacon at the large duty free store. Here’s my decision:

The Winner: Valentino - Rock ‘n Rose

The Loser: Anna Sui - Dolly Girl

 

Airport Name	London Stansted
Website	http://www.stanstedairport.com/
IATA Code	STN
Design
Shopping
Toilets
Overall
	£57.70
	£28.25 (incl. ice jacket)

[Pictures from Flickr: Stansted (some rights reserved), Valentino, Anna Sui]

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Sleeping at the airport: Top 10 Pics

Airports can be a pain especially when lengthy delays occur, you overdid it the night before or, the nightmare for all of us, the combination of the two. The best in these situations is to behave like an idiot to keep calm, find yourself a comfortable spot and fall asleep. Want to see some examples? Okay, here are our Top-10 pictures of people sleeping at airports:

10. Neatly ligned up

9. Awkward position

8. Stack ‘em up

 

7. Double dreaming

 

6. Beauty sleep

 

5. Vegas, Baby!

 

4. Nice spot

 

3. Even nicer spot

 

2. How many legs?

 

1. Sir, sleep, Sir!

[All pictures from Flickr - click on the photos to get to the original page - some rights reserved]

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Hong Kong world’s best airport

Hong Kong International Airport has been named Best Airport in the world, in the passenger survey results released on Monday by Skytrax. Despite being “only” rated in 5th place in the most-timely airport survey, Hong Kong received the prestigious award after Skytrax collected 8.2 million questionnaires completed by passengers over a 10-month time period. The London based aviation-research company rated the airports in more than 40 categories of product and service quality from check-in to departure, from arrivals to baggage collection - including terminal cleanliness, staff efficiency, staff courtesy, terminal signage, security processing, immigration and customers, walking distances, as well as features like shopping, dining options, internet services.

Second best airport went to last year’s winner, Singapore Changi airport followed by Seoul Incheon. Best European airport was Munich in 5th place and San Francisco took the place for the best ranked US airport but didn’t make it in the top ten. Here’s the that top ten:

1. Hong Kong
2. Singapore Changi
3. Seoul Incheon
4. Kuala Lumpur KLIA
5. Munich
6. Kansai
7. Copenhagen
8. Zurich
9. Helsinki
10. Cape Town

Note that we already wrote about Zurich and Copenhagen on some delay stories, but both airports rated fairly highly in our own surveys as well.

Also, make sure you check out the full list of the category winners - Brisbane for example received the award for the airport with the friendliest staff. Well, I guess that’s no surprise when you work in a city with one of the best climates and the most leisure attitude…

[Picture from Flickr]

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Crowded house at London Heathrow Terminal 3

Even in full anticipation of a delayed flight, I left my home well in time for check-in at London Heathrow’s Terminal 3 - home to Virgin Atlantic. It’s funny how this blog can change your whole expectation (but then this was part of the idea anyway). So, was my flight delayed? Technically yes, but I have to admit, it was a close call. The Boeing 747 left the gates about 20 minutes after the scheduled departure time and took off 11 minutes later. In fact, that’s a very acceptable delay, especially for a 10 hour flight.

So, what was there to do in Terminal 3? Quite a bit: Until the recent opening of Terminal 5, this terminal was probably the best Heathrow had to offer, especially in terms of shopping and amenities. It’s still pretty good, however, the one thing that is striking every single time I get there, is the sheer amount of people in one space. The main area is ridiculously undersized for the amount of people and as a result you will have a tough time finding a seat even during quiet times like this morning.

However, there’s good news as well. Having been in this Terminal a couple times before I already know you can find the usual newspaper, electronics and book shops, a large duty free shop, a Harrod’s outlet, the only Yo! Sushi restaurant in Heathrow, TGI Friday’s, Brasserie Chez Gérard, a handful of Designer shops and four coffee shops. Four coffee shops? Yep. And with that insight, I told myself there must be quite some competition among them, so I took a closer look and compared the prices for a regular sized latte (or in new coffee lingo it would be a “tall” sized drink):

• Bagel Street, £1.80
• Eat, £1.90
• Starbucks, £2.05
• Caffe Italia, £2.10

If you are looking for a soy milk latte, this changes the game slightly as both Eat and Starbucks charge extra for this luxury health choice (Eat £0.30, Starbucks £0.35) where as the two others don’t.

But if price was equal, which one should you choose? Which coffee is the best? Well, personally I favour Eat for regular coffee and Starbucks for Soya as they have the better soy milk. But in line with my previous post about eating healthy while travelling, I only tasted these two this time. I will update this post when I’m back to taste the other two.

Oh, one more thing: From now on we will add a little price index to our airport short facts where possible. I’ve chosen the two most useful likely products you would find in every duty free around the globe: Chanel No 5 Eau de Parfum and Veuve Clicquot Champagne. Prices will be shown in local currency and US Dollars.

Facts

Airport name: London Heathrow, Terminal 3
Website: http://www.heathrowairport.com/
IATA Code: LHR
Design factor: 2/5
Shopping factor: 3/5
Toilets factor: 3/5
Overall factor: 2/5
Chanel No 5 Eau de Parfum: £57.70 (click to see other currencies)
Bottle of Veuve Clicquot: £28.25

[Picture from Flickr]

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The future: Waiting at Design Airports

Clearly, lengthy delays must be less painful if the surrounding is pleasant. At least this definitly holds true for me at London Heathrow’s terminal 5 where you’re never further than three meters away from the next shop. So, what will the future of airport design bring? Check out our friends at “Designboom” and their article “Contemporary airport design“. Wouldn’t you want to be late for all your flights in these beautiful buildings?

[Via Designboom]

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Eating healthy at the airport a myth?

Think back when you last rushed to the airport dangerously close to the final call of your flight only to find your plane being delayed for an unknown amount of time. Even worse, it’s evening and you haven’t eaten anything since lunch - you were wo looking forward for that sandwich on the plane. What to do now? Of course you could rush to that McDonald’s outlet in terminal 2 and quickly stuff yourself with your usual Quarter Pounder with Cheese and gain 510 calories in a blink of an eye. But we both know that’s not really the most clever choice nor will it satisfy you for the rest of the evening.

So, is there a healthier alternative at the airport? There sure is, as my friends at LifeApps wrote in their blog “Healthy snacks for travellers” you should follow three simple rules:

1. Eat light
2. Drink plenty of water
3. Consume caffeine and alcohol in moderation  

I know, you now probably think, well, I knew that already, but can you explain this in a bit more practical way, please? Sure, we can! Life Apps defined it in the following way:

Eat light: this is the heart of this post. By eating light we want to avoid fatty (especially saturated fat) and sugary foods, and empty calories. When it comes to snacks, there ARE healthy alternatives to airport food courts, and I’ll go into some of those alternatives in a moment.

Water: this is hardly a news flash, but it bears repeating: stay hydrated, whether you’re flying internationally or are holed up in your office! It’s especially important when flying, however, as the air being recirculated in aircraft cabins is quite dry. Moreover, caffeine and alcohol can exacerbate this condition, contributing to the risk of dehydration. The general rule is that you should drink ~12 oz. of water for each hour you fly.

Caffeine & alcohol in moderation: as an addicted, er, dedicated coffee drinker, this one’s a bit tough for me. In general, don’t go nuts with the quad espresso’s… a cup or two of caffeinated coffee is OK, just be mindful that coffee is a diuretic and you don’t want to be dehydrated on the road. As for alcohol, my only advice is to be careful when going out to dine with a group of colleagues. The best strategy: drink sparingly before dinner, and you’ll be much more able to be disciplined about what you eat during dinner! Keep “all things in moderation” as your mantra, and you should be just fine. 

The blog article then goes on and provides a few very good snack alternatives. My favourite of the lot definitely has to be the Larabar - a very tasty yet nutritiously well balanced snack bar. You find them in the US in abundance yet they are harder to find in the UK (try the Whole Food outlets or selected speciality stores).

So, can you only eat healthy at the airport when you bring your own snacks? Not at all. Most airport eateries feature healthier alternatives as well. At Heathrow for example you find fruit, nuts and lean wraps in most Pret-a-Manger, Eat, Nero and WHSmith. As listed before, check the labels for their nutritious information and select low fat, low sugar and low salt food.

[Via LifeApps]
Picture from Flickr

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Star’s Airport Style

Talking about Bush I see another great way of spending your time at the airport - watching out for celebrities! Guess how many I have seen so far? NONE. Neither in the plane. Do stars not fly economy or what?!

However, stars have a busy international life thus they need to fly and use airports. People magazine even has a special category called “Stars Airport Style“. Have a look so you recognize Mariah Carey next time you queue in front of her at the Duty Free or in Easyjet’s A-queue (which is as VIP as you can get without paying 15 Euros more for Speedy Boarding )

So which stars did you meet so far? … wonders Christiane

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