The most exciting news this week is probably that the voting process for the airport story of the year has come to and end today. Why is that exciting? Well, of course because we now know which story won the award! You have to stay tuned for a tiny bit longer though as sift through the votes and make sure everything is correct! One thing is for sure, it looks like it was a photo finish between two stories…

Let’s move on now to our news round-up: Surely you agree that flight delays are are the core of what LateDeparture is all about and this week two flight delay headlines stood out: The first one came from The New York Times reporting that New York airports account for half of all U.S. flight delays. According to the news in the first half of 2011, the region’s airspace — defined as the big three airports (JFK, LaGuardia (LGA) and Newark (EWR)), plus Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, which caters to corporate jets, and Philadelphia International Airport (IATA: PHL) — handled 12 percent of all domestic flights but accounted for nearly half of all delays in the nation. In the same period in 2005, they represented just a third of all delays, according to a report by the cited Government Accountability Office.

The second headline was about delays too, but it put a positive spin on it and called it on-time performance. We’re of course talking about FlightStats’ 2011 Airport On-time Performance Awards (OPS). A number of U.S. and International airports received the prestigious award – see our cover story from earlier in the week with all the details.

San Francisco’s SFO airport probably acknowledges that some flight delays are unavoidable and came up with its own solution: a Yoga room. According to PassengerTerminalToday the airport has opened a yoga room in its newly refurbished Terminal 2, providing passengers with a place for contemplation and self-reflection. The news stated that the room, which is located just past the security checkpoint, was designed by Terminal 2’s architect Gensler and features a floating wall and low lighting levels.

And finally we have a news item from Spain for you: There – as we heard through CNN- the Spanish airline Spanair went bust early Saturday, and forced many passengers to find seats on flights with other airlines at short notice. The news stated that according to a spokeswoman at Madrid’s Barajas Airport (IATA: MAD) said there were not large numbers of stranded passengers there, and that other airlines have been able to get passengers on to other flights. A spokesman for Barcelona’s El Prat airport (IATA: BCN) said about 20 Spanair planes were sitting on the tarmac at the old terminal.

With that we wish you all a great new week; delay-free of course!

[Photo from Flickr - Some rights reserved by Augusto Mia Battaglia photography]

The city offers something for everyone: From tasty Catalonian cuisine, cultural festivals, haute couture on Passeig de Gracia to the alternative scene around Gracia. And how about good old “La Rambla”, with its equal amount of stalls, tourists and thieves. If you fancy an overpriced, flavourless margarita served in a gold fish bowl this is your heaven . Or try the overcrowded beaches with all its shame- and topless youngsters.

It is then not surprising that the gateway to this multi-coloured, metro sexual city leads through a rather large airport, second only to the ridiculously massive Madrid Barajas Airport. In fact, Barcelona (IATA: BCN)  just expanded its airport by opening a brand new terminal on 16th June: T1.This new structure houses all Star Alliance flights whereas Spain’s national airline Iberia remains in Terminal T2 … exactly where I base my review.

Without further ado, here are ‘The Top 7 Things to Do’ in Terminal 2:

• Stock up your wardrobe at the Terminal’s local Zara shop
• Buy that Jamon Iberico you ate in the tapas bar the night before and loved so much (“Sibarium”, opposite Zara, Jamon Iberico, 100g for €13.90)
• Stock up some exquisite wine from the Duty Free store (my suggestion: the 2005 Celeste Ribera del Duero)
• Don’t forget that small thing for your girlfriend at “Etam” lingerie
• Now the lady is sorted out, you can get yourself that new season FC Barcelona T-shirt from the local FCB fan shop
• You went for the full Monty at the lingerie store? Winner! Congratulate yourself with something red from the Ferrari store (Terminal 2B).
• Flying back on a Sunday and want a laugh? Watch all the hung over hen and stag parties go by in terrible pain . You can easily recognize them by their gender uniformity and their similar facial expression (aka “why did I do this?”)

Viva Barcelona, viva Barcelona airport!

Airport Name	Barcelona El Prat Airport – Terminal 2
Website	http://www.aena.es
IATA Code	BCN
Design
Shopping
Toilets
Overall
	€ 92.00 (£78.80)
	€ 35.00 (£30.00)

[Picture from Flickr - some rights reserved]