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This week: New York’s questionable fame, Yoga at SFO and more

Tom — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 08:28:38 +0000

Well, well, finger-point, finger-point… yes, okay we admit it, we’re about 24 hours late with our weekly news round-up. But hey, better late than never or isn’t that what they say? Whatever; let’s not get into excuses but rather focus on the task at hand.

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]

Last news of 2011: Christchurch again, French strikes & free Wi-Fi

Tom — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 04:32:11 +0000

Only seven more days remain in 2011 and it’s therefore time for us at LateDeparture to pack up and enjoy a little (well deserved?!) break. But of course, we won’t leave you before we put another, final round of airport news in front of you. Besides that, you should already get excited for coming back to LateDeparture in January as not only will we continue to review airports and bring you weekly airport related news, but also we will be presenting you with the very first Airport News of the Year Award in early January. The best of all this is, that you can vote for the news you liked best and as a result win some awesome prizes! So stay tuned and get ready for a big 2012!

For the last airport news of the year now though, we start with the most recent news which reached us from New Zealand. There CNN’s Breaking News Twittter Account alerted us yesterday of another earthquake in Christchurch only 10 months after the last, devastating 6.4 magnitude quake in February. This time CNN reported that the tremors have injured at least two people and resulted in the closure of the Christchurch airport (IATA: CHC). The airport later reopened and Chief Executive Jim Boult said through the airport’s media release that there has been no damage to the airport’s runways, which are open for landings and departures again.

Over in Europe France made it in to the news on an almost daily basis but this time not because of the Euro crisis, but because of a continued strike by French airport security staff in French airports causing delays at security checks. The strikes started the previous week on Saturday (we wrote about it) and kept continuing. On Wednesday Reuters informed us that the French government threatened to deploy police at airports to ensure that striking security staff do not paralyse flights in the travel rush ahead of the December 25 Christmas holiday and end-of-year festivities.

And finally some great news for our American friends and those who plan travelling to the States in the next few days. The Huffington Post announced on Tuesday that Skype offers free Wi-Fi for travellers at US airports. From December 21 through 27, the company will offer free Wi-Fi to fliers at more than 50 airports across the U.S. The airports participating in the holiday giveaway include New York’s JFK (IATA: JFK) and LaGuardia Airports (IATA: LGA), Boston’s Logan Airport (IATA: BOS), San Francisco International Airport (IATA: SFO) and Chicago’s O’Hare international (IATA: ORD).

With that we would like to leave you with a little festive video from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport (IATA: AMS) and thank all of you for reading LateDeparture throughout 2011. We wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and a Happy New (travel disruption free) Year!

This week’s airport events: Bears, Bites and an Orchestra

Tom — Sun, 15 May 2011 02:57:06 +0000

This week three US airports caught our attention: First on Tuesday there was San Francisco’s International Airport (IATA: SFO; LD reviewed) which made headlines with the arrival of the first scheduled Airbus A380 flight. The Lufthansa plane with flight number 454 landed at the Northern Californian airport on Tuesday morning for the first time and was welcomed by a fire truck and many eager plane spotters as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.

On Saturday Miami’s International Airport (IATA: MIA; LD reviewed) surprised travelers with a free concert by the Miami Symphony Orchestra. The performance, titled Romantic Finale, was part of the MISO’s Music in Unsuspected Spaces program, and a perfect complement to the airport’s efforts to offer more art and culture, wrote the Miami Herald.

Less harmonic news arrived from the third US airport, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (IATA: MSP): A woman denied access to her flight to Salt Lake City for allegedly being drunk, bit a police officer while being restrained. The officer’s wound required that he be given baseline tests for hepatitis, AIDS and rabies, wrote the Star Tribune.

Speaking of animal type of behaviour, Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport (IATA: BKK) made shocking headlines when a first class passenger on its way to Dubai was arrested after authorities found his suitcases were filled with exotic baby leopards, panthers, monkeys and a bear (not pictured). The animals are now safe and being cared for, writes ABC News.

Wow, what a week. After all this, how about a little time-out at a lovely Spanish beach? Sounds like a great idea? Try our friends over at Cheapflights for, well, cheap flights to Spain. Have a great week everyone and save travels!

[Photo from Flickr - Some rights reserved by florianrieder]

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This blog post is sponsored by Cheapflights.

This week’s airport events: tail clipping, ribbon cutting and even more sleeping

Tom — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 02:10:14 +0000

What’s so comfortable in sleeping high up in a US airport control tower you might ask after having read this week’s news about controller number five and six falling asleep during their night shifts. Number five was reported to have happened mid week at Reno-Tahoe International Airport (IATA: RNO) where a medical flight carrying a sick patient tried to land without anyone responding. The latest one, number six, was reported on Saturday. Here the controller fell asleep during his shift at the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center, which oversees mostly high-altitude, long-distance flights. According to the FAA, this time the controller did not miss any calls from aircraft and there was no operational impact. With all this, voices suggesting problems in the system rather than failures of individuals now become louder as stated in a Washington Post article. This won’t be the last time we wrote about it!

Another story that was hard to miss this week was the collision of the Air France A380 with a jet belonging to Delta regional subsidiary Comair at New York’s JFK airport (IATA: JFK). The spectacular spin of the smaller jet was caught on tape and subsequently shown in news bulletins across the world. Later in the week the NTSB, the US National Transport Safety Board, released additional photos of the damaged planes which were published by USA Today. A full investigation of what exactly happened and why is currently under way.

On a better note, San Francisco International Airport’s newly renovated Terminal 2 (IATA: SFO) opened on Thursday for its first arriving and departing flights, as reported by Mercury News. The first departures from the new $383 million terminal were scheduled for 6 a.m., when two American Airlines flights took off for Dallas and Miami, SFO spokesman Mike McCarron said.

It anyway seems to have been an all US centric week as even we published a new airport review for one of America’s airports. Part 2 of our big Los Angeles International Airport (IATA: LAX) review concluded our series of this massive, fascinating airport with plenty to do if you have ample time.

That’s all for this week. Next week is Easter and LateDeparture will take a short break with the next weekly round-up to be published on Sunday, 1st May. Have a great Easter break and travel safely!

[Photo from Flickr - Some rights reserved by gusset]

This week’s airport events: dangerous taxi ride & more sleep

Tom — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 02:28:40 +0000

This week Fox News reported that US federal authorities are investigating a second case of an air traffic controller sleeping on the job, after a similar incident at Washington’s Reagan Nation Airport caused an uproar (we wrote about it). The article said that the latest report of a snoozing air traffic controller came Wednesday during Capitol Hill testimony. This time the incident took place in, in Knoxville, Tennessee (IATA: TYS). In this case, the air traffic controller appeared to be “willfully” sleeping and the FAA said it is taking steps to fire the person.

Sometimes getting to the airport can be more than just time consuming and annoying, it, in fact, can be very dangerous. Well, in the case of Elizabeth “Lilly” Littlewood, a 26-year-old from Newcastle, Australia, it was even life threatening as the Sydney Morning Herald reported: It was meant to be a quiet taxi ride to the airport at the end of a South American adventure. But after travelling halfway around the world, Ms Littlewood, was shot in the stomach after she and her partner were held at gunpoint for hours during their last drive through Peru. Ms Littlewood is now recovering in a hospital in Lima.

Better news came from San Francisco this week as Northern California’s hub airport (IATA: SFO) celebrated the completion of a $383 million renovation of San Francisco International Airport’s Terminal 2. Silicon Valley’s Mercury News wrote that the renovated terminal is the nation’s first to capture LEED gold status. This means it satisfied certain standards, including energy efficiency and water conservation, set by the U.S. Green Building Council. The terminal will officially open for business on 14th April.

Finally, with the advent of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, we’re sure many readers start thinking of where to spend their well earned summer holidays. But with ongoing tough economies across Europe and the US budgets can be tight. So why not consider our friends and search for cheap holidays to the beach?

[Photo from Flickr - Some rights reserved by martintoy]

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This blog post is sponsored by On the Beach Holidays.

Shopping desert at San Francisco International

Tom — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 16:11:45 +0000

San Francisco is a destination I frequently fly to for my job. When I took off there last time, there was no delay and in fact, when you take off from San Francisco International (IATA: SFO) in 98% of the times your flight is on time according to Flightstats.com. The Northern Californian airport was also recently rated best US airport. Despite all that, there will still be the odd occasion when your flight actually is delayed (my colleagues who flew back with BA the next day were in fact delayed for about 2 hours), plus, with international flights it is recommended to get to the airport 2 hours prior to departure which often means you have plenty of time to kill before the boarding announcement.

So, what’s there to do at San Francisco International? Well, according to the airports own statistics, the terminal is the largest international terminal by square footage in North America. There are two different boarding areas, A and G with most non-US carrier flights departing from area A. Whilst the size of the terminal is definitely adding to your relaxation, you would also expect plenty of shopping opportunities (even more so with the current weak dollar). No such luck - there are hardly any! For example, if you hoped to buy that last minute Apple iPod for your friend at home, you will be disappointed as none can be found at SFO. So, better get your shopping done before you get to the airport. But what can you then do at the airport? Here are my top 5:

Sit at the North side of the terminal and watch the air traffic
Search the few stores for that one Vitamin Water flavour you haven’t tasted yet
Count the number of public announcements that were generated with a computer voice
Connect online and download your latest emails (connect through T-Online for US$6/hour or use your companies connection software)
DeleteUpload those crazy photos you took last Saturday night at that party in the Castro

Happy travelling!

Airport Name	San Francisco International (International Terminal, A Gates)
Website	http://www.flysfo.com
IATA Code	SFO
Design
Shopping
Toilets
Overall

	$66.00 (£33.20)
	$99.00 (£49.80 – or click to see other currencies)

Hong Kong world’s best airport

Tom — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 06:40:57 +0000

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:

Hong Kong
Singapore Changi
Seoul Incheon
Kuala Lumpur KLIA
Munich
Kansai
Copenhagen
Zurich
Helsinki
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]