Wow, we’re a full day late. But thankfully it’s still “this” week in some parts of this world. Let’s then get on with it. Here’s what we found this week:
- Tornado warning grounds flights at Denver Airport
- World’s best Wi-Fi Airports
- The hidden beauty of airport runways
- Jay Z’s new club at Atlanta Airport
It didn’t sound that bad when you just read the headlines, but it was still quite astonishing when we went through all the details. We’re talking about the tornado warning in the Denver area from Wednesday. ABC News reported that Frontier Airlines says 13 of its flights from Denver International Airport (DEN) have been canceled – and here’s the astonishing detail – because its aircraft were damaged by hail. The news article also told us that all flights were grounded Wednesday afternoon because of a tornado warning and severe thunderstorms that brought hail and strong winds to the area. There were delays of about an hour and a half after operations resumed.
Thankfully it’s more and more common that airports around the world offer free Wi-Fi service for travellers. So the question of which airports have the best Wi-Fi services certainly is an interesting one. The Telegraph had the answer this week, when their travel technology expert wrote that European airports are particularly prone to the “freemium” policy – where users get a chunk of free online time, after which they must register and pay – a stage that their US counterparts have already gone through and rejected after customers complained. According to the journalist Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) is among the best airport as it has provided free Wi-Fi in all five of its terminals since 2012. Next is Helsinik Airport (HEL) in Europe with the highest score, followed by Singapore Changi (SIN) and Incheon in South Korea (ICN).
Another nice article we picked up this week came from Wired, that introduced the article by writing airports are known for rules and regulations, a reputation that applies to the runways as well. Almost all airport designs are governed by regulations established by the International Civil Aviation Organization. Lauren O’Neil turns those strictures into art, with the help of Google Earth. The Brooklyn-based designer has made a meticulous study of airport runways and logged the results on a Tumblr called Holding Pattern. It’s definitely worth a look!
And to finish the week off, a little bit of showbiz for you. ABC News informed us that Jay Z brought his 40/40 Club to the world’s busiest airport on Wednesday, with the opening the swanky bar’s third location. 40/40 is open to ticketed passengers at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), according to a spokeswoman of the catering company partnering with the rap mogul. The sports bar is in the airport’s Concourse D concessions area.
That’s all for this week – safe travels!
[Photo from Wikimedia Commons – some rights reserved]