Airports, Americas, Reviews

Kodak moment at Rochester airport?

Rochester, home of the Kodak corporation is a 200,000 people city in Monroe county, New York state, south of Lake Ontario. And despite the towns small size it actually has an international airport called “Greater Rochester International Airport” (IATA: ROC). Just don’t expect to fly there directly from anywhere far away, it’s not that international (in fact, I think the only international flight is across the lake to Toronto). But at least it features frequent flights to and from JFK. The only problem is that if JFK is disrupted for some reason, you’re stuck at Kodak’s home airport.

And that’s exactly what happened last time I went there for business: I was hoping to get back to JFK quickly in order to catch my flight back to London Heathrow. But unfortunately a major storm over New York caused my JetBlue flight to be delayed by several hours (and making me miss all possible flights back to London that day, but that’s another story…).

So, what was there to do at thrilling Rochester airport? Here’s my top 5:

  1. Feast on JetBlue’s generous food and drink offerings (mind the cookies, but indulge on the blue crisps)
  2. Make use of the free Wifi (while getting annoyed with yourself for leaving the charger in the checked bag)
  3. Search for the one coffee shop which actually does have soy milk coffee (the one between the two concourses has!)
  4. Calm down the lovely lady next to you who has tickets for the premiere of the Sex and the City movie at the Radio City Music Hall tonight
  5. Bond with fellow stranded travellers and complain in loud voices about the lack of information (and the distasteful cookies, see 1.)

What? You think that stained glass thing (see picture above) should have made it into the top 5? Common, stay focused! 😉

 

(Picture from Flickr)

Airports

The 10 most on-time airports worldwide

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Airport statistics are a fine thing as they give you an indication of where potential problems lie. Especially if you have the choice of different routes, it makes sense to take the on-time statistics of a particular airport into account when planning your travels.

So, which airport is the worlds most efficient one? According to a Forbes Travlerer article, the winning airport is Haneda airport in Tokyo (HND) with 90% of its arrivals and departures on-time. Never heard of Haneda? Me neither, but according to the article, the airport is the fourth busiest airport in the world primarily handling domestic traffic. It’s bigger sister airport, the well known Narita International (NRT) makes it on to the 2nd place. Well done, Japan!

Interestingly, 6 out of the 10 most on-time airports are located in Asia, only two from the US (Orlando and Houston) and one from Europe (Munich) make it into this elite group – maybe some of these airport managers should have a summer exchange class organized in Asia…

  1. Haneda (HND), Tokyo, Japan – 90%
  2. Narita International (NRT), Tokyo, Japan – 84.2%
  3. Taiwan Taoyuan International, Taipei (TPE), Taiwan – 80.3%
  4. Kingsford Smith International (SYD), Sydney, Australia – 80.1%
  5. Hong Kong International (HKG), Hong Kong, Hong Kong – 79.7%
  6. Soekarno-Hatta International (CGK), Jakarta, Indonesia  – 79.3%
  7. Suvarnabhumi International (BKK), Bangkok, Thailand – 79.3%
  8. Orlando International (MCO), Orlando, USA – 79.8%
  9. Franz Josef Strauss Airport (MUC), Munich, Germany – 77.8%
  10. George Bush International (IAH), Houston, USA – 77%

Read the full Forbes Traveler article here.

 

(Picture by Flickr)

Various

Star’s Airport Style

 

People Magazine

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

Airports, Americas

Airport Installs 3D Body Scanners to Catch Criminals

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3D Body Scanner at Kelowna airportThis could be exciting – Kelowna airport in Canada installs the first 3D Body Scanners. Watch your flight time carefully next time your fly home from this British Colombia airport as starring at your 3D image could become addictive…

“The paddles rotate around the body. The radio frequency penetrates the clothing … bounces off the skin and gives … a 3-D holographic image of the body,” said Ian McNaugton, the National Sales Manager for L3 Communications, which makes the machines.

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Airlines

Huge cues for Ryanair’s long-haul flights?

During a press conference in Germany, Ryanair’s Boss Michael O’Leary announced a new long-haul service that would feature “beds and blowjobs” in its business class configuration. Yes, you read correctly. Watch the video to hear it for yourself. Also, pay attention to Anja Reugling’s reaction, Ryanair’s Sales and Marketing Manager for Germany, Austria and Switzerland who was caught in surprise about her bosses statement.

According to the always reliable UK tabloid newspaper Daily Star, Ryanair later confirmed O’Leary’s comments and said, “Beds and Blowjobs” is the working title for their business class service. Sounds more like a marketing trick but if they have the guts to actually launch this “service”, expect long (male) cues in front of the Ryanair gates, overly eager to board the aircraft first 😉

Airports, Europe, Reviews, Top-X-Things

Girl’s heaven at London’s Terminal 5

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Late Departure at London Heathrow Terminal 5

15 minutes delay for my flight to Berlin? GREAT! Because – LADIES – that’s all you need! Head downstairs to the A departure level and check out my Top 3 which are just next to each other:

  • Go to the comfy ladies bathroom and realize by checking your make-up that you look just gorgeous! This wonderful body needs to be treated well with…
  • … chocolate! Stop at the chocolate waterfall of “Chocolate Box” next door and spend your money on your favourite bar.
  • … gems! Your desire for eye candies can be satisfied at “Accessorize”. One can never have too much jewellery!

After all that, head happily to your gate with the nice thought of enjoying your chocolate while looking at London from the sky).

Christiane

Facts
Airport name: London Heathrow (Terminal 5) Short code: LHR
Website: http://www.heathrowairport.com
Design factor: 4/5
Shopping factor: 3/5
Toilets factor: 4/5
Overall factor: 4/5

P.S. I am curious what the guys have to say about Terminal 5! I saw them handing out free shots of Whisky at the Worldofdutyfree, that should make it on to the list. As well as the comfy sofas in the waiting area. But  don’t forget to check out Gucci and Tiffany’s and buy some small souvenir for your lefthome girlfriend! 😉

Airports, Europe, Reviews, Top-X-Things

Reliable Zurich

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Well, I think you saw it coming, didn’t you? Of course, there was no delay at Zurich airport on my Swiss flight back to London last night. But don’t be disappointed just yet! As Zurich is kind of home turf to me, I’m still able to give you the lowdown about this airport:

After the major rehaul of the entire airport in 2003, Switzerland’s main hub is now back on the radar of decent airports. Particulary nice is the so called “Airside Centre”, the main area for shopping, restaurants and the starting point to all gates. It offers an attractive high roof and a nice wooden floor. However, the main problem with the airport overall is that other than at most airports, the security checks in Zurich are located close to the actual gates, so after the main shopping area, and not after the passport checks, which means you need to plan ahead and be very contious of your remaining time. Also, if you depart from the E gates you need to take the shuttle train to the midfield terminal which adds another 10 to 15 minutes to your journey. This terminal contains some shops as well but the selection is far smaller than in tha Airside Centre.

But without further adu, here are my top 5 things you can do while waiting at Zurich airport (if that ever happens…):

  1. Choose your favourite “Luxemburgerli” flavour from the Lindt & Sprüngli shop
  2. Hop on the “Gates E”-train and experience the Heidi and alpine scene animations from Swiss Tourism (there’s a different one each way)
  3. Count how many times the friendly Swiss greet you with a “Grüezi“
  4. Press your nose against the Rolex glass cabinets in the Swiss watch store and dream of your lottery win on Saturday
  5. Try to find someone who actually can speak the 4th official Swiss language Romansh

Facts
Airport name: Zurich Airport / Zurich Kloten
Short code: ZRH
Website: http://www.zurich-airport.com
Design factor: 4/5
Shopping factor: 3/5
Toilets factor: 2/5
Overall factor: 3/5

Airports, Europe, Reviews, Top-X-Things

Top 5 things to do while waiting in…. Copenhagen

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Thanks a lot for all your feedback on my first blog entry. One of many comments was that you would like to see a top X list of things to do. Fair enough, so here’s the one for Copenhagen’s Kastrup airport:

  1. Visit the tiny but iconic Lego store – DKK 0
  2. Decide between the brown and the black leather jacket in the Puma store – DKK 2,000
  3. Drink a large beer at the Sportsbar while watching the Euro Soccer – DKK 67
  4. Make room for the next beer downstairs in the roomy toilets – DKK 0
  5. Watch the gorgeous blond across the hallway – priceless

Again, comments are of course more than welcome 🙂

(Image from Flickr – some rights reserved)

Airports, Europe, Reviews

Lengthy wait at Copenhagen’s Kastrup airport

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Copenhagen is a beautiful city, especially when you visit it in June where the daylight hours are the longest of the year and even more so if you are lucky and find warm and sunny weather. All of these parameters were true for me when I visited Denmark’s capital last weekend. And for the size of the city there is a lot to do and see. My favourites were the alternative area Christiania or simply a trip with the water taxi around the harbour.

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