Heathrow to get a facelift

by Martha Edwards on

Before I had been to England, Heathrow Airport seemed a magical place in my mind — a place that emblemized everything British, from black cabs to girls in Union Jack-flag dresses. Plus, the Beatles had been there, so it must be amazing. But when I got there and took my first few steps on British ground, I was surprised; it was dingy and a bit smelly, a mish mash of cultures and consumerism and not really what I’d imagined Britain to be at all.

It’s true — Heathrow is shabby and outdated, despite being one of the busiest and most important airports in the world.

But 2008 is set to be the year that all changes for LHR, according to this article — it’s getting a facelift in the new year, and construction is expected to end in 2012. What can the 68 millions travelers who pass through there each year expect to see? Well, for starters, a fifth terminal is being added. And renovations will be happening that are aimed at bringing the ‘glamour’ back to air travel.

Speed-dating at 35,000 feet in Europe

by Abha Malpani on

Catherine recently talked about finding love at the airport and the popularity of online social networking to meet someone while hauled-up at the airport.

But, if you want to skip the whole courage building process to approach the hottie you saw whilst boarding, or want immediate interaction with not one, but plenty of singles looking for in-flight spice, Central Europe’s low-budget airline Sky Europe will organize a speed-dating session for you mid-air. “Come with a bright smile and look forward to a great trip”, I had to laugh when I read that in its list of guidelines.

So far the Sky Dating service has been offered on Sky Europe flights to Italy, Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands. It works like any other speed-dating service: you get 5-minutes with every person signed up and results are emailed 3 days post event. Unfortunately, you can’t sign-up for it on a spontaneous whim, you have to register for it in advance.

If you want to travel especially to meet someone, you can get the Sky Date package to a European capital. Trips are normally 1-3 days, your accommodation is taken care of and city tours will be organized, all with the idea of getting you hooked to someone on the trip. According to a recent article on MSNBC: on the last Sky Date flight – which combined speed-dating with overnight hotel stay and guided city tour, three couples were formed by the end of the trip.

Hmmm. Excuses for being single are running out way too fast! :)

Northwest flight attendant fashion show, Wednesday at DTW

by Grant Martin on

If you happen to be passing through Detroit Metro Airport on Wednesday (DTW) just after lunch time, swing by the fountain in the center of Mcnamara Terminal. Northwest flight attendants, who have long been overdue for a uniform upgrade, will be showing off their new wares in a fashion show.

The event is scheduled to take place twice at 1 and 2 PM in front of the main fountain (pictured), right in the entrance way.

Speculation among those “in the know” suggests that the uniform upgrades won’t be anything as drastic as what the Ryanair flight attendants have been up to; apparently they’re designed by the Twin Hill group, a classically conservative corporate apparel company. But perhaps its a good way to keep the crew up to date with the modern fashion and accessories, as well as begin to reward a group of employees who have been sacrificing left and right for a company just out of bankruptcy. Personally, I’ve always liked the scarves that the flight attendants occasionally wear. Hopefully those won’t go away.
If any of you lucky Gadlingers are out there during the show, snap a picture for us and I’ll post them.

Thanks to ashweigert at Flickr for the photo.

Blink Jets positioned to start Europe’s first air taxi service

by Grant Martin on

Financing just came through for Blink, a British startup airline advertised to be the first “taxi service” across Western Europe. The idea behind the service is that business travelers can save time (and maybe money) by commuting from smaller airports with fewer restrictions. So rather than taking the tube out to London Heathrow three hours early, waiting in a giant queue for ticketing and security, flying the hour to Charles De Gaulle in Paris, taking the RER into the city, linking up to the subway and into the city center you can get to a local London Airport 10 minutes early, be in the air 20 minutes later and be in Pairs by the end of the hour.

It’s particularly handy for a small group of high paid individuals whose time is worth far more in meetings versus in transit. But for plebeians like you and me it could be tough — I have a feeling that the flights are going to be a tad more than your average Ryanair flight. So if you don’t know the CEO of a home improvement store or a rapper, it might be a little while before we get to ride in one of these Cessna Citation Mustangs.

Operations and planning are well underway and service is marked to begin in May of 08. Start saving up your bottle deposits now.

Rate your bad flight

by Martha Edwards on

Think about it — what was your worst flight of all time? Mine was just a few months ago — we booked one of those all-inclusive Mexico trips and were a little peeved when we found out that the flight left at 1am. When boarded with bleary eyes, we were surprised at the size of the plane — I’m not exaggerating when I say that if you sit at the window seat, you have to lean to the side because of the curve in the airplane. My guy is 6’2 and we had to trade seats because to sit by the window, he had to slouch painfully.

If that wasn’t bad enough, when the plane took off, it flew north (um, Mr. Pilot, Mexico is south… ) to pick up some passengers from another city because the flight wasn’t full enough. Ok, fine, we can deal with that — but we sat at the airport in that other city for 3 hours, and we weren’t allowed to leave the plane! We didn’t arrive in Mexico until almost noon the next day. Yes, it sucked. But I have to say it was worth it when I got onto that beach.

My point: Everyone has a bad flight story, and now you can rate your flights and post your stories. Check out MyBadFlight.com for stories, ratings, and even the occasional airline celeb sighting! I’ll warn you though — there are some real nightmare stories out there — like being stuck on the tarmac for 12 hours. Good grief!