Mexico City airport adopts Japanese man

by Grant Martin on

A Japanese man named Hiroshi Nohara has decided to take full advantage of his tourist’s visa in Mexico City and has moved into the airport. He’s been living there for two months, and the initial avoidance from the locals has recently turned into a curiosity.

Nohara, who can’t explain why he decided to live in the city airport, has been getting by on free donations from local fast food stands and kind visitors. Apparently he was gaining so much notiriety with the local media that he’s even being sponsored by a few of the stands who give him free hats and shirts to wear. Now, as a tourist attraction in and of himself, people stop by the airport just to take their picture with him.

Meanwhile, Mexican officials can’t do anything to remove him from the airport as it’s a 24/7 facility and technically he’s there legally. His tourist visa runs up in March.

Until then, make sure you stop by on your connection to Acapulco and get your photo taken with Mr. Nohara. It’s a limited edition engagement so your photo will be worth millions on Ebay someday.

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San Jose to Spend $1.1 Million on Mural at Airport

by Josh Lew on

The San Jose city council recently approved an art project with an $1.1 million dollar price tag. A huge mural will be installed at Mineta San Jose International Airport on the side of a newly constructed parking garage. Impressive? It will be San Jose’s largest piece of public art (62 feet high, 76,000 square feet). The mural is inspired by a high resolution photograph of different hands making different gestures. (No, I assume the gesture you are thinking of right now is not a part of the picture. But I can’t say for certain).

San Jose is not a new city, but its growth over the past couple of decades has been explosive. While it might be a nice place to live, many visitors find it sterile and lacking in atmosphere. This is especially the case if you compare it to nearby San Francisco. Perhaps a mural, even a million dollar one, is a good idea. At the very least, you’ll be able to chuckle as you try to find double meanings for those hand gestures.

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TSA to Create new Green “Family” Lane

by Grant Martin on

As holiday travel kicks into high gear, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has unveiled another tier to their security line scheme for getting passengers through checkpoints efficiently.

The basic system instilled earlier this year is currently called the “black diamond” self select system, which effectively attempts to separate passengers at the security checkpoint into groups. Those who know what they’re doing, or the experienced travelers move (quickly) through the black diamond line while the casual or inexperienced traveler will move (slower) through a separate blue square line.

Now there is a third group: The Green Circle line is designed for families traveling together and for those with medical liquids over 100mL. Theoretically, I suppose this would also be the slowest.

Note, if you have liquids still adhering to the 3-1-1 rule, you should still go through your regularly scheduled line.

In concept, black diamond self select system is a good idea, stratifying the hurried, experienced traveler away from the casual, relaxed passenger who takes his or her time at the checkpoint. But in practice, does it work? Say you’re a casual traveler, are late for your flight and show up to find that the black diamond line is 1/4 the length of the blue square line. You’re going to go to the short, line, right? Will things equalize out independent of line designation?

For the sake of less mayhem at the security checkpoint, I hope it works out. Stay tuned for some reports from the field.

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Irish airports will offer pre-flight US customs and immigration

by Josh Lew on

Noel Dempsey, the transport minister of Ireland, has announced that he will meet with US Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff next week. The two will sign an agreement that will allow airports in Dublin and Shannon, Ireland to provide US customs screening and immigration checkpoints prior to take-off. This will exponential up the convenience factor and also make Ireland a more viable hub for travelers flying between the US and Europe.

Passengers flying out of Ireland will still have to pass through customs and immigration. But they will be able to do so in Irish airports, where it is bound to be less crowded and hectic. Also, since no further immigration or customs clearance is necessary, planes from Ireland can land in domestic terminals at US airports.

Currently, Dublin and Shannon have US immigration checkpoints for outbound fliers. However, passengers still have to go through customs once they reach the US. The agreement with US Homeland Security will not bring immediate change. Shannon will begin offering full immigration and customs service next summer. Dublin will start the program in 2010.

[Via Airwise]

JetBlue’s JFK Terminal 5 opens its doors

by Grant Martin on

After a few brief delays, a dry run and countless days of anticipation, JetBlue finally opened the doors of Terminal 5 at JFK today.

The building, a Gensler re-design of the old TWA behemoth, features wide open spaces, new amenities, all sorts of lovely food options and a dedicated home for the once-cramped JetBlue airlines. Blogger Jeremy Kressmann took a look through T5 earlier this fall and wrote it up for us here.

So how are things going so far? Have there been any epic fails like Heathrow’s Terminal 5 that opened up earlier this year?

Things actually seem to be moving pretty smoothly so far. JetBlue launched a liveblog (of sorts) that details some of the features and hobknobbery that’s going on during the first day activities and things seem pretty calm. Sure, you can’t trust content coming straight out of the lion’s mouth, but the blog is at least worth taking a look at for all of the fun pictures and insider looks into operations.

Later this week, our own Jerry Guo will be wandering through T5. Stay tuned to hear his take on the facilities.