VIDEO: Flash mob at Beirut Airport duty free

by Meg Nesterov on


Flash mobs are nothing new, Lisbon even staged a dance at the airport in 2009, but this flash mob at Beirut Airport is the first I’ve seen with Arab Dabke dance. Dabke is a form of line dance which is traditionally performed at weddings and social occasions, and the group here combined it with some hip hop steps. Passengers and airport staff joined in the fun for this video made for Beirut‘s Duty Free (which, incidentally, has amazingly low prices and Lebanese wine is delicious).

Seen any flash mobs on your travels? Would you stop and watch a “spontaneous” dance at an airport?

Video of the Day: Smuggling marijuana from Amersterdam

by Mike Barish on

Mr. Show with Bob and David is, arguably, the greatest sketch comedy show ever. When they took on the nerve-wracking experience of trying to smuggle marijuana back from Amsterdam, it was hilarious. While the TSA has made the airport experience stressful even if you aren’t doing anything illegal, this scene hysterically captures what happens when backpackers try their hand at something that professional drug smugglers struggle to do: act natural.

Of course, we at Gadling neither condone nor recommend drug smuggling. Furthermore, there is certainly more to do in Amsterdam than just smoking pot (not to mention that, pretty soon, tourists might not even have access to weed in Holland). However, this clip had us laughing as hard as we did when it first aired years ago. Travel safely and always be sure to remember where you packed your shampoo!

If you have a great travel video that you think we might enjoy, share the link in a comment below. We could feature it as our next Video of the Day!

Miniature Manchester Airport — in real life

by Grant Martin on

Tilt-shift is a technology that’s been around for the last few years, but it’s just now being applied to the video world, and the results are pretty wild. The below video was shot overlooking Manchester Airport in England, and using the blurred effects of tilt-shift it looks like everyone working at the airport is a small doll moving around a series of toy planes.

If you’re interested in trying out the technology on your own time, Gadling has a few suggestions to save you some time.

Behind the scenes: Removing snow at O’Hare international airport

by Scott Carmichael on

Flying to or through an airport that gets hit with a lot of snow is a major hassle – if you managed to actually make it to the airport, you’ll probably end up spending a night in a hotel while your airline waits get its planes dug out of the snow.

But as much as we complain, an entire army of snow removal teams have to work behind the scenes to make the airport usable again – and we’ve collected some photos of those teams at work.

Chicago’s O’hare airport is used to snow – but a 20.6″ blizzard hit this week, canceling all flights and requiring the use of some pretty heavy equipment. A convoy of 20 trucks lines up to clear one runway, and needs up to 20 minutes to clear the entire stretch. Once the snow has been blown off the runway, it is collected in massive heated containers, and the water is dumped in the sewer system.

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A convoy of snow blowers and plows clears a runway with the Chicago skyline in the background.

Singapore Airlines Cargo 747 lands on a nice clean runway.

Not your average backyard snowblower!

[Photos by Scott Olson/Getty Images]

You can still watch the Super Bowl if you’re traveling during the game

by Grant Martin on

Years back it used to be that if you were traveling by airplane you had very little chance of getting any updates about the big game. The best that you could hope for was for the captain to radio down to the towers during the flight to get updates — and to relay it back to the passengers.

Now that we’re in the information age that role might be switched. With TV and internet empowered users in the back of the airplane, many traveling this Super Bowl weekend will have full access to the game, from television in the back of some Jetblue, Virgin America and Delta aircraft and wireless internet (and updates therein) across a broad spectrum of other aircraft.

Our old friend Scott Mayerowitz over at the Associated Press (via Bloomberg) has a nice roundup of how empowered users can enjoy the game this weekend — it’s an interesting and hopeful ready for any football fan on the road.

What willl really be interesting is to listen to the chatter over the aircraft radio during the game — some carriers like United allow passengers to listen to the cockpit communication at their seats. How many scores will pass through the sky during Super Bowl weekend as airplanes crisscross the planet?