Heathrow is Now the Most Family Friendly European Airport . . . After Being the Least

by Anna Brones on

Rethink your travel plans families: if you’re adventuring with children, the best airport you can travel to, from and through in Europe is London Heathrow.

That’s a big deal if you consider the fact that only last year it was ranked as the worst.

The rankings come via Skyscanner, which did a study focusing on families with children under 4 years old and looked at travel from June to September 2013.Thirty five European family travel experts and travel bloggers judged 20 different airports based upon their baby-changing facilities, security levels and food options, as well as the general check-in process. We all know how a long line can affect a tired child.

According to Skift, here are the top 10 family-friendly airports across Europe:

1. London Heathrow
2. Zurich and Vienna
3. Dusseldorf
4. Madrid-Barajas
5. Munich and Frankfurt
6. London Gatwick
7. Moscow Sheremetyevo
8. Paris Charles de Gaulle
9. Oslo
10. Copenhagen

But not everyone loves a child-friendly space. Some airlines are even offering kid-free zones on-board for those trying to avoid the younger crowd. Ultimately, it all goes to show that traveling with children is becoming more and more the norm, whether you like it or not.

British Airports on High Alert for Boob Bombs

by Rob Annis on

Large breasts can get women out of a parking ticket or perhaps earn them free drinks at a bar, but they may also mean additional screening from airport security.

In a headline that seems ripped directly from a Conan O’Brien monologue, airport security agents are on the lookout for terrorists with explosive breast implants.

The United Kingdom’s Daily Mirror reports Heathrow Airport is on high terror alert after word that Al-Qaeda is plotting attacks on airlines flying out of London. With airport scanners able to detect volatile threats outside the body, not inside, Al-Qaeda’s chief bomb-maker, Ibrahim al-Asiri, allegedly devised an explosive that can be hidden in an implant or body cavity.

As a result of the new concerns, security lines at Heathrow and many major world airports are much longer than usual. The Mirror quotes one staff member who admits security personnel have been ordered to “pay particular attention to females who may have concealed hidden explosives in their breasts,” but didn’t go into further details.

With Homeland Security agents already under scrutiny for their often invasive search measures, what new screening measures will they implement? Will airline passengers agree to even more thorough screenings? After the shoe bomber Richard Reid was caught, fliers have had to take off their shoes. What measures would the TSA enact if a breast bomber strikes? Will female fliers above a C-cup be given their own security line?

Assuming the reports are true, how popular are these breast bombers at the Al-Qaeda annual social mixers?

Royal Baby’s Arrival To Be Celebrated At Heathrow

by Chris Owen on

London’s Heathrow airport has plans for a very special “arrival” of the royal baby. The first 1,000 arriving passengers in each terminal after the royal birth, whenever that may be, will be informed of the future heir’s birth with complimentary bespoke t-shirts and British gift boxes including Twinings Tea and Walkers shortbread biscuits.

Departing passengers will also receive the gift boxes in the departures lounges as a farewell, giving them a piece of Britain to take home. Heathrow representatives, collectively speaking over 40 languages, will be on hand to make everyone feel right at home.

While the royal baby will surely trump other comings and goings at Heathrow, the first British Airways A380 was also a recent celebrated arrival. See the video below.

British Airways Tests Electronic Luggage Tags

by Meg Nesterov on

It’s 2013: we can carry hundreds of books on a pocket-sized device, video chat anywhere in the world and order nearly anything to be delivered to our door. So why do we still use paper luggage tags and rely on outmoded technology to track our missing bags? British Airways has teamed up with Designworks to test an electronic luggage tag this month that could eliminate disposable paper tags and allow smartphone users to track their bags. The reusable bag tag would automatically update after check-in with your flight information, saving time to print and attach new tags with every flight. Now if only they could prevent bags from being lost at London’s infamous black hole Heathrow Airport.

Baggage Handler Accidentally Causes $6M In Damage

by Libby Zay on

A baggage handler told the The Sun he is “mortified” after a simple error caused more than $6 million in damage to a British Airways plane.

The news outlet is reporting things went horribly wrong as an Airbus A320 plane taxied on the runway at London Heathrow Airport. Having just finished loading the plane with luggage, the baggage handler accidentally left his scanning gun – a device used to scan the barcodes of suitcases to make sure the correct luggage is put on the plane – on the aircraft’s engine cover. Within moments, the gun was sucked into the engine, and the results were apparently disastrous. After hearing a loud bang, the pilot aborted takeoff and evacuated the 150 passengers on board.

According to The Sun, nobody has been suspended over the blunder – not even the baggage handler who made the six million dollar mistake. The airline, however, is investigating the incident, which could have been much worse if it had happened after takeoff. The plane has already been repaired, and the passengers made it to their destination of Bucharest, Romania, about three hours late.

[via news.com.au]