Heathrow airport is one of the world’s busiest and with its five different terminals it can be a nightmare to navigate with sometimes huge distances to travel between flights and to the carpark.
Well they have come up with a futuristic and novel way to help move people around, with the trial introduction of a pod system which should move travellers easily and swiftly around the complex.
Starting trials in the next few weeks from the brand new terminal five will be a driver-less pod system which runs on a 4 km track. Each pf the pods carry a family and luggage from the terminal to the airport. The system is that smart all the rider needs to do is swipe tickets, or frequent flyer card onto the computer or type in the flight number and the pod will instantly take them there travelling at speeds of about 40kph.
It is hoped the 4km trial will extend to the whole airport and cover the 48km needed to move between all terminals. The pod is a battery powered vehicle which recharges when not in use and it is environmentally friendly emitting no CO2 and uses about 70 percent less energy than that of a modern vehicle, and with much of the system on elevated rails it keeps away from the nasty traffic of the airport.
Called ULTra Personal Transport System the initial investment has cost in the vicinity of 25 million pounds for the 18 pods and tracks. There are also plans underway for Daventry and Norhamptonshire to use similar systems, and if successful we might see them rolled out throughout the world.
Recently in the Taiwanese capital Taipei a novel restaurant opened which has caused a bit of interest around the world. Known as the A380 In Flight Kitchen the restaurant is themed as the giant Airbus A380. There is although a bit square, airline like seating for 84 people and people are served by waitresses dressed as flight attendants and serve their food on plastic trays. People queue up to board with their boarding passes before the ‘flight’ and are welcomed aboard by the head steward before being show to their seats. The restaurant looks and functions just like a aircraft but its really just a clever fit out in a shopping centre and guests never leave the ground. Taiwan has a history of interesting dining experiences, they have one restaurant which is set up as a hospital ward and we did a story a few months back about one which was a giant toilet block where diners sat on toilets- said a lot for their food.
In the oddest case of life imitating art, an Air India Airbus A319 recently had a bit of trouble with a snake who somehow found his way onto the plane. The snake was happily curled up under a seat but got disturbed while checks were done between flights. He then slithered off into an air vent making capture by airline authorities impossible. Air India is playing down the incident but the idea of a snake lost on a plane has stirred the interest of media much like interest Samuel L Jackson’s 2006 film, Snakes on a Plane, caused amongst the Internet community when it was released. So where did the snake come from? Our guess is a snake charmer has lost part of his act, if you got a better explanation hit up our comment form below. Read the rest of this entry »
The Airbus A380 has not be in the air very long now, in fact it was launched in October 2007 to launch customer Singapore Airlines. To date 3 planes have been delivered meaning Airbus have plenty of work ahead of them as they have around 190 orders for the supersized plane dating back to 2001. We found the above video of the interior layout on youtube and thought we share it, economy looks very much like an economy part of a plane but check out the private suites of first class, do you want have a go in the the A380 let us know your thoughts below.
You may have noticed airlines don’t have too many new and original ideas and Premium Economy may just be one of them. Premium Economy is the latest gimmick that the airlines are jumping on and in theory it’s a good idea. With standard economy seat spaces becoming smaller and business class spaces becoming bigger there is a huge jump between traveling like a king or a pauper. This is where premium economy fits in offering 20% to 30% more space than economy and a bit better menu. Some how the size of these seats remind me of business class seats from the early 80′s and you got to ask yourself if the constant upsizing of business and first class cabins have been worth it, especially when many US airlines are removing first class altogether. Expect to pay double your standard economy fare when traveling Premium Economy but probably half of what business is worth, so what do you recon is it worth it?, let us know below. Read the rest of this entry »
December 7 marks the 66th anniversary of the attack of the US fleet at Pearl Harbor Hawaii by the Japanese. Today Pearl Harbor has been turned into a moving memorial for those who fought and those who lost their lives in this dark period of the world’s history.
The USS Arizona memorial is one of the most visited war sites on the island. Here a simple floating pavilion sits above the final resting place of the vessel and many of the 1177 crew members that perished. A shore based museum also has some moving wartime stories and memorabilia and visitors can also choose to visit the USS Missouri battleship which was the scene of the 1945 surrender.
At over 1 million square metres and able to handle 53 million people a year the new terminal at Beijing Airport promises to be the world’s biggest and most technologically advanced airport facility doubling the all ready huge airport. The brand new terminal three has been designed by British architectural firm Foster and Partners at a cost of over $3.5 billion US dollars. With the 2008 Olympic Games starting in August it is hoped the terminal will be ready for its first visitors around March next year. Nearly a quarter of a billion dollars has been spent on a roller coaster like luggage system which will be able to handle nearly 20000 items an hour from nearly 3oo counters. The system will allow departing passenger to pick up their bags in under 5 minutes of landing even from international flights.
Singapore Airlines have announced that the world’s first Airbus A380 route will be a daily flight between London -Singapore and Sydney starting on October 28th this year. The Airbus promises to revolutionise air travel with this huge double decker aircraft dwarfing all other aircraft. The Singapore Airlines configuration will seat 471 people with 399 seats available in economy class as well as business and first class seating. Tickets for first flight between Singapore and Australia were recently auctioned on the eBay website with thousands raised for charity. Singapore Airlines has so far committed to buy 19 of these huge aircraft and are the first company to receive the plane. So far Airbus has over 170 orders for the plane with Emirates having orders for 55, Qantas having orders for 20 and Singapore having ordered 19.
Today’s YouTube video shows some amazing footage of a test Airbus landing in some pretty strong crosswinds. Read the rest of this entry »
40km north of Seattle on America’s west coast is the Boeing Factory where their enormous aircraft are assembled. The complex is open to the public and offers an amazing insight into the design and construction of the worlds most popular commercial planes. The assembly building is the largest building by volume in the world and has a perimeter of 3.5km. The company offers a fantastic tour which starts off with the Future of Flight Aviation Centre which is an amazing interactive display with flight simulators, computerised attractions and quite a few full size displays of various parts of the planes. Then its off to the Boeing Everett Factory on a one our guided bus tour where you can see the planes being constructed. Once inside the factory you can see various types of planes in different stages of construction.
Situated on the beautiful Lake Constance with and surrounded by the Alps Fridrichshafen is one of the more senic harbour towns in Germany. It is also home to the Zeppelin Museum which has over 43,000 sq feet of exhibition space and is quite worthy of a visit. The lovely art deco building was once the Harbour Railway Station and now houses a huge array of artifacts, artwork and memrobilia of these magnificent giant flying machines. There is a very faithful reproduction of a 33 metre section of the LZ 129 Hindenburg which is open for exloration. The museum features a very comprehensive history of the airships for both military and civilan use. The centre has a very good archive section, library, speical exhibition space and of course a giftshop where you can buy a multitude of Zepplin souvenirs including publications, models, toys and the like. Friedrichshafen is in easy reach of Stuttgart and Munich being only a few hours drive from both centres and also easily accessble from Zurich or Innsbruck in Austria.
