A new exhibit at Toronto Pearson International Airport offers a glimpse inside the world of ballet.

Behind the Scenes brings together photos, costumes and other items from The National Ballet of Canada’s current productions as well as historical items from the archives of the National Ballet.  Look for it pre-security in Terminal 1′s Malton Airport Gallery on Level 2, above the Canada Arrivals Hall.

Photos by Bruce Zinger,Courtesy the National Ballet of Canada.

1. Putting on pointe shoes  2. Rebekah Rimsay preparing for the role of Carabosse from The Sleeping Beauty

Categories: Art, Exhibits
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Due to a mid-morning eruption (re-eruption?) of Mt. Redoubt, Alaska Airlines has suspended all flights into and out of Anchorage, at least until early Friday morning.

Volcano ash is serious stuff; it can limit visibility and ruin engines.  So the airline is taking no chances: 45 flights were canceled earlier this week due to previous eruptions from Mt. Redoubt, leaving more than 4,000 travelers stuck at the airport, at home, or somewhere they didn’t plan to be.

If you’re scheduled to fly to or from Alaska, check in with alaskaair.com or 1-800-ALASKAAIR.  In the meantime, you might want to follow the mountain’s activities on the Alaska Volcano Observatory Web site.  It has photos, seismic graphs, airport flight status reports, and instructions for collecting ash fall – finally another use for those Ziploc bags!

(Photograph of Mt. Redoubt taken from Diamond Ridge near Homer, by Dennis Anderson. At 9:50 Am  March 26, 2009)

Folks are also ending up stuck at airports all across the country today due to snow in Denver and tornado activity in the south, so if you’re going anywhere, be sure to check in with your airline before you leave the house.

Categories: Cancellations, Safety, Weather
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Here’s a good news story for dogs in Seattle, courtesy of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA).

The folks at SEA-TAC Airport needed to test out a luggage x-ray system and followed the manufacturer’s advice to use big bags of dog food and jars of peanut butter to see how the system performed.

The dog food was used to simulate weight inside baggage.  The peanut butter was a fluid stand-in to help set off the explosives alarm.

The test was a success.  And all that dog food? It’s going to local animal shelters.

Woof!

Categories: Pets
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File under: alternative travel ideas.

Four hang gliders and a variety of local hang-gliding memorabilia are on display at John Wayne Airport (SNA) in Santa Ana, Ca.

“Orange County: The Birthplace of Modern Hang Gliding” includes video and photography celebrating hang gliding and is guest curated by Owen Morse, an avid hang glider and a professional juggler who has a unique appreciation for how things fly through the air.

Turns out there’s quite a bit of hang gliding history in Orange County.  Back on May 23, 1971, local flight enthusiasts gathered together with some home-made flying devices to celebrate the 123rd birthday of Otto Lilienthal, a German flight pioneer.   And, as we learn from the exhibition:

“Using the ocean breezes of Newport as fuel, the birth of hang gliding commenced.  Shortly thereafter, brothers Bob and Chris Wills of Orange County designed and built the first “Wills Wing” hang glider. In 1973 they launched their own business with the same name and now it’s become the largest hang glider manufacturing company in the world.

Intrigued? The exhibit will be at John Wayne Airport through May 15th and can be seen in display cases across from Gates 1 – 4 and 11 – 14; the hang gliders are above the baggage carousels in the Thomas F. Riley Terminal and can be seen by both passengers and visitors.

Categories: Exhibits
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In my column about tourist destinations and travel spots planning to turn out lights for this Saturday’s Earth Day event, there are two (so far) airports.

But don’t be alarmed – there is no plan to put anyone in harm’s way by turning off important runway or tower lights.

Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, which participated in the event last year, will turn off many of the indoor and outdoor signs, some lights in the terminals and many of the moving walkways.

At Los Angeles International Airport, the focus will be on the iconic 100-foot tall colorful light pylons that illuminate the airport entrance and serve as a backdrop for many film and TV scenes. The pylons will be lit solid green for 60 minutes before Earth Hour and then be turned off completely for the event.

Here’s a link to the full story, which has a description of how all the lights will go out on the Las Vegas Strip including, for the first time ever, the “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign.

Photo courtesy The Firm Public Relations & Marketing.

Categories: Energy, Environment
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