On Wednesday, May 18^th, 2011, Oakland International Airport will put into service eight ChargePoint networked charging stations for “new generation” electric vehicle (EV) such as the Chevrolet Volt, the Nissan LEAF, Tesla Roadsters and others.

Los Angeles International Airport now has a cadre of bomb-sniffing canines on duty who are trained not just to sniff out explosives, but to pick up the scent of explosives in the air and track down the person who may be carrying the explosive material -even if that person is on the move.

And some time next year there will be a new food hall on Delta’s Concourse G at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport filled with new food and beverage outlets that are branches of, or partnerships with, local favorites.

The $2 billion concourse upgrade will include a Media Bar that OTG Management is billing as the first virtual newsstand. Passengers will be able to rent an iPad and download publications, movies, music, apps and other items before boarding a plane. (Those with their own iPads will be able to download material as well.) If you do rent an iPad, you’ll be provided with a postpaid envelope so you can mail the iPad back when you’re done.

The OTG Media Bar is going launch at MSP airport, but plans are already in place expand the program to other locations.

(Even PIT’s T Rex is excited about the Steelers being in the Super Bowl)

Super Bowl mania is reaching into airports: four airlines have added extra flights from Pittsburgh to Dallas for the Super Bowl and on Friday morning (February 4^th), Pittsburgh International Airport will be hosting a black-and-gold-themed pep rally for Arlington-bound Steelers fans.

The rally will take place in the airside terminal between 8:30 and noon and feature live music, special guests, “Hudsy” the Dog from Hudson Booksellers, Steelers merchandise and lots of excited fans.

To celebrate two new airberlin routes, The Bavarian Strollers will be playing oompah-filled songs at Gatwick Airport and Victoria Station on Monday, February 7^th. The song list will be made up of requests voted on via Twitter and four random voters will win airberlin tickets from Gatwick Airport to Nuremburg or Hanover.  Details on the airberlin oompah contest here.

And there’s a new video arcade at Orlando International Airport: the “King of Kong” arcade is in the main terminal near the food court.  At the grand opening Twin Galaxies, the authority on video game high scores and world records, unveiled a set of video-game-related trading cards. The first two cards in the series feature Billy Mitchell and Walter Day. Mitchell has numerous world records for Donkey Kong and Pac-Man; Day is known as the founding father of organized video game playing and competitions.

But as of Thursday, October 21, 2010, Haneda Airport has a new runway and a brand new International Terminal that’s filled with shiny new arrival and departures halls, gleaming gate areas, and dozens of new restaurants and shops.

An increased schedule of international flights to North America, Europe and Asia begins on October 31^st.

The big advantage of flying into Haneda Airport will be the time you’ll save getting to and from Tokyo.  By express train, it’s an hour’s ride from Narita Airport to Tokyo.

From Haneda, you can get to town on a monoral or a train in about 20 minutes.

The other advantage: Haneda’s International Terminal is brand new.

I was on site for opening day inspecting the restaurants, the shops and the new amenities along with what seemed to be at least half the population of Japan.

Several hundred people lined up as early as 3 in the morning to be among the first to ride the new monorail connection to the airport.  And throughout the day thousands of what the airlines certainly hope will be future passengers made their way out to the terminal just to take a look around.

They visited the outdoor observation deck. Even though it was raining and there wasn’t much you could see.

They cheered on the cars zipping around the airport’s slot car racetrack.

They bought Hello Kitty souvenirs in a Hello Kitty store that a father of two young Hello Kitty fans assured me was among the most-well stocked Hello Kitty stores he’s seen.

And they waited patiently to be among the first to have a meal in brand new airport eateries that range from a pizzeria with a brick oven to a French café and a restaurant where sushi is delivered via conveyor belt.

Around lunch time, I joined one of the longest lines at the airport. The one where people were waiting to order green-tea soft swirl from the newest branch of Kyo Hayashiya, a sweets vendor that has its roots in a teahouse established in 1753.

And like this woman who was buying ice cream for herself and a friend, I sat and ate the swirled, sweet treat while contemplating future adventures that might start at this sparkling new airport.

There’s lots more to share about the amenities at Haneda’s International Terminal – and the two domestic terminals, which are quite swanky.

But in the meantime, here are links to the opening day reports from two travel colleagues, Airline Reporter David Brown and Jaunted’s Cynthia Drescher.

Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport has a new Traveling Art exhibition space devoted to the work of Dutch artists and designers.  The work displayed will change every three months, but right now the exhibit cases include “Flexible Volume” bags designed Gonnie Janssen.

For example, the Harmonica Bag has a flexible bottom that can be adjusted to its contents.

And the senz° umbrella, which seems to be both stylish and, as a series of videos show, incredibly wind resistant.

I can’t wait to see what pops up next!

Here’s great news for anyone who finds themselves stuck at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on the weekend.

The Observation Deck at the top of the Theme Building, which has been closed since 9/11, will finally re-open to the public this Saturday.

(A view of the old version of the observation deck; courtesy LAX. New version: under wraps!)

There will be a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday morning (June 21, 2010) but the official public hours of the deck will be Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Go take a look through the new telescopes and enjoy the view!

Orlando Airport getting Google-ized?

According to this story in the Orlando Sentinel, the Orlando International Airport (MCO) is in discussion with Google for a two-year deal in which Google would pay the airport more than $100,000 a year to sponsor the existing (free) airport Wi-Fi and provide a variety of other amenities, including free Internet kiosks for passengers traveling without laptops and phone booths at the international gates offering free long distance calling.

Sounds like Google is talking to other airports about this same sort of ‘experiment,’ but no word yet on where.

And this sounds like fun:

(courtesy Hot Rod)

This Saturday (June 19^th, 2010) Kansas City International Airport will be hosting its fourth KCI Cruise. Not a sailing ship cruise, but the sort of cruise where hundreds – in this case up to 500 – owners of classic, muscle and special-interest automobiles gather in a parking lot to show off their cool cars.

The event runs from 3 p.m. until 8 p.m. (weather permitting; wouldn’t want anything to happen to those cars!) and money raised from the sales of donated food and prizes will go to area charities. The prizes are nothing to sneeze at. They’ll be giving away Frontier Airlines tickets, Chiefs and Royals tickets, Justin Bieber concert tickets (!), hotel stays and more. For more details and for directions to the event, see the KCI Cruise page on the Kansas City International Airport website.

(Photo courtesy Jacksonsville International Airport )

On Tuesday (February 16, 2010) Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) had a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new Terminal E expansion, which includes seven gates for Southwest Airlines and several new food and retail outlets, including a news/gift shop, a McDonalds, and a sit-down restaurant called Cantina Laredo.  The new expansion also brings new artwork to the airport, courtesy of Philadelphia’s Percent for Art Program. Look for Cloudsphere, by Philadelphia artist Mei-ling Hom in the rotunda.

(Photo courtesy Philadelphia International Airport )

And congratulations to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL): it’s Paper Runway exhibit of wearable paper clothing and accessories made with everything from banana leaf fibers to recycled cotton rags and coffee filters, won an award from the Georgia Association of Museums and Galleries.

Look for “Paper Runway” in the cases in the walkway connecting the main security area and Concourse T.  But hurry: the exhibit will only be there through March.

(Pen and ink concept art drawing by Denis Loubet for Ultima VI: the False Prophet; via Austin-Bergstrom International Airport)

In addition to sketches, storby boards and illustrations, the exhibit includes the paper punched tape used by Austinite Richard Garriott to record the video game code for one of his first games, Akalabeth..  There’s also a prototype cartridge of M.U.L.E.’s lost sequel, Son of M.U.L.E. and design documents from Warren Spector’s innovative classic Deus Ex.

Behind the Screens is from the collection of the University of Texas, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History and is on display through January 26, 2010. Look for the exhibit in the pylon showcases located on the concourse between Gates 7-12.

Kudos to the Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport  (CLE) and the non-profit group OneCommunity for working together to bring permanent free Wi-Fi to the airport.

Cleveland Airport joins many other smart airports that offer travelers free Wi-Fi year round.  And, lest you forget, from now through January 15, 2010, Google is covering the Wi-Fi fees at a 47 airports, from Seattle to Miami.  Here’s a full list of the participating airports . Let’s hope those airports continue offering the service for free after that.

Nap Time at ATL

You can now make a reservation at the first Minute Suites, at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL). These “suites”, located inside the terminal on the B Concourse have daybeds, pillows and blankets, sound masking systems, and a “napware” audio program.  Each suite also has a a TV, desk, phone, and a computer.   How much will you pay to snooze in a “suite”?  The minimum reservation accepted is 1 hour and costs $30. After that it’s $7.50 each 15 minutes.

If you try this out, please let us know what you think!

That means that instead of getting shuttled by bus between the airport and a light rail stop a mile or so away, passengers can now hop on and off the light rail right at the airport.

Well…not right at the airport: the airport station is in the airport garage and passengers must walk about a quarter mile to the terminal.  But at $2.75 from downtown vs. a $25 or $30 cab ride, it’s a great deal.  So travelers will probably be skipping along that walkway and not even notice the distance.

Also, just in time for holiday travel, there are two new food offerings in the Lindbergh Terminal at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP). There’s now an Arby’s in the main food court and, more impressive, on Concourse F there’s a spinoff of Ike’s Food & Cocktails, a downtown Minneapolis favorite that’s already a hit in airport with a white-tablecloth branch in the airport mall.

Even better: MSP’s Jingle, Jingle Savings Days Coupon Book has discounts for these new spots and dozens of other shops and restaurants throughout the airport. Get a copy here.

The new terminal has second-level ticketing, a departure lounge, retail concessions, and a restaurant and tavern.  The old 1957 terminal won’t be torn down, just renovated and updated.

I haven’t toured the new terminal yet, but did have the pleasure of visiting the old one a while back and learning about the airport’s colorful history.

During WWII, the Key West airstrip, which was known as Meacham Field, served as a dirigible base.  It became Key West International Airport after the war and for many years there were only two scheduled flights a day.

Still, the airport restaurant was a popular destination. Perhaps that’s because during the1960′s and 70′s the lounge featured a topless all-female band and the bar stayed open 24 hours a day.

An intriguing attraction right across from the  airport museum is the Fort East Martello Museum, which is home to a wide variety of intriguing historical items, including Robert the Haunted Doll, a straw-filled toy that many believe to be the embodiment of evil.