airport history

LGB: 5 Things We Love About Long Beach Airport

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The “5 Things We Love About…” series on StuckatTheAirport.com celebrates features and amenities at airports around the country and the world.

Today we’re landing at California’s Long Beach Airport.  Founded in 1923 it is the oldest municipally owned airport in California.

Keep in mind that some amenities we list here may not currently be available due to health concerns. We are confident they’ll be back.

5 Thing We Love About Long Beach Airport

1. The outdoor atrium at LGB 

The open-air atrium at Long Beach Airport has palm trees and a drought-tolerant garden. It is a rare treat to have an outdoor space an airport and this one even has a wine and beer bar (4th Street Vine) with a fire pit.

2. Outdoor boarding at LGB

LGB’s boarding experience harkens back to the golden age of flying; the outdoor boarding takes advantage of the year-round Southern California sunshine.  

3. Art and History at Long Beach Airport

The LGB terminal was built in 1941 in the Streamline Moderne style, with smooth walls, flat roofs, railings and porthole windows that make it look more like a ship than an airport terminal.

The airport also boasts floor mosaics and wall murals designed as part of the Works Project Administration (WPA) in the 1940s

Newer pieces include the sculpture below, by Aaron De La Cruz. Before being purchased by LGB, the untitled work was a temporary installation at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. There it was displayed vertically.

To accommodate LGB’s layout and keep sight lights to the airfield open, the artist’s team reconfigured the piece so it would hang from the ceiling.

“The sculpture is now in the shape of an arc to represent the motion of flights taking off and landing,” says the airport.

4. Local dining options at LGB

All the dining venues at LGB are local, which is pretty unusual for an airport.

Options include Long Beach Burger Bar, Polly’s Coffee, Sweet Jill’s Bakery, George’s Greek Café, Boathouse on the Bay, and the 4th Street Vine Wine & Beer Bar mentioned above.

5. Shopping at LGB 

Some airports sell snow globes in the gift shops. But at Long Beach Airport travelers can pick up sand globes.

Bonus: two cool videos from Long Beach Airport

Here are two fun videos from the Long Beach Airport website.

This first one features Earl S. Daugherty, who was a pioneer aviator, an advocate for the creation of the Long Beach Airport, and one of the earliest aviation photographers. He was known locally as the “King of Aviation” and is the person for whom the airfield is named for.

This video shows the barnstorming legend flying over Long Beach in the 1920s.

The expertly edited film below shows a day at Long Beach squeezed into two and a half minutes.

Did we miss your favorite feature of Long Beach Airport? Let us known in the comments section below.

And be sure to check out the other airports in our “5 Things We Love About…” series.

BWI & LAX airports mark anniversaries

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Two airports celebrate dedication anniversaries this week: Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

70 years ago, on June 24, 1950, President Harry S. Truman officially dedicated Friendship International Airport, which is now known as Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

11 years later, then-Vice President Lynden B. Johnson was on hand on June 25, 1961 for the dedication of the Jet Age terminals at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

A few years later, in 1964, Lucille Ball was at LAX to inaugurate the first “Astroway” – or moving walkway – at LAX .

Airports empty – but busy

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Airports keeping busy

As travel begins, very slowly, to gear up, most airports still feel quite empty.

But that doesn’t mean airport teams aren’t keeping busy.

Someone was having fun with the airport code for Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL):

Denver International Airport (DEN) shared some very corny jokes:

Dallas Love Field (DAL) is celebrating its history:

And McCarran International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas is having fun with its Vegas-themed public awareness campaign.

On PI day, we notice PIE Airport

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No word if they’re handing out free Key Lime pie today at Florida’s St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport, as they have in some past years. But we celebrate that airport today anyway, because it’s PI day and the airport’s identifier code is PIE.

PI Day celebrates the Greek letter “π” (Pi). That’s the symbol that represents the mathematical constant that is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter and has been calculated to over a trillion digits, the first of which are 3.14.

As far as we know, PIE airport didn’t get that code because everyone there loved eating pie. Instead, it is because when it was orignally constructed, in 1941 as a military flight-training base, its name was Pinellas Army Airfield.

If you stop by PIE airport today, be sure to take a look at some of their public art, including this piece by Mary Klein called Mile Markers.

How are you celebrating PI day? In my neighborhood, there’s a pizza restaurant selling pies for $3.14.

Travel Tidbits from SEA, TPA and Changi airports

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Happy Friday! Here are some travel tidbits and ‘coming atttractions’ from several airports.

Happy Birthday Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, which is marking its birthday month with a variety of local events. The airport first opened to the public on July 9, 1949,

Courtesy Port of Seattle

Looking forward, travelers will soon be able to drink beer brewed on-site at Tampa International Airport:

And for long-haul travel, Singapore’s Changi Airport has rolled out a new stopover program that includes a (one-way) hotel transfer, a SIM card and an overnight stay at one of 20 participating hotels.  Packages start at S$63 – about $46 US dollars.