You may have also missed our Airport Amenity of the Week. Some weeks we have a lot of airport amenities in the running. Last week, this table full of free Peeps at Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE) in Allentown, PA was hands down the winner.
If you have a cool new airport amenity to nominate during this week, let us know.
We were also heartened to see some airports posting previews of future terminals. Thank-you Portland International Airport (PDX) and Nashville International Airport (BNA) for giving us some new spaces to look forward to.
And Tampa International Airport (TPA) and Kansas City International Airport (KCI) are very excited about the teams that will be playing in the Super Bowl this year.
We admit it. We’ve always been mystified by the numbers on the signs along airport runways.
The signs seem even more perplexing when an airport reports that the numbers must be changed because of something going on with magnetic changes in the earth.
If you've driven by the airport recently, you may have noticed that one of our runways is currently closed. That's because we're doing work to not only improve the runway, but also because, well… SCIENCE! pic.twitter.com/ro0aofOw0D
— Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (@AUStinAirport) October 22, 2020
We also do regular studies of the conditions of the pavement on our runways and taxiways, and make improvements when needed.
For this project, that means adding new concrete panels in some high traffic areas. pic.twitter.com/EuERRukKFG
— Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (@AUStinAirport) October 22, 2020
— Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (@AUStinAirport) October 22, 2020
Anyways, that's today's construction update AND science lesson.
Thanks again to all the fantastic folks working on this project to make the #FlyAUStin experience even better, and thank you for reading! pic.twitter.com/8NmVvUhqY6
— Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (@AUStinAirport) October 22, 2020
But we are enjoying the way airports around the country are using the ‘How it Started vs. How it’s going’ meme to show off their lovely modern terminals.
Feel free to send us others you find. We will add them to the list over the weekend.
If you spot other airports posting their “How it started” photos, please let us know. We may break this up into two posts. Or lean how to make an album.
Part of the airport art program’s mural series, Plein Air Port is by local artist Aaron Glasso. The 144-foot-long piece combines images of the San Diego landscape and the airport’s architecture with abstract imagery.
Look for this hard-to-miss work along SAN’s interior roadway through 2021 on Admiral Boland Way, which runs between the terminal and the rental car center.
New terminal opens at Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC)
The opening marks the completion of the first phase of the 7-year, $4.1 billion project and includes the 900,000-sq.-ft. central terminal building and two linear concourses with 45 gates.
A time capsule was part of the opening day events. Items placed in the time capsule include a 1996 Airport Master Plan, a wooden bear carving, eagle feathers and sweet grass. Also in the time capsule: a hard drive with construction drawings and a letter to future airport employees written by current airport employees.
The second phase of the SLC new terminal project is scheduled to be completed in 2024. This phases will include a south concourse with 22 additional gates, allowing the airport to accommodate 34 million passengers a year.
StuckatTheAirport.com is planning an in-person visit to the new SLC terminal as soon as we feel safe to fly. But in the meantime, here are some snaps and a video shared by the airport and HOK, the architectural firm for the facility.
“The Canyon” by Gordon Heuther
The interior atrium is the length of a football field and features a 362-foot-long sculpture titled “The Canyon” by Gordon Huether. The work is designed to evoke Utah’s red rock canyons, alpine peaks, and moving water.
Sign up for the Travel 2021 Summit
Will we ever be able to travel again? And, if so, what will that be like?
No one knows for sure, but an interesting group of travel experts is going to talk about it on October 7-8 during the online Travel 2021 Summit.
I am on the agenda talking about what airlines and airports are doing to make travelers feel safe now and what air travel may be like in the future.
Want to attend? Here is a link to the Travel 2021 Summit where you can get a discount on tickets. Early bird pricing ends September 17. Use code SEPT50 for $50 off the registration fee.
The new, 850,000-square-foot, four-story, state-of-the-art Terminal B Arrivals and Departures Hall at New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA) opens to the public on Saturday, June 13.
And it is a winner.
A key part of the LGA’s ongoing $8 billion rebuild, the new facility has local concessions, modern restrooms, and a New York-inspired shopping district.
Passengers flying on American Airlines, Air Canada, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines will be using the new terminal at LGA, which has impressive new permanent public art installations.
What’s in the New Terminal B at LGA
The new Terminal B departures level has four check-in islands with 75 individual check-in kiosks and a central oversize bag check-in station.
There are 17 large restrooms. And 16 security lanes with signs showing passenger wait times. There’s also new state-of-the-art technology for screening passengers and baggage.
At the arrivals level, there are nine large new baggage carousels.
The 17 retail and food/beverage concessions include many local favorites.
Among them: Eli’s Essentials by New York food legend Eli Zabar, Chef Marc Forgione’s new Mulberry Street restaurant, and Junior’s Cheesecake.
Contactless ordering available from the in-airport food delivery app At Your Gate.
LGA’s new Terminal B also has great public art
Public Art Fund and LaGuardia Gateway Partners, the developer and operator of Terminal B, chose great public art pieces for the new LGA Terminal B.
The key pieces are by Jeppe Hein, Sabine Hornig, Laura Owens, and Sarah Sze.
Take a look:
Those aren’t ‘lost’ balloons up on the ceiling but Jeppe Hein’s work “All Your Wishes.”
The piece includes dozens of colorful and reflective balloon-shaped steel sculptures distributed, as if floating, throughout the terminal.
The bright red bench sculptures that are both whimsical and useful are also Hein’s work.
Sabine Hornig’s “La Guardia Vistas” is a pair of interlocking cityscapes made up of more than 1100 photographs of New York City.
The work’s title refers to Fiorello La Guardia, founder of the airport and New York City Mayor from 1934 to 1945. And the piece includes 20 quotes from and about La Guardia.
Laura Owens’ pop-art-ish tiled mosaic mural celebrates New York City and covers the airport’s largest interior wall.
And “Shorter than the Day,” by Sarah Sze, is a monumental sculpture made of hundreds of images that form a sphere that appears to float in mid-air.
Things are definitely looking up for LaGuardia Airport and for anyone traveling to or from New York.
