Airports

Airport trading cards: collect them all

Airports, Souvenirs,

MKE Trading Card Front

Baseball teams have them, some police forces have them and the TSA’s K-9 unit has them.

Now more than 20 North American airports have trading cards too.

Unveiled earlier this month, each card has the look and feel of a traditional baseball card. But instead of portraying a rookie player at bat, the cards in the North American Airport Collectors Series feature an iconic image of an airport on the front and geographic information, fun factoids and historical tidbits about the airport on the back.

The card for General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, for example, tells passengers about MKE’s free ping pong table and “recombobulation areas.” The card for Pittsburgh International Airport lays claims to being the first large U.S. airport to offer free wireless.

The idea for airport trading cards started at Lambert-St. Louis International, where “like a lot of other airports, we get calls from collectors all over the world asking for anything with the airport code on it,” said STL spokesman Jeff Lea.

Lambert’s trading card has iconic pictures of the airport’s two terminals on the front and, on the back, historical information, including STL’s connection to Charles Lindbergh.

STL_TradingCard_FRONT

“The cards are inexpensive to produce in bulk, so airports can hand them out for free at information booths and other places” said Lea. “It’s an old way to tell a new story and we know people will hold onto that one piece of cardboard longer than if you gave them a brochure or a pen.”

More importantly, the trading cards remind collectors, aviation enthusiasts and passengers that local airports are part of the larger aviation network, said Kevin Burke, President and CEO of ACI-NA, the trade group for airports in the United States and Canada.

PIT Trading card one

“Airports don’t get the attention they deserve and trading cards are one way to illustrate the importance of an airport in a community, especially the airport’s economic contribution,” said Burke, who plans to hand out airport trading cards, perhaps instead of briefing papers, when visiting elected officials in Washington, D.C.

Here are some of the other cards in the series.

CVG_card

SJC_card

SAN_card

(My story about airport trading cards first appeared as part of my At the Airport column on USA TODAY.)

Fresh shops & restaurants for PDX & LAX

Airport shops, Airports, Food, Shopping, , ,

PDX_KeepPortlandWeird

75 percent of the existing leases for shops and restaurants at Portland International Airport are expiring in 2017 and agreements for many fresh new options are just beginning to be rolled out.

The list kicks off with the recent announcement of leases for 11 new outlets that should be open in early 2015, including Bambuza Vietnam Kitchen, Café Yumm!, Henry’s Tavern, Hissho Sushi, Mo’s Seafood & Chowder, a branch of The Country Cat Dinnerhouse & Bar – and more.

Meanwhile, at Los Angeles International Airport, Terminal 2 is beginning its transformation.

In the video below, Westfield shares information about its plan for 20 new dining and retail outlets and fresh amenities destined for that terminal.

The plan includes doubling the dining options – to 12 – with two Starbucks, SeaLegs Wine Bar, SLAPFISH Modern Seafood Shack The Pie Hole, Pepita Cantina; Pick Up Stix; Fresh Brothers Pizza, Ciabatta Bar; BUILT Custom Burger and Barney’s Beanery, a classic American roadhouse modeled after Route 66.

For shopping, the retail outlets will include a SPANX outlet, a Duty Free shop, 2 CNBC shops and 2 Univision shops, which will carry many products targeted to the Hispanic traveler.

Amenities-wise, we can look forward to gate areas with lounge-style seating, lots more charging stations, new restrooms, terrazzo flooring and new lighting.

Airports remember 9/11

9/11, Air Travel, Airports

Airports around the country will join in the observation of the anniversary of 9/11 today.

At Indianapolis International Airport, for example, a section of the World Trade Center steel recovered from Ground Zero will be on display in the Civic Plaza.

IND

The steel artifact was presented to the Indianapolis International Airport fire department by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to honor local public safety responders, including airport employees, who deployed to the attack sites.

Year-round, the 9/11 Memorial at Boston Logan International Airport offers a place of reflection and remembrance. It’s located on a 2.5-acre site between the airport terminals and the Hilton Logan Airport.

The Place of Remembrance honors the passengers and crews of American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, which were the two flights that left Logan Airport the morning of September 11, 2001 for Los Angeles.

logan-911

Match made in HEL: skateboard at Helsinki Airport

Airports, Sports, ,

Admit it: even if you’re not a skateboarder, you’ve looked down those long airport corridors and thought about how cool it would be to cover those distances on a skateboard.

Now Finland’s Helsinki Airport is going to give a select few skateboarders that chance. And more.

helsinki_airport_match_made_in_hel_finnair_finavia

As part of a promotion highlighting the airport as a transfer point, on October 12 and 13 Finavia and Finnair are hosting the Match made in HEL skateboarding invitational – which will turn the airport over Finnish professional skateboarder Arto Saari and skateboarders from Asia and Europe.

Want to join them? Skateboarders can apply by sharing their skate videos at matchmadeinHEL.com and four will be chosen.

I’m starting lessons now….

Bike assembly station at PIT & other airports

Airports, Sports, ,

PIT bike-assembly-station

A big conference for advocates of walking and biking is being held in downtown Pittsburgh this week and to celebrate Pittsburgh International Airport has installed a bike assembly station in Baggage Claim with various tools, wrenches and an air pump for travelers to use to re-assemble bikes near Baggage Claim P.

The airport has also reopened access to the airport spur of the Montour Trail, which had been closed due to construction.

At least two other airports have bicycle assembly stations on-site: Oregon’s Portland International Airport and San Francisco International Airport.