I’ve been gathering up images and information about fun airline liveries for a story to be delivered next week and finally made contact with a representative at Eva Air, the Taiwan-based airline that has five Hello Kitty-themed jets: Magic, Apple, Global, Happy Music and Speed Puff.
The Hello Kitty theme isn’t just painted onto the jets, it extends inside, where there are more than 100 in-flight service items, including some the fun and very cute items below.
And – my favorite – the kid’s meal.
Vermont’s Burlington International Airport (BTV) has joined San Francisco International Airport and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in offering passengers a space to meditate and practice yoga.
Evolution Yoga opened a yoga space on the second floor of Burlington International Airport, offering travelers a place to stretch out and relax before or between flights and enjoy a calm, quiet space.
That’s lovely to hear, but poking around the BTV website today I noticed some other welcome and calming amenities that were already available at the airport for passengers.
The airport’s mezzanine area is outfitted with couches, coffee tables and easy chairs and there are white rocking chairs set up in an area the airport calls the Skyway, so travelers can get a good view of the runway and aircraft. There’s also a green roof on the airport parking garage with plenty of alpine plants as well as benches and a picnic table. And – an added bonus: the airport has an Observation Tower and, located across from it, a family bathroom with a shower.
In addition to free Wi-Fi and power charging stations, BTV has a photography exhibit tracing the history of the airport and, on its website, offers relaxing activities such as a crossword puzzle, links to websites kids might enjoy and a link to a series of videos offering a few moments of guided relaxation at calm.com.
I’m still snacking on the packaged samples and sorting through the screen cleaners and assorted geegaws I picked up in Long Beach, Calif. last month while attending the APEX (Airline Passenger Experience Association) Expo and discovering the adjacent exhibit hall for IFSA, the International Flight Services Association.
Here are two items I wish I could have taken home as souvenirs: a white chocolate airplane and a sampling of the toys and games Aeroflot hands out to its youngest passengers.
I fly, but I don’t know why.
More to the point: I don’t know how.
So, although it was designed for kids, I should probably take more time to play the game the folks at The Basement created for the Academy of Model Aeronautics, which promises to teach the four principles of flight.
The game teaches about drag, lift, weight and thrust and is narrated by Hoot Gibson. (Not the cowboy Hoot Gibson from those old westerns, but the Hoot Gibson who is a pilot and a former astronaut.) Players choose a pilot, a plane and a passenger and then try to fly a long distance.
My plane didn’t get very far, but maybe yours will.
During my day exploring Hong Kong International Airport I kept seeing signs pointing the way to the “Dream Come True Education Park” in the mall-like area attached to Terminal 2.
I headed that way and found what looked at first to be just a big indoor playground for kids, with the shell of an airplane up front. But as I walked around inside the park, it turned out to be something quite different.
At 15 different stations, kids were learning about different kinds of jobs and careers, dressing up in uniforms and getting ‘on-the-job’ training from staff.
In the hospital, children were getting ready to perform surgery. In the fire station, they were suited up and ready to put out the next (scheduled) fire. And at the police station, a new team of recruits was getting trained in how to wear their uniforms – and handle guns.
Over in the aviation stations, kids could learn what it meant to be a flight attendant or a pilot. In the nursery, they could hold and care for real (heavy) “babies.” The Space Station, Astro Station One and the TV studio weren’t open the day I visited, but the modeling school was and a fashion show was underway.
For those that completed their training there was one more ‘real life’ stop. At the bank, newly minted professionals could pick up their pay.
