airports

Airport Restaurant Month is back

Food, , , ,

It’s back. For the fourth year running, HMSHost is hosting Airport Restaurant Month.

 

Taking a cue from the popular Restaurant Week promotions that take place in many cities this time of year, HMSHost is hosting Airport Restaurant Month at more than 50 North American airports.

Prices and menus may vary a bit in the participating restaurants in airports across the country, but during HMSHost’s Airport Restaurant Month you’ll find a featured seasonal menu:

  • Seared Salmon – topped with basil pesto.
  • Vegetarian Flatbread – topped with basil pesto, goat cheese, tomato compote and sunflower seeds
  • Roasted Chicken Breast – topped with basil pesto and sage chicken jus
  • Better Than Bacon Burger – topped with fontina cheese and bacon-tomato compote
  • Grilled Pesto Shrimp Wrap – baby kale, roasted mushrooms, peppers and asparagus served with mushrooms and asparagus

Each entrée is being served with roasted mushrooms and asparagus, crispy smashed potatoes tossed with baby kale and a serving of fresh fruit.

This year there’s also a special cocktail for Airport Restaurant Month. In most of the participating venues you can order “The Temptation,” which features Templeton Rye whisky with a touch of malbec, lemon, and maple syrup – all topped with grapes. (Here’s the recipe, so you can mix this drink up at home.)

Go. Eat. Food in airports is getting better.

Bees delay a plane in South Africa

Animals, , , ,

As I reported in a recent At the Airport column for USA TODAY, airports deal with all sorts of unwanted wildlife, from worms to whales.

At King Shaka International Airport in Durban, South Africa, the unwanted wildlife was a swarm of bees.

On Sunday, Mango Airlines reported that a swarm of  about 20,000 bees was discovered building a nest inside on of its airplane engines, causing a delay to several flights.

Bee removal experts were called in and successfully gathered up and removed the bees. According to South Africa’s News 24 website,  the bees were taken a beekeeper’s home and will be likely be transferred to an area macadamia farm or to another beekeeper.

Incidents of bees swarming airplanes aren’t all that unusual. In March, 2017, an American Airlines flight from Miami to New York’s JFK airport was delayed by about four hours due to a swarm of bees that had landed on the side of an airplane.

Bee careful out there.

A marvelous mascot at Japan’s Centrair Airport

Fun Stuff, Uncategorized, ,

It’s not unusual for airports to have mascots, but I’m especially charmed by mascot at Chubu Centrair International Airport near Nagoya, Japan.

 

Centrair Airport mascot

The mascot appears at the information desk, in signs, posters and in airport advertising. But to my delight, the mascot also appeares in many forms of souvenirs for sale in the aviation-themed shop in the pre-security Sky Town shopping mall on the top floor of the airport.

centrair airport mascot

Centrair Airport

Of course, now I need to make a list of airport mascots. Please help me get started by sharing any that you know about in the comments section below.

Hurricane Florence and others mucking up air travel

Weather, , , ,

Hurricane Florence – and several other hurricanes and tropical storms – are mucking up air travel and causing airlines to issue change fee waivers.

Hurricane Florence

Courtesy National Hurricane Center

Airlines are posting travel alerts and issuing change fee waivers for passengers with flights over the next few days to and from the east coast due to Hurricane Florence and to, from or within Hawaii due to Hurricane Olivia. Hurricane Issac, typhoons and other storms are disrupting travel elsewhere.

As of Monday evening, September 10, here are some of the airlines that have posted notices.

These likely aren’t all the airlines adjusting schedules and suggesting passengers wait until the storms blow over. And it’s very possible that the dates these waivers cover will change as the hurricanes blow through.

If you’re flying somewhere this week be sure to check with you airline before heading to the airport. Read the rules for refunds and pay attention to the dates covered. Most airlines are offering no-fee refunds and waived changed fees for flights that are rebooked for another time.

Alaska Airlines: A travel alert is posted for flights to or from Charleston (CHS) and Raleigh-Durham (DUR) for those with flights September 10 -September 16.

American Airlines has a travel advistory posted covering 23 airports in the southeastern United States for those with tickets for flights September 10 – September 16.

Delta Air Lines has travel alerts posted for a dozen southeast U.S. airports where flights may be affected by Hurricane  Florence and for flights to or from various airports in Hawaii due to Tropical Storm Olivia.

Olivia has also caused Hawaiian Airlines to offer one-time waivers for its flights on September 11 and 12 for flights to or from Hawaii.

The travel advisory for JetBlue affects its flights to and from Charleston (CHS), Charlotte (CLT), Raleigh/Durham (RDU), Richmond, VA (RIC) and Savannah, GA.

Southwest Airlines’ travel alert covers 9 east coast airports its expects to be affected by Hurricane Florence:  BWI, Charleston (CHS), Charlotte (CLT), Greenville-Spartanburg (GSP), Norfolk/Virginia Beach (ORF), Raleigh/Durham (RDU), Richmond (RIC), Washingtin Dulles (IAD) and Washington Reagan National (DCA). The airline is also offering travel waivers for San Juan Puerto Rico (SJU) and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (SJU) due to Hurricane Isaac.

United Airlines’ travel fee waiver covers 16 airlines in the southeast U.S. due to Hurricane Florence and the Hawaiian airports it flies to and from due to Hurriance Olivia.

 

Flying over the Labor Day holiday? You won’t be alone.

Holidays, , ,

Flying over the Labor Day holiday? You won’t be alone.

Holiday travelers at airport

If you’re (finally) getting out of town and flying somewhere over the Labor Day holiday, you’ll find busy airports and full airplanes.

Airlines for America (A4A), a trade group for most U.S. airlines, expects 16.5 million passengers to fly worldwide on U.S. carriers over the week-long Labor Day travel period.

That’s a 3.5 percent increase from the 16 million passengers estimated to have flown over the same holiday period last year.

Friday, Aug. 31 is expected to be the busiest travel day of the week, with an estimated 2.76 million passengers flying onboard U.S. airlines worldwide.

On the next busiest days, Thursday, Aug. 30 and Monday, Sept. 3, there will be an expected 2.6 and 2.58 million passengers travel, respectively.

The two lightest days, no surpises, are expected to be Saturday, Sept. 1 and Sunday, Sept. 2. Those days are also historically among the lightest travel days of the year.

If the summer has slipped away from you, travel-wise, here are some fresh routes airlines are launching to spark some planning. (I put this list together for my monthly route round-up on Global Traveler).

American Airlines and its joint business partner Japan Airlines (JAL) will operate a non-stop flight between Narita International Airport and McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas from January 4 to 14, 2019 to coincide with the CES 2019, the giant consumer electronics show. More details on that temporary service here.

British Airways will begin flying between Pittsburgh International Airport and London Heathrow Airport on April 2, 2019. The flight will be the only nonstop service between the two cities and will operate four days a week. More details here.

Cathay Pacific will launch nonstop flights between Seattle and Hong Kong on March 31, 2019. The flights we be on an Airbus A350-900 aircraft and fly from Seattle to Hong Kong each Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Flights from Hong Kong to Seattle will operate Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. More details here.

 Delta Air Lines announced daily nonstop service between Detroit Metropolitan Airport and Norman Mineta San Jose beginning November 15, providing the only nonstop service between these two cities. The flight will operate on Delta’s 737-800 aircraft.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines plans to begin flying between Boston Logan Airport and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport March 31, 2019. The new flights will be on an Airbus A330-300 and begin with three times a week service. A fourth weekly flight will be added on July 1. KLM’s joint-venture partner, Delta, currently offers two daily flights between BOS and AMS. More details here.

Korean Air debuts nonstop service between Boston and Seoul on April 12, 2019 on the airline’s 787-9 Dreamliner. Flights will operate five days a week: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. More details here.

United Airlines will add seasonal daily flight between Washington Dulles International Airport and Miami International Airport from December 19, 2018 to March 30, 2019. During the peak holiday travel period of December 24 to January 6, 2019, the carrier will offer twice daily service between these two cities. More details here.

Where are you headed this holiday?