Airports in the U.S. and abroad are preparing to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, March 17.
Big thanks to @thepraties for bringing the Irish spirit to LAX and performing for our travelers as part of the #LAXPresents Winter & Spring 2025 season! You’ve definitely helped us get into the festive mood! 🍀🎶 pic.twitter.com/39m7r0w0Ab
We can’t wait to welcome tens of thousands of tourists to Ireland over the coming day and a true Céad Míle Fáilte awaits with our buildings – both inside and out – lit up in green, white and orange!
And check out this special livery coming to JetBlue
In February, JetBlue invited customers to vote on which of three special livery designs created by Puerto Rican artists will be painted on a JetBlue Airbus A320 to honor Puerto Rico’s rich culture.
The winner is the design created by Juan Gutierrez, better known as The Stencil Network.
The design embodies the spirit of Puerto Rico and features the proud jíbaro (Puerto Rican farm worker) on the tail and images of Puerto Rico’s fruits and flora on the body. On the plane’s belly is the phrase “Yo Soy Boricua” (I am Puerto Rican).
Look for this colorful plane to be flying this summer.
From curb to gate in 30 seconds or less! RNO is the first airport in the universe to adopt Travel Tubes™, the new human pneumatic tube system, allowing you to pre-check in the Ticketing Hall and then whiz straight to the gate. Pre-register today: https://t.co/bGntGQjtPupic.twitter.com/s1YpoBUMPS
— Reno-Tahoe Int’l Airport (@RenoAirport) April 1, 2024
Denver Int’l Airport introduces driveway to runway service
We're all about convenience at DEN and getting to your gate just got a whole lot easier! Introducing DEN Screen&Ride: America's FIRST driveway to runway service.
— Tampa International Airport ✈️ (@FlyTPA) April 1, 2024
🚨 UPDATE: THE BIRD IS BACK IN THE BUILDING 🚨 After gallivanting around Tampa Bay today, Phoebe quietly sneaked in through the Blue Express curbs and returned to her post at 3:39 PM. She is safe and sound.
— Norfolk International Airport (@NorfolkAirport) April 1, 2024
Salt Lake City International makes its tunnel more fun
A River Runs Through It: The airport has announced it will make The River Tunnel art installation–opening Oct. 22, 2024–more authentic by filling the tunnel with water to provide transportation between concourses A and B. Disneyesque-type boats will replace moving walkways and… pic.twitter.com/Lj5D9hDsXp
— Salt Lake City Airport (@slcairport) April 1, 2024
Cork Airport gets a rebrand
From May 1 next, Cork Airport will be renamed and rebranded as Cork Cillian Murphy International Airport.
The renaming/rebranding is to be made in recognition of the Golden Globe, BAFTA, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award winning actor, who is a native of Cork city.
Icelandair introduces inflight matchmaking service
In a throwback to in-flight matchmaking services that didn’t, uh, fly, and with a nod to the real-life story of a couple who met and later married after meeting on an Icelandair flight, on April 1 the airline introduced a faux in-flight dating app called “Icelandair Up to Date,”
Emirates offers a high-rise with an airport
Luxury living is about to reach new heights. Introducing Emirates Residences.
Situated in the heart of Dubai, the 380 story mega-project will be adorned with premium interiors inspired by Emirates’ beloved in-flight experience. The tower will even have its own exclusive airport… pic.twitter.com/PqOhJI6hTK
#Heathrow is taking to the skies! Introducing #HeathrowAirlines – where every seat is first class, and the onboard entertainment only features films referencing Heathrow. ✈️🎬
Ready for boarding? Let us know where you'd like us to fly to (we haven't worked out that part yet). pic.twitter.com/uJF1m67udX
Finnair’s strawberry juice with berries picked on Mars. As requested by Santa Claus
Exciting news! 🍓 We’ve served our signature blueberry juice onboard our flights since 2014, but now it’s time for a change. As of today, 1 April, we will start serving strawberry juice instead of blueberry juice onboard our flights. Find out more: https://t.co/aDAzmvnx1Jpic.twitter.com/EHatPuSyI7
When you buy an Amtrak ticket, you sometimes end up riding a diesel-powered bus instead of a train pulled by an diesel-fueled, dual-powered (electric and diesel) or electric (in the Northeast) locomotive.
Now at least one of the diesel-powered buses in the Amtrak network is being replaced by an electric-powered bus.
Passengers traveling mid-day on the Amtrak Cascades route in the Pacific Northwest through Oregon and Washington to Vancouver, B.C. will now get to ride on an electric-powered bus between between Seattle and Bellingham, WA instead of on the diesel-powered bus that has been serving this trip segment.
The bus is the first electric vehicle (EV) in the Amtrak National Network and can make the nearly 200-mile roundtrip on one single charge
A ride in the right direction.
SFO Airport will help save energy in an emergency
It’s another very hot summer. And airports around the country are doing their part to reduce their draw on the elecricity grid during times when air conditioners and other appliances are in heavy use.
San Francisco International Airport (SFO), which earned an award in 2019 for being the world’s first Zero Net Energy (ZNE) facility at an airport, has a large rooftop solar farm. But SFO still gets some of its electricty from the city’s hydroelectric grid.
So to do its part for added energy conservation during the city’s Flex Alerts, which the cities issues when extremely hot weather drives up electricity use, the airport is committing to a variety of measures which may have a slight impact on passengers. The airport expects it will get 24-hour notice on these Flex Alerts which usually run from 4 pm to 9pm. So if anything on the list below alarms you, be sure to check the SFO website before you travel.
The AirTrain people mover may reduce the frequency of service from every 4 minutes to every 8 minutes.
Electric Vehicle (EV) chargers in all SFO Parking Garages may be temporary deactivated.
Airport cooling may be adjusted to reduce electricity usage, allowing terminals to be just a bit warmer than usual.
Airport lighting may be reduced throughout terminals.
We were pleased to see so many airports and airlines – and the National Railroad Passenger Corporation – Amtrak – having so much fun on April Fools Day.
Aviation museums also got in on the fun.
Here are some of the April Fools Day “news items” we encountered. Let us know if we missed some your faves.
UFO Displayed at Seattle’s Museum of Flight
In an April 1 release, the Museum of Flight in Seattle announced it would put on display an unidentified flying object (UFO) recently recovered from a crash site in a remote area in Washington state.
Here’s what it looks like:
Clearly, it’s an April Fools Day joke. But we love that the museum created a full backstory for this UFO:
Following a rash of inexplicable UFO sightings worldwide, the wreckage and debris field from a small disc-shaped object were discovered at a remote desert location near the decommissioned Hanford Nuclear Site in Washington state. The UFO was initially detected by NORAD as it raced through the restricted airspace of Hill Air Force Base in Utah. The phenomena continued erratically on a northern flightpath and fiery descent to an impact zone in the remote desert hills of Benton County, Wash.
Military officials quickly removed tons of topsoil from the crash site to preserve any toxic fluids or alien biological matter that may have exited the disc. The object has displayed no signs of hostile intent, but extra security measures will be in place while it is on display at the Museum.
Plenty of airports and airlines got in on the fun. And many ‘announcements,’ such as Charlotte Douglas International Airport’s notice that it was removing the rocking chairs to make more room, no doubt made readers look twice.
But others, like KLM’s recline alert system and Geneva Airports’ ski-through-the-terminal updates aren’t totally silly ideas.
Come one come all! 🎡 The DEN Red Eye will be the flyest attraction in the Mile High City. Locals & visitors will experience never-before-seen views & plane spotting from the top of the only airport Ferris Wheel in the world! Register to be first in line: https://t.co/3DGRO06qe7pic.twitter.com/wfNPKg5saa
#News: We're excited to unveil our new 140-foot-tall #Wolverine statue made entirely from locally-grown hemp, & the world’s largest apiary, showcasing our commitment to sustainability & innovation. Explore this stunning work of art & learn more at https://t.co/g1ZvT3BT8D. #YEGpic.twitter.com/oVBvTpWZfZ
— Edmonton International Airport (@FlyYEG) April 1, 2023
— Reno-Tahoe Int’l Airport (@RenoAirport) April 1, 2023
We’re happy to introduce “Journey” 🦎 as the newest member of our #MiamiHoundMachine. He is one of a kind, and can’t wait for you to pet him. Make sure to show your love 🥰 when you spot him. #AprilFoolspic.twitter.com/Qk0vCV06HG
Il sera possible de rejoindre les portes d'embarquement en ski, dès l'hiver 2023-24. — It will be possible to reach the gates on skis from winter 2023-24.https://t.co/YtyLowYN1Z
We're FLoored to have Orlando-Con right at our airport! 🥳 From cosplayers to vendors to free MCO socks, we're here to celebrate the City Beautiful! On a scale of 1-10, we give this one a 407. 💜 Don't miss the party! Get your tickets here: https://t.co/DZH1asZbdj#OrlandoCon2023pic.twitter.com/eUiqT1v8ad
— Orlando International Airport (@MCO) April 1, 2023
Never miss another tomato juice, ginger ale or salty snack again. Introducing: The JetBlue Snack Mask. Guaranteed to satisfy all your snacking needs. pic.twitter.com/gFvJOugY4l
all phone calls must be on speaker, we do want to hear your mixtape, we all want to hear that GRWM you're watching, everyone in the loud car wants to hear about your situationship, as a courtesy we will come around for the disposing of headphones. pic.twitter.com/kaLxp2mMsQ
If you’re not quite ready to get on a plane, perhaps you’re up for an adventure by train.
Amtrak’s USA Rail Pass, which allows 10 ride segments in 30 days, is on sale through June 22 for $299. That’s $200 off the regular price of $499 and just a smidge under $30 per ride.
Where does Amtrak go? Pretty much everywhere. The rail service says it serves more than 500 destinations.
Sound tempting? Here’s a bit of how it works.
Purchase a pass by June 22 and start your travel adventure within 120 days. The pass allows you to ride 10 Coach class segments within a 30 day period, starting with the first trip you take. Upgrades to Business Class and private rooms are not permitted.
Passholders book their own itineraries and receive an electronic ticket for each segment to show to the conductor. Modifications to your itinerary are permitted as long as they are made before the scheduled departure of a segment.
What’s a segment? If you board and disembark a scheduled train, Amtrak counts that as a segment. Need to make a connection? That’s another segment.
Some other USA Rail Pass rules to keep in mind
Southwest Chief near Fishers Peak, Colorado.
The USA Rail Pass isn’t good on those speedy northeast Acela trains, nor on the popular Auto Train that transports people and their cars 900 miles from Washington D.C. to just outside of Orlando, FL. You can use it on the Maple Leaf Route, but not for the Canadian stations.
The pass is good for Saver and Value Fares, not for Flexible Fare tickets. And you can only take two roundtrips (four one-way segments) between the same two stations.
If you’ve got time and the desire to see a lot of the country this summer, then $299 for 10 rides can get you pretty darn far.