John Travolta

Fun, fast facts about London Heathrow Airport

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Heathrow Airport, The Beatles depart from Heathrow on their American tour. August 13, 1965.  Courtesy Heathrow Airport

Next time you’ve got some time to spend at London’s Heathrow Airport, take a moment to read some of the commemorative signs the airport posted to mark its 70th birthday in May, 2016.

There are 70 of factoid-filled signs throughout the terminals, marking everything from where the The Beatles were met by screaming fans (repeatedly) in the 1960s to where film scenes were shot and where the Concorde last landed at Heathow in 2003.

You’ll find a list of the contents and locations of all the signs in Terminal 2, Terminal 3, Terminal 4 and Terminal 5 on the Heathrow website.

The copy on the signs ranges from cute and corny to cheeky.

In Terminal 2 departures, one sign marks the spot where actor and pilot John Travolta landed his Boeing-707 in 2002. “He had recently completed his flight training. Fact, not pulp fiction,” the sign notes.

In Terminal 4 departures is  the spot from where Muhammad Ali flew, “like a butterfly,”  in 1974 to fight George Foreman in The Rumble in the Jungle.

And in Terminal 3, a sign notes the spots where the opening sequence in the film “Love Actually” was filmed.  “Think of here whenever you feel gloomy,” Heathrow advises..

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World’s largest airplane now flies world’s longest route

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A-list celebrity and Qantas Airways Ambassador John Travolta was on hand Monday afternoon to welcome some lucky arriving passengers (including me!) on the first Qantas A380 jumbo airplane to fly direct from Sydney Airport to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

Qantas - John Travolta was on hand to greet some of the arriving A380 passengers from Sydney

The new service -which will operate six times a week (daily except Tuesday) between Sydney and DFW means that Qantas is now flying the world’s largest airplane on the world’s longest flight.

The flight from Sydney to DFW is scheduled to take around 14 hours 50 minutes; the flight from DFW to Sydney will take a bit longer: 15 hours and 30 minutes.

Here are few snaps from the flight:

Cupcakes celebrating Qantas’s inaugural A380 flight between Sydney and Dallas/Fort Worth were offered to invited guests:

Qantas - celebratory cupcakes helped kick off the first Qantas A380 flight from Sydney to Dallas

To celebrate the milestone, Qantas painted the A380 being used on the route with a special livery. The kangaroo on the tail is wearing a Stetson hat with a blue neckerchief:

The Qantas kangaroo got a makeover for flight from Sydney to Dallas

Qantas is also celebrating the new service with some special in-flight menu items between Sydney and DFW, including steak for First Class passengers, Chipotle pork tortillas for Business class passengers, Texas hot dogs for Premium Economy passengers and a variety of snacks and beverages for Economy passengers, including A&W sodas, pulled beef sliders and Route 66 Root Beer.

Special menu for new service through Oct 5 includes Root Beer, Dr. Pepper, steak, Texas hot dogs and other Texas specialties.

(I flew as a guest of Qantas. All opinions, photos are my own.)