LaGuardia Airport

LGA Airport offers a 4th of July show

If you’re traveling through Terminal B in New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA) on July 4, be sure to take a minute (actually 1:32) to take in the July 4th show playing – or should we say ‘performed’ – on the state-of-the-art water feature.

The water feature was introduced by LaGuardia Gateway Partners and the Port of Authority of NY & NJ back in November 2021 and has become a favorite airport amenity.

Using laser projection, lighting, and patriotic music, the LGA water feature will entertain passengers with a special Fourth of July show – complete with fireworks.

Here’s how it looks:

How do they do that?

LGA’s Terminal B water feature creates a water curtain with 4,000 gallons of recirculating water sent through two 25-foot-tall circular rings.

The water falls from more than 450 individually controlled solenoid valves that are programmed to allow water to form different shapes and patterns.

Here are videos of the Iconic New York and the holiday-themed show at LGA:

Airport News

We’re ending the week with a round-up of airport news and activities

Ugly Sweaters in Las Vegas

In Las Vegas, Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) – the airport formerly known as McCarran International Airport – hosted its annual ugly sweater competition. And this week the airport also officially switched over to its new name, which honors retired Democratic U.S. Senate majority leader Harry Reid.

Spot an Elf, Win a Gift Card at PVD Airport

Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport (PVD) is having some fun with the #RIAirportelf and offering airport visitors a chance to win gift cards.

Fresh Art at John Wayne Airport

Behind the Tent – by Wednesday Aja

The newest exhibit at John Wayne Airport (SNA) in Orange County, CA features photography by Wednesday Aja offering a unique view of the circus.

Enchanted by the worlds of sequins and makeup, performers, and trapeze artists, Wednesday Aja’s work reveals the magic that transforms for a song – or a circus season – inviting the viewer to come along and get lost in the magic.”

The photographs on exhibit at John Wayne Airport are from Aja’s ‘Troupes and Tribes’ ongoing series exploring themes of custom, costume, and community. Find them (pre-security) on the Departure (upper) Level near security screening areas in Terminals A, B, and C and on the Arrival (lower) Level adjacent to Baggage Carousels 1 and 4.

Another Milestone at LaGuardia

Terminal B West Concourse, Courtesy LaGuardia Gateway Partners

The West Concourse of Terminal B  at New York’s LaGuardia Airport has opened. This phase includes the opening of four new gates and triggers the closure of the final gates of the original Central Terminal Building.

In addition to a 350+ seat American Airlines Admiral Club (Phase 1 is open now; the club should be complete by Spring 2022), the West Concourse has a charming children’s play area modeled after New York City.
 

Icelandair’s Holiday Ad. Based on a Trues Story.

Airports celebrate July 4th and the freedom to travel

Like you, airports are celebrating the freedom to travel (again) and also marking July 4th.

And we’re gathering up some of the best July 4th messages airports are sharing.

Kicking us off: the patriotic water feature show in Terminal B at LaGuardia Airport. Also: a cool mural you can watch being made at Leonardo da Vinci airport in Rome featuring some celebrity travelers. And aviation-themed matchbooks from the SFO Museum collection at San Francisco International Airport.

And these great aviation-themed matchbooks from the SFO Museum at San Francisco International Airport (SFO)

LaGuardia Airport has a cool new water show

We may be staying home but airports are still rolling out fun services, amenities, and cool attractions.

The latest is a state-of-the-art water feature in New York at LaGuardia Airport Terminal B.

It looks like an upside-down water fountain. But this fountain has a suitcase full of tricks.

The 25-foot-tall installation is designed by the French company Aquatique Show and features two large concentric rings and a 4,000-gallon circulating water system.

There are 450 programmable nozzles on the rings which allow water to fall in patterns or in a curtain onto which shapes, images, and themed shows can be projected with lasers.

LaGuardia Gateway Partners, which manages this new terminal at LGA, has shared these two videos of New York-themed water shows.

One features arts and entertainment in New York; the other celebrates iconic New York sites.

Travelers won’t have to see these same shows over and over; new shows are promised for holidays and to mark special events.

LaGuardia Airport’s new 25-foot-tall water feature is an impressive and welcome addition to the new terminal.

It is a far cry from Singapore Airport’s 7-story tall Rain Vortex, but a wonderful amenity we’d love to see in more airports.

Dazzling milestone for New York’s LaGuardia Airport

The new, 850,000-square-foot, four-story, state-of-the-art Terminal B Arrivals and Departures Hall at New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA) opens to the public on Saturday, June 13.

And it is a winner.

A key part of the LGA’s ongoing $8 billion rebuild, the new facility has local concessions, modern restrooms, and a New York-inspired shopping district.

Passengers flying on American Airlines, Air Canada, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines will be using the new terminal at LGA, which has impressive new permanent public art installations.

What’s in the New Terminal B at LGA


The new Terminal B departures level has four check-in islands with 75 individual check-in kiosks and a central oversize bag check-in station.

There are 17 large restrooms. And 16 security lanes with signs showing passenger wait times. There’s also new state-of-the-art technology for screening passengers and baggage.

At the arrivals level, there are nine large new baggage carousels.


The 17 retail and food/beverage concessions include many local favorites.

Among them: Eli’s Essentials by New York food legend Eli Zabar, Chef Marc Forgione’s new Mulberry Street restaurant, and Junior’s Cheesecake.

Contactless ordering available from the in-airport food delivery app At Your Gate.

LGA’s new Terminal B also has great public art

Public Art Fund and LaGuardia Gateway Partners, the developer and operator of Terminal B, chose great public art pieces for the new LGA Terminal B.

The key pieces are by Jeppe Hein, Sabine Hornig, Laura Owens, and Sarah Sze.

Take a look:

Those aren’t ‘lost’ balloons up on the ceiling but Jeppe Hein’s work “All Your Wishes.”

The piece includes dozens of colorful and reflective balloon-shaped steel sculptures distributed, as if floating, throughout the terminal.

The bright red bench sculptures that are both whimsical and useful are also Hein’s work.

Sabine Hornig’s “La Guardia Vistas” is a pair of interlocking cityscapes made up of more than 1100 photographs of New York City.

The work’s title refers to Fiorello La Guardia, founder of the airport and New York City Mayor from 1934 to 1945. And the piece includes 20 quotes from and about La Guardia.


Laura Owens’ pop-art-ish tiled mosaic mural celebrates New York City and covers the airport’s largest interior wall.


And “Shorter than the Day,” by Sarah Sze, is a monumental sculpture made of hundreds of images that form a sphere that appears to float in mid-air.


Things are definitely looking up for LaGuardia Airport and for anyone traveling to or from New York.