The Stuck at the Airport team was in Geneva, Switzerland this week for an education day with officials at the International Air Transport Association, IATA.
Topics ranged from passenger rights and travel accessibility issues to earnings, sustainability, biometrics, safety, security, air cargo, and more. We’ll be folding what we learned into many of our stories going forward, but we are glad that the odd holiday ‘decoration’ we spotted a few years ago at Geneva Airport was nowhere to be seen this time through.
Airports and airlines elsewhere approach the holidays with a more festive outlook.
Munich Airport (currently recovering from the fallout of a snow closure) transforms each winter into a holiday destination complete with ice skating and curling rinks.
Orlando International Airport (MCO) and many other airports also go all out with holiday decorations throughout their terminals.
Feeling jolly, looking festive! đ Our airport is officially in the holiday spirit with these tree-mendous seasonal decorations. pic.twitter.com/AyRiBsmTtp
Munich Airport hosts a giant Christmas and Winter Market
Munich Airport boasts Europe’s largest covered outdoor space and during the holidays the airport puts that space to great use by hosting a Christmas and Winter Market in a forest of festively decorated trees.
The holiday festivities at the Munich Airport Center (MAC) will operate daily from Friday, November 17, 2023, through Christmas Eve. Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, until Christmas Eve, when the market closes at 4.
What happens at Munich Airport’s Holiday Market?
Munich Airport’s holiday market has more than 40 stalls offering handicrafts, fashion, jewelry, and lots of food and drinks.
There are also ice skating and curling rinks. Skating is 5 euros ($5.33) per person for unlimited time on the ice and includes free skate rental or free skate sharpening if you happen to have your skates with you. Access to the curling rink is 25 euros (about $26) per hour and includes equipment.
The lineup of free entertainment includes ice discos, ice sculpting, Advent wreath making, puppet theater shows, live music, and, of course, visits from Santa Claus.
Wheeled suitcases are favored by travelers for their maneuverability.
But during Octoberfest season, a Munich Airport (MUC) installation is proving that wheeled suitcases can also make music.
Sponsored by German brewery Paulaner, the SoundTrack installation between Terminals 1 and 2 at Munich Airport is a walkable track made of acrylic glass with milled grooves.
If a traveler walks along the track with their wheeled suitcase and sets their stride to a strip of lights, the tones made by the wheels on the track will ‘play’ the melody of the well-known Oktoberfest song Ein Prosit der GemĂźtlichkeit. During Oktoberfest, whenever the tune is heard, festival participants are supposed to raise their mugs.
The installation works a bit like a record player, with the wheels of the suitcase serving as the ‘needle’ that reads the grooves on the record.
Click on the video below to see how the Suitcase Soundtrack was made and how it works.
And, after a two-year break, so is the Christmas and Winter Market at Germany’s Munich Airport.
Courtesy Munich Airport
Located in a giant roofed open-air space between terminals, the market is open through December 26 and is surrounded by decorated Christmas trees.
Inside the market, visitors can enjoy dozens of booths offering handicrafts, clothing, jewelry, toys, and treats to eat.
Courtesy Munich Airport
There’s also a large ice rink open every day from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Skating costs 5 euros per session, but skate rental is free of charge. There are also sessions set aside for curling.
Courtesy Munich Airport
St. Nicholas will arrive on December 6 to hand out small gifts to children and there are magic shows, arts and crafts classes, and live music every day.
Starting November 22, DENâs ice-skating rink will be
in the pre-security area on the DEN Plaza, which is between the airport terminal
and the Westin hotel.
Time on the ice is free. And, recognizing that not everyone has their own ice skates, or travels with them, there is free skate rental as well.
DENâs skating rink hours will be from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily from November 22 through January 20, 2020. As a bonus, on Friday afternoons there will be hot chocolate, hot cider and a variety of extra winter activities, including live entertainment.
Skating at the TWA Hotel at JFK
This year there will an ice-skating rink created at the TWA Hotel across from JetBlue Terminal 5 at John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) as well.
The custom 56-by-44-foot Runway Rink will be
created near the hotelâs 1958 Lockheed Constellation Connie airplane-turned-cocktail
lounge and operate seven days a week starting November 30 and running through February
2020.
While skating shows are planned, time on the ice at the TWA Hotelâs Runway Rink wonât be free. Admission will be $15 for adults and $10 for kids under 12. Skate rentals will $10 ($8 for kids under 12).
Hours:
Monday through Thursday from 4 PM to 9 PM
Friday from 4 PM to 10 PM
Saturday and Sunday from 10 AM to 10 PM
The TWA Hotel will also be selling retro knit hats and scarves as well as beers, Sno-Caps candy and other snacks.
Skate in a Winter Wonderland
If youâre traveling to or through Germanyâs Munich Airport (MUC) this holiday
season, youâll find an ice-skating rink already up and running.
For the 21st year, the large roofed open space between Terminals 1 and 2 and Munich Airport is transformed into a winter wonderland, with a winter market, more than 45 Christmas trees, live music, activities for kids and adults, a pine forest and a free ice-skating rink. Skates can be rented for a small fee and thereâs a bonus rink for curling set up next to the skating rink as well.
