The Guardian yesterday published five things Alain de Botton learned from spending a week in Heathrow’s terminal 5. BAA hired the Swiss philosopher a month ago and granted him unlimited access to all areas in the terminal. Here is what he found:

1 A surprising number of people die at Heathrow every week: around two a terminal. The 20 minutes after you’ve got off the plane are especially hazardous to your constitution. Then again, given the tenderness that parting couples show one another at the barrier, the prospect of death en route can do wonders for any fractious relationship.

2 There’s a British Airways check-in employee at Terminal 5 who, if you manage to be especially rude to her, will pretend that her machine has suddenly designated you for an upgrade. Then, just as she observes your scowl turn into a deferential smile, she will take a second look at her screen, sigh empathetically and announce that sadly the system has mysterious changed its mind and there won’t be an upgrade after all. “That’s a lesson that normally lasts a lifetime,” she reckons.

3 It’s a good deal more interesting to study how an airline meal is made than to eat one. Every weekday at around 4am, a mile from Terminal 5, in an aluminium shed owned by Gate Gourmet, a woman called Leyla sets to work grilling the hundred lamb cutlets that will, a few hours later, face Emirates business-class passengers on EK008 to Dubai.

4 What spoils our experience of airports is that we tend to go there only to catch a flight. We’d be wiser to start going with a view to doing nothing other than have a look around, as people used to do in the 1960s – and which we will probably have to relearn to do, as we wake up to the extraordinary environmental impact of even the most advanced aeroplane engines.

5 To judge by the continuing success of airport-based company Caviar House, homo sapiens manifests a special proclivity for the creatures of the sea as it prepares to take to the skies. Our sea-based appetites perhaps result from a semiconscious desire to savour man’s triumph over both the oceans and the skies, the overworld and the underworld, this duality perfectly reconciled in a man who can in the same afternoon eat a dozen oysters and board a 747 to another continent.

Alain de Botton’s new book, “A Week at the Airport” is out now (Profile Books, £8.99). In addition, Passengers can get one of 10,000 exclusive copies distributed for free at Costa Coffee stores in all 5 London Heathrow terminals.

[Picture from the Guardian]

Have you ever seen an entire departure gate transformed to a popular children’s brand theme? No? Then you haven’t been to Taiwan’s Taoyuan International Airport airport - terminal 2.

When you get dropped off from the busy streets of Taipei at Taiwan’s largest, international airport (IATA: TPE) (traditional Chinese: 臺灣桃園國際機場; simplified Chinese: 台湾桃园国际机场), you expect a very crowded scene, but when I was there on a regular Thursday evening, the airport was surprisingly quiet. Who knows, maybe the large check-in hall and the usual Asian way of building airports for the future (read: big) might have deceived my senses as my flight to Hong Kong was full to the last seat.

After the equally quick security check (luckily the stupid liquid restriction hasn’t arrived in Taiwan yet), you end up in an area between two main arms to the right and left containing all the departure gates.

I first walked left to the A & D gates where I discovered an art exhibition of Chinese (errr, probably Taiwanese) hats painted by children from the “Taoyuan County Sinpo Elementary School” followed by a good selection of shops and a rich media & internet access lounge (close to gate D2).
On my way back to the other arm of gates (B/C gates) I stumbled onto an interesting nursery room. It was turned into the Hello Kitty theme. This surely is a nice alternative to the usual dull, grey rooms provided by airports (don’t worry, I’m not going to become a nursery room expert any time soon though…).

The B/C arm overall is nicer than its sister on the other side as it appears to have been renovated. However, it contains a similar selection of shops. Mind you, there is one really big reason to visit this side of the airport: gate C3. Yes, that’s the Hello Kitty gate with an adjacent shop. See this blog’s picture for an impression of what awaits you there (or our previous cover of the gate earlier this year). How cool is that? But the climax was that my flight actually departed from this gate. Fear not, you don’t have to dress up for boarding although the atmosphere does lend itself to silly, childish fun! Travellers seemed delighted, they smiled, laughed and took photos. What else could you want in a usually stressful environment like an airport?

Overall, if you have some time to kill at the Taipei airport terminal 2, here are my favourites:

1. Buy some authentic Taiwanese Oolong tea from one of several “Hsin Tung Yang” shops (e.g. close to gate D4)
2. Visit the pharmacy and beauty store for your last minute travel needs (close to gate C4)
3. Buy the latest gadgets from the Electronics store (there is one on either gates side)
4. Play a round of Xbox games at the Chimei rich media & internet access lounge (more mature travellers might divert to checking their emails)
5. Speaking of emails, WiFi is free throughout the airport, so download your latest episodes of Britain’s next Top Model on to your iPhones
6. Purchase the latest sports gear at the 3 adjacent sports stores Adidas, Nike and Puma on the C/D gates side
7. Lastly, a must see, check out the Hello Kitty gate C3 (as mentioned above)

Airport Name	Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport airport
Website	http://www.taoyuanairport.gov.tw
IATA Code	TPE
Design
Shopping
Toilets
Overall
	TWD 4,030 (£74.65)
	TWD 2,300 (£42.60)

[Picture from LateDeparture - all rights reserved]

London Luton Airport (IATA: LTN) has excellent connections with key towns and cities across the country. Arrive at Luton by bus and you have almost door to door service but be dropped off by a friend - walk an extra 30 seconds to the entrance - and hello - pay £1 for the privilege!! Mmmm. However, once inside Luton International Airport the flat wide floor plan is inviting and user friendly.

With the “must have” M&S and WH Smith to scoop up your trashy mag & bottle of water, the concourse also offers variety of food options including snacks and a full bar from the open style, spacious Cafe Bar.

You’ll also find Bar Des Voyageurs, a beautiful Parisian style bar offering a selection of hot and cold snacks and a choice of wines from around the world.

Once checked in, take a simple flight of escalators to level 2, straight through security and voila, you have entered the international gateway!

Here you will find the typical homage to capitalism, but after wading through duty free shops & alike (some l might add have amazing bargains) you are greeted by the golden sun streaming through the massive windows.

For those sceptics: On the other 364 days of the year you are still greeted by an abundance of wonderful light ;). This is truly an underestimated advantage to any flight where you might be suffering the dreaded late departure… natural light.

So, you have now entered the perfectly positioned open/free flowing bar Est … offering freshly prepared cocktails, juice combinations, Italian coffee and a delicious selection of antipasti platters.

Opposite is the cosy sister restaurant, Est … where you have a full menu to choose from including freshly made pizza, pasta, focaccia, salads and more.

A helpful Amusement Arcade called “Game Grid” is also positioned directly opposite: fun for all the family! Drop the kids off & watch them whilst sipping a glass of Chardy!
Once called for your flight you wind through a rabbit warren walkway of fibro but you will get there in the end.

Let’s Talk Arriving in Luton…
As above, your friends and family can chose to pay £1 to greet you at the virtual door OR you can jump on a bus. Although travel time is only 2 minutes down the road to the “free section”, who can be bothered after a long flight? Mmmm.

Top 3 adventures in Luton International Airport:

1. The attractive open Bar Cafe smack-bang in the middle of the check in/entrance area lends itself to a payback drink with your friend who just lost £1 by dropping you off.
2. Indulge your retro pacman fantasies in the amusement arcade, Game Grid.
3. Watch the chefs carve your roast or take out the freshly baked bread from the exposed ovens at The Real Food Company. Fresh fruit is on display so why not choose your own smoothie! (A new children’s play area has just opened too!)

Airport Name	London Luton Airport
Website	http://www.london-luton.co.uk
IATA Code	LTN
Design	.5 (points for super functional layout)
Shopping
Toilets
Overall

[Picture from Flickr - some rights reserved]

The word “City” usually refers to a thriving metropolis, a large or important town, so you would therefore think an airport with this noun attached is either very close to such a place or at least reflects a certain grand scale. Well, in Göteborg City Airports case it’s - wait for it - neither!

The airport isn’t particularly close to the centre of Göteborg, or Gothenburg in English, (alright being situated 14 km north-west of the town is not terribly far away, but definitely not right next to it), nor is it particularly sizable. In fact Göteborg City Airport (IATA: GSE) comprises of little more than a farm house and an extension; seriously, you will see horses next to the landing strip, it’s tiny!

This quaint little airport now mainly serves as a Ryanair destination anywhere from Dusseldorf Weeze to London Standsted. However, I have to admit, it’s actually closer to Sweden’s second largest city than its big brother Göteborg-Landvetter Airport (IATA: GOT). Given the size of the airport and my natural shyness of horses, there isn’t much to do there, so my first suggestion is to arrive as late as your nerves can afford :).

But this wouldn’t be LateDeparture.com if I didn’t find a few selected things you might like to do to kill some time. Here are my suggestions:

• Indulge with a “Somersby Pear Cider” for SEK 48 at the airport restaurant (the tin shed on your right as you enter)
• Watch the arriving and departing aircraft from the outdoor seating area in the restaurant, it’s amazing how close you’ll feel to the runway!
• Top up your fluids with some free filtered water from the dispenser in the restaurant
• Buy a legendary Swedish wooden butter knife and cheese grater at the small but fully stocked airport gift shop
• With each incoming aircraft, watch the main road out of the airport being closed off for vehicles. Not something you see every day!

Airport Name	Göteborg City Airport
Website	http://www.goteborgcityairport.se
IATA Code	GSE
Design
Shopping
Toilets
Overall
	SEK 969 (£77.60)
	not available

[Picture from Göteborg City Airport (http://www.goteborgcityairport.se)]

The city offers something for everyone: From tasty Catalonian cuisine, cultural festivals, haute couture on Passeig de Gracia to the alternative scene around Gracia. And how about good old “La Rambla”, with its equal amount of stalls, tourists and thieves. If you fancy an overpriced, flavourless margarita served in a gold fish bowl this is your heaven :-). Or try the overcrowded beaches with all its shame- and topless youngsters.

It is then not surprising that the gateway to this multi-coloured, metro sexual city leads through a rather large airport, second only to the ridiculously massive Madrid Barajas Airport. In fact, Barcelona (IATA: BCN)  just expanded its airport by opening a brand new terminal on 16th June: T1.This new structure houses all Star Alliance flights whereas Spain’s national airline Iberia remains in Terminal T2 … exactly where I base my review.

Without further ado, here are ‘The Top 7 Things to Do’ in Terminal 2:

• Stock up your wardrobe at the Terminal’s local Zara shop
• Buy that Jamon Iberico you ate in the tapas bar the night before and loved so much (“Sibarium”, opposite Zara, Jamon Iberico, 100g for €13.90)
• Stock up some exquisite wine from the Duty Free store (my suggestion: the 2005 Celeste Ribera del Duero)
• Don’t forget that small thing for your girlfriend at “Etam” lingerie
• Now the lady is sorted out, you can get yourself that new season FC Barcelona T-shirt from the local FCB fan shop
• You went for the full Monty at the lingerie store? Winner! Congratulate yourself with something red from the Ferrari store (Terminal 2B).
• Flying back on a Sunday and want a laugh? Watch all the hung over hen and stag parties go by in terrible pain :). You can easily recognize them by their gender uniformity and their similar facial expression (aka “why did I do this?”)

Viva Barcelona, viva Barcelona airport!

Airport Name	Barcelona El Prat Airport - Terminal 2
Website	http://www.aena.es
IATA Code	BCN
Design
Shopping
Toilets
Overall
	€ 92.00 (£78.80)
	€ 35.00 (£30.00)

[Picture from Flickr - some rights reserved]

LateDeparture.com is proud to have secured an interview with Daniela, an experienced Air Traffic Controller from Geneva airport. She provides us with interesting insights about her job, the stress levels and where she thinks air traffic volumes are heading towards. Plus she provides us with her favourite airport tips.

How did you become a Air Traffic Controller (ATC)?

After a few psycho-technical and job related tests, SKYGUIDE (former swisscontrol) proposed me to join a 36 months lasting student course.

The first year, I had a lot of theory lessons about legislation, aerodynamics, aircraft recognition and other ATC subjects followed by a period of simulator training.

Then, all the students (around 40) of my class were transferred to the final location, either Geneva, Zurich, Bern or Lugano. We had also few students working for military airports.

After two more years of on the job training, under surveillance of a confirmed and trained coach, I got my license to work alone on the different sectors at the tower and approach-sector in Geneva.

Can you explain our readers what your job involves on a day to day basis?

In my daily business I am always member of a team working in changing shifts.

In the Tower or Aerodrome Control, our team has to supervise the entire airport’s taxiing, takeoff and landing operations, as well as handling all the airborne traffic in the airport’s immediate vicinity.

In Approach Control, we guide all approaches and departures within a radius of around 50 kilometres from the airport. This includes managing and monitoring departing flights as they climb to their assigned levels and airways, and assisting aircraft down until they are handed over to the Tower.

Many people regard your job as a very stressful one with a lot of responsibility, do you see it this way too?

It can be very stressful, for instance on high loaded days as during the summer holiday period.

But, to hand over to an other colleague at the end of my shift, is the hugest advantage of my job. At the end of my working day I do not have to worry about ongoing folders as someone else is taking on the traffic.

During the years you have worked in your job, the air traffic volume has increased steadily, did your workload increase in parallel to that?

Yes, it increased constantly, but not at the same rate as the traffic volume. Compared to the nineties we have a lot more technical help, the systems are in a constant evolution to assist us in an optimal way.

As this blog is about what you can do at airports when your flight is delayed, one obvious question is, what areas can Air Traffic Controller influence in terms of punctuality or delay in terms of a specific flight?

Obviously, every ATC is always doing his best to expedite the traffic flow.

We try to optimize constantly the speeds of the arriving traffic in a way to permit to get in-between each arrival at least one departure out. This is by the way a specificity of Geneva as we are one of the busiest airports with one single runway in use.

For the slot management we do not have a lot of possibilities to act on, as we are only one of many handling a flight.

Each sector treating a flight from the departure airport to the final destination has a certain capacity, meaning an amount of traffic it is able to handle at a given time at the given conditions.

This capacity depends on the weather conditions, the staffing, the availability of navigational aids and technical installations.

For all flights anywhere in Europe, the routings are collected in a central computer at Brussels where they are compared and so called departure slots are distributed to flights which risk to be in a traffic congestion.

This flights are then held on ground instead of being kept longer in the air in a traffic jam.

Can you illustrate a specific example for Geneva airport where a situation led to delays? What did you (have to) do about it?

One obvious example creating delay is a runway closure, for instance in winter time, when snow clearing becomes necessary. Then, the fire brigade needs around half an hour to remove the snow on a large width and the whole length of the runway.

As well in winter, the time needed on ground for the aircraft can be increased for deicing procedures. The aircrafts have to be cleared of ice and snow which could cause too much resistance during flight enabling the aircraft to fly properly.

But the most common reason for delay is the overload of sectors, as all the companies want to have the same arriving times at their destination. For example, a lot of businessjets plan to arrive on time for the first meetings in the morning, so you create the same traffic jams as you find on the road on the way to your office.

Clearly safety is the biggest priority in your job, but do you also get measured on timeliness of arriving and departing aircrafts?

Yes, we do get regularly feedback on our performance in terms of delay.

There exists a so called “hit-list” of the worst airports in Europe where Geneva figures on as number 17 with an average delay of around 0.34 minutes per flight for the 175′863 handled flights in 2008. 95% of all flights were able to respect their schedule on time.

What would your suggestion be for improving flight punctuality in general?

As a passenger you can contribute to more punctuality by being ready early enough at the gate. This measure helps the companies to leave the stand on time and meet the given departure slot.

If a flight is delayed due to a missing passenger, the company has to announce the delay to the flow management and the departure slot is lost. As it is a last-minute change, this flight will get the next available slot which can be hours later. The principal of the slot allocation is always “first come, first served”.

The second suggestion would be to be patient, as a flight is much safer, economically and ecologically while waiting on the ground than doing holding patterns close to the overloaded destination.

You have probably come across many airports in your life as well, do you have a personal favorite and if so, what makes that airport special?

Of course Geneva Cointrin is one of my favorites, as you can get one of the best coffees and chocolates at “MARTELS confiseur” close to the arrival hall. It is also famous for its “pavé de Genève”, a chocolate speciality.

An other airport I like a lot is Copenhagen [read our reviewed here] , people are very friendly and from an operational point of view, the two parallel runways and the very flat topography are a huge advantage for expediting the traffic.

Thank you very much, Daniela, for your time answering all our questions!

[Picture from Skyguide]

Germany’s Munich airport, Franz-Joseph Strauss (IATA: MUC) was recently voted Europe’s second best Airport after Zurich in a “Skytrax” survey; and in my view quite rightly!

Munich is a fairly big airport with 2 terminals serving as Lufthansa’s second hub airport after Frankfurt. With airports however, size is not everything…

It’s not surprising then that Munich airport has two faces: The rather boring and older Terminal 1 which opened in 1992 is not the most exciting place. This terminal serves all non-Star Alliance flights and is divided into subsections A to E. Once you are through security, it’s a very limited experience in terms of what you can do there!

Terminal 2 on the other hand is the flagship terminal of the airport and hosts all Star Alliance flights. It offers a wide range of shops and restaurants even after passing the security section. So, you shouldn’t get bored anytime soon. My personal favourite is the Dallmayr shop: try the fresh “Bretzen” for example. Delicious!

Overall however, I’d recommend you spend as much time as you can in the airports “Zentralbereich”. This is the central area located between the two main terminals.

Here my top 5 things to do:

1. Enjoy an Oktoberfest atmosphere and super friendly staff at “Airbräu’s” outside beer garden between the terminals
2. Stock up for an authentic, Bavarian Weisswurst breakfast at the well equipped grocery store “Edeka”
3. Still haven’t sent the bundle of postcards and gifts you promised? No problem. You can send them off with the all important German post stamp at the “Deutsche Post” office next to “Edeka”.
4. The ever present Starbucks can sort out your early-flight coffee needs. You find it on the way to Terminal 2 from the outside area.
5. Oh and did you really, really, really like that waitress from the Airbräu (see first point)? Buy her some red roses from the beautiful flower shop “Airport Flower” next to the Starbucks

Airport Name	Munich “Franz Josef Strauss” Airport
Website	http://www.munich-airport.de
IATA Code	MUC
Design
Shopping
Toilets
Overall
	€ 87.90 (£74.30)
	€ 34.50 (£29.15)

[Picture from Flickr - some rights reserved.]

Incheon is an airport that has been in the global top 5 ranking for the World Airport Awards during the past 5-6 years, and it is a great achievement for them to secure this premier mark of customer satisfaction.

Second best airport in this year’s ranking came last year’s winner, Hong Kong International Airport followed by Singapore’s Changi airport. Late.Departure.com fully reviewed three of the top ten airports and will publish the Munich review next week (click on the links below to read the reviews) :

1. Incheon International Airport
2. Hong Kong International Airport
3. Singapore Changi
4. Zurich
5. Munich
6. Kansai
7. Kuala Lumpur
8. Amsterdam
9. Centrair Nagoya
10. Auckland

Best European Airport went to Zurich which overtook Munich’s lead from last year. In North American the award went to Dallas/Fort Worth. Other regional winners were Tel Aviv for the Middle East, Auckland for the Pacific region, Cape Town for Africa, Panama for Central America and Lima for South America.

The World Airport Awards are based on the results from 8.6 million questionnaires completed by airline passengers in 2008/9, covering more than 190 airports worldwide. The survey evaluates traveller experiences across 39 different airport service and product factors -  from check-in, arrivals, transfer through to departure at the gate.

Congratulations to Incheon; I guess I will have to schedule a trip to Seoul soon to provide my loyal readers with my own verdict. Any sponsors?

[Picture from Wikipedia]

If you’ve been to Las Vegas, I’m sure you’re longing to go back! I know l was! Ever since I visited “Sin City” for the first time in my adult life last summer (and posted a video review in this post) it was clear to me that I was destined to return to this forbidden place. So when the opportunity presented itself over an adjacent long weekend to a business trip to close-by California, I grabbed the chance, booked a ticket on Virgin America and two nights at the Mirage.

But enough praise for this wonderful crazy city, after all, this is an airport blog and not a boring destination guide. Nor is it my personal diary, so let’s get down to business:

I trust it already came through in my video review last year, McCarran airport (IATA: LAS) is not your usual airport. But who would expect this in Las Vegas anyway? Surely you expect the airport to have slot machines everywhere, and it does, but did you know that it even features a language course vending machine? It’s true: in the A and B gates departure lounge, you can purchase Rosetta Stone language courses in every language from Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew to even, yes, you guessed it, English. For little more than your winnings at the Blackjack table on the Strip ($299.99) one of these courses can be yours!

But if study is not your thing and perhaps you’re dealing with the legacy of a huge night before, you can cure even the worst hangover with something perfectly greasy from the guys at the “Great Steak” outlet before the gates B17-25.

Maybe you’re still thinking about the scantily clad ladies dancing on the speakers of the XS nightclub at the Encore? Then probably a sweet, dice lollypop is what you are looking for: You will find it at “The Candy Shoppe” in the middle of the A and B gates lounge.

Finally, if you’re trying to be good to make up for some recent, umm, “indulgences” why not go crazy with a fine selection of fruit and nuts from the “Las Vegas Fruit and Nuts” store.

Hey, who said airports are boring?

Viva Las Vegas Airport!

Airport Name	Las Vegas McCarran International - Terminal 2
Website	http://www.mccarran.com/
IATA Code	LAS
Design
Shopping
Toilets
Overall

[Image from Flickr - some rights reserved]

The recent disappearance of Air France Flight 447 off the coast of Brazil raises the question of how airports prepare and handle emergencies. Although the A330 did not send out a distress call, or was able to return, or divert to a nearby airport, airports are prepared for such events, and have very strict protocols of how to deal with various emergencies that occur on the airfield.

All FAA Part 139 airports in the United States are required to have an Airport Certification Manual with an outline of procedures for response teams, such as ARFF (Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting), law enforcement, and airport operations in order to respond to emergencies ranging from aircraft alerts to medical situations. Airports in other countries that are regulated or lease any part of the airfield from the government will have similar regulations in place. An airport needs to be regulated and occasionally audited to ensure that airport staff is adequately trained to deal with such emergencies.

Flights that have been victim of a hijacking, bomb threat, or mechanical failure are serious instances that require special training. Typically, when a Captain receives notice of a bomb threat or hijacking, the aircraft will land immediately and airport officials will direct the aircraft to a safe and unpopulated area of the airfield. Law enforcement officials will be escorted to the aircraft where they will take incident command and proceed with their own procedures.

When Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana, the city of New Orleans did not have a plan of scale to evacuate elderly residents and those without transportation. The city, which owns the airport has devised an emergency plan, with the help of a private company, and approved by government officials is now in place for the next potential hurricane. The plan includes preferred routes for traffic flow into the airport facility for those being bused or flown out.

Air France Flight 447, an Airbus 330, was flown into a strong storm off the coast of Brazil where it suffered from severe turbulence and a possible lighting strike which may have induced an electrical failure, ultimately causing it to go down. The flight crew reportedly never declared an emergency, but if they were closer to the shore and were able to glide with or without power to a nearby airport, it would have been classified as an Alert III, the most serious of all aircraft emergencies. The airport would be responsible for responding with ARFF and medical teams to evacuate passengers and crew. If the plane were disabled and crippled on the runway, the airline or owner would be responsible for removing it at their cost. The cost of removal is never the responsibility of the airport, but if an actual large scale crash does occur in the vicinity of the airport, a closure is imminent until it can be cleared.

[Article provided by Jeffrey from Airport Chronicles exclusively for LateDeparture.com - Picture shows the disappeared Air France jet with the registration F-GZCP and comes from Flickr, some rights reserved]