layovers ✈︎ air travel and commercial aviation

Flight 084. The Epic Etihad Flight Comparison. The Never-ending Frankfurt Airport Disaster. The Unexpected CDG Layover Trust. The Renewed A220 Divider Saga. The Astonishing Tyson v Fury Priority Gate Fight. The Great Pizza Lounge Search. The Surprising Fog Safety Shutdown. The Memorable Rothschild Peeing Dog. The Forever Gone Joon BS Experiment. The Clever Peak Design Travel Bag. The Succulent Lufthansa Goose Tradition. The Unforeseen BA Lounge Food Amelioration. The Endlessly Funny Visa Gate Wait. The Incredible Al Fursan Air Show. The Unhoped For Moronic Airport Scooters. The Idiotic Early AA LHR Move. The Uncertain Shared Window Courtesy. The Funny HEL ad. The Divinely Graceful AUH Tower. The Unsurprising Blurriness of Flight Experiences.

Flight 083. Alex flies the C-3PO Star Wars plane, and around Japan with boarding bliss. Paul flies the Q Suite, and around Asia with food bliss. Facial recognition boarding is there, artificial intelligence is next, what about Samurai boarding? Million milers luggage tags, crew postcards and how staff keeps making a difference. Aeroflot doesn't seem to like travel bloggers. The Lion Air tragedy makes 737 pilots quite vocal. DOH long layover exit trick. IcelandAir gets WOW, but FlyBe gets worse. The A220 divider debate continues. And more (airport) food, destinations love, laughs, and one rant (we won't make friends with some AVgeeks).

Flight 082. The fans of United reach out to us (and we get why). Tinder for …airlines (you'll get why). Cathay gets hacked, but continues to shine with a brilliant passenger experience. BA is still embroiled in its hack (voucher anyone?), offers a garish boarding experience (Alex used the term morgue!), but its new food provider is a total win (the best ever?). Aegean flight attendants surround Paul on stage (what a fun experience, you're awesome, A3!). The CS100 / A220 divider mystery is resolved and we nail the seat you should choose on the Delta 220. Banning alcohol at airport? No problem, BrewDog brings beers and food to its own 767 (why didn't we invest???). What does EDTO mean? We've got one cheeky definition and the real one. Integrations that don't truly are: Lufthansa and Eurowings (but cool uniforms!), Iberia and British Airways. Elon Musk solves the London runway situation. We solve the airport bus strategy. IST gets a magnificent new airport (on-time-ish). MEX will never get its own. And Berlin TXL, how to say this? Randomly throw LEGO pieces and you'll have its layout.

Flight 081. Which was first, the CX 777 or the vanity 777UA? Will Hunter knows. Is Emirates stalling the 380s order a ploy to on-board Etihad? Only a rumor, we know, but let us play conspiracy please. How did Jet Airways get a lifeline this time? As long as they pressurize their planes. Do immigration e-gates give you anxiety? The tale of Jason Bourne (both Paul and Alex have their passports locked in a safe in Zurich!). Is it possible to do a layover at LCY? Alex proves it. What lounges offer lounge ironing services at their arrival lounges? It's a magical service from Narnia. Does shit still happen at United? Yes, yuck, and baby do cry, dear UA. Who took over Primera Air to launch the A321LR? We had never heard of them. What did Al-Baker say this time about One World? A lot, but he still invests in all of OW members. Who beat BA across the Atlantic? That's an easy one to guess. How do you tell the age of the aircraft you're in? Very easy for Airbus, a little more work for the others. Will JFK become better? There's finally hope. Will the Delta A220 differ from those in Europe? Yes. Who got fined for keeping their planes too hot? WE KEEP TELLING YOU AIR VENTS ARE ESSENTIAL!

Flight 080. Are you getting Rouged, Levelled or Jooned? Toothpaste Pantone is the best livery color ever (hahaha). Alex falls in love with the CS100 and SWISS and ZRH (Paul can gloat now). Lufthansa brings draft beers in flight for Oktoberfest, and foam to its business seats (no, not beer foam). Were the livery painters of Cathay and Thomas Cook beer-drunk (no, but maybe were they millennials?). Paul experiences NBA players seats with PrivatAir. Alex talks about adorable airports, and whilst LCY isn't one, its departing flights delight. The BA Golden Ticket (no compromat here). The augmented reality of the ZRH observation deck (Sarah Connor?). Plane Talking UK podcast invites Paul (but gets an explicit rating in return, sorry guys). The Alitalia train…wreck (nice pun, Paul). The Trent neo-issues (bad pun that one). Paul doesn't recognize Margaery Tyrell (she was in 1A, he was in 1F). Canadians are our highest engaged listeners ever (thank you guys, seriously). And …WE'RE ON SPOTIFY!

Flight 079. BA adds another IT meltdown to its collection, Alex experienced it. Emirates and Etihad seem closer than ever (or are they?). Air Canada is very …Canadian. The Air France CEO is also Canadian (and unions aren't so happy). Qantas hires wellness experts for its future ultra long haul flights, but it needs to lose fat itself. The 350ULR won't have many clients (a grand total of 2?). The CS300 is very nice (Paul knew that), the sandwiches to GVA too (Paul didn't). Garuda leaves London (for Amsterdam). The new ZRH A lounges were worth the wait (one year!!). BA thinks Q Suite, we aren't holding our breath yet. LHR T2 is the best LHR. AA long haul in coach might just edge BA (should we move our loyalty?). We like when pilots talk (including those who look like sailors in a Madrid bar). Proper Burning Morons (you'll get that one).

Flight 078. The Etihad experience: 787 Studio, 380 First Apartment, AUH lounges. The JetSuiteX experience: flying private at Southwest prices. Immigration and e-gates in LHR, AUH, MEL. Japan airports can't get a break. The uncertain future of Etihad, from a new strategy to a possible Star Alliance joining (Lufthansa already likes them). The AUH tower. MEXit or not, the referendum. JetBlue confirms Europe, but no timeline. Clear or no Clear. Melbourne love. Remembering Swissair 111, 20 years on.

Flight 077. Google is making ITA Matrix suck, and they don't tell us why. Smart luggages are dying, yay. United elegantly ends its 747 program. US airlines shift their Asian hub strategy. Alitalia goes nowhere. A tank shell, a sex toy, a mistake, crazy security stories in German-speaking Europe. The TSA gets unlimited powers and secretly spies on fliers. The sad story of the stolen Q400 from SEA. CDG is the sequel to Logan's Run. From great food to a very French safety video, Air France still pleases (but why that L seat?). JAL buzzes loud for showers. Red Bull in the flight deck. Iron Maiden brings a Spitfire on stage. Delta and Virgin bring 230 US craft beers to London.

Flight 076. Alex flies Alaska (you've been waiting for that one!) and JetBlue, which one did he prefer? Norwegian flies the A380 thanks to Hi-Fly (but it's always late). Rolls-Royce registers huge losses, while airlines look to scrapyards to replace their 787s. Paul flies Delta, the violet uniforms don't match the blue seats. Alex sends Paul a gift from the Boeing factory (it's more than a sticker). California experiences massive fires, and DC-10s and the 747 supertanker are on-site. Southwest does away with peanuts (that's NUTS!). Boeing mulls the 797, whilst Airbus gleefully boasts its A321XLR. From United lying to passengers to American mistreating a cellist, some US airlines horror stories …but JetBlue saves the day (and an adorable dog). Air Canada takes the wrong turn. A dog opens a cargo door mid-flight …what?!

Flight 075. Is the A220 the future of the A320? Boeing marries Embraer (for a fortune). The diplomacy of Russian airspace. KLM offers the worst beef ever (but good pasta). LHR has half of the top 10 highest revenue routes in the world. CDG layover trick (trust us!). 100 days until the new IST opens, it's going to be really tight. Turkish VIP coffee. The best eye-mask of them all. Paul serendipitously meets the BA olive oil provider. Alex praises BA for his flight to SJC. Airlines that you can watch live sports on. It's not coming home.

Flight 074. Alex witnesses the worst passenger ever. Paul witnesses the best passenger ever. The new Lufthansa livery explained. Flying First in the nose of the Lufthansa 747-8i. Singapore confirms its longest flight. The A380 is scrapped for parts. Can we believe SkyTrax? Etihad encourages its pilots to fly for Emirates. LiveATC joy. The inconsistency of airport security. LHR gets approval for its 3rd runway. FRANKFURT AIRPORT IS A TOTAL DISASTER.

Flight 073. Discomfort is why we travel, a tribute to Bourdain. Alex falls in love with AA. Paul goes to NYC for half a day. E190 configurations. Europe business class v the rest of the world. ANA 789 experience. The upcoming wave of Chinese tourism. US extreme vetting. Dreamliner RR engines fall out. 787 dimming windows speed. Privilege Style for Norwegian. BA First let down. Seaplanes in the Maldives. And more.

Flight 072. Rebooting a A320 in-flight. The 787 RR saga gets bigger, has BA un-retiring 747s. Toy Story and joyful liveries. Norwegian strategy stalls. An A330 slaps a A321 at IST. The US reaches an agreement with the ME3. Emirates and Bvlgari have more amenity kits that you can handle. Air France could get bankrupt this time. Heathrow has flights to the Death Star. Lufthansa blues. Airbus renames the Bombardier CS. Singapore gets better by the day. Alitalia might have gotten illegal money. Bluesmart, smart no more.

Flight 071. The Southwest engine failure. The Dreamliner Rolls Royce engine saga. A 7.37 beer. Hello Kitty gate at TPE. No standing up seats please. Bidets and urinals in the air. No one wants Air India. Etihad downsizes. WOW goes business. SWISS auto-rebooking tool. Grappa lounge. The JFK TWA hotel.

Flight 070. IAG buys a bit of Norwegian, wants more. EU wants to reduce passenger rights. Alex flies to ICN, KIX, HND, tries Peach. Paul flies to TPE, DXB and LUX, tries the Apple Watch. Beijing builds a massive airport, Berlin keeps failing at its one. Two A380 go charter. Avios (finally) shuts down. LHR T1 is auctioned off. The robots of ICN.