Beauty of the World

A few months ago I wrote about a flight in Etihad’s 787 business class. Later in the trip, during a long connection, I got to explore the highlights of the airline’s hub in Abu Dhabi.

Those highlights included a free hotel program for long layovers and a unique US immigration pre-clearance facility. The pièce de résistance was a morning visit to the incredible first class lounge, with a gourmet breakfast, great views of the ramp, and even a cigar bar.

Read on for a walkthrough of Etihad’s Abu Dhabi hub, and for tips on how to take advantage if you pass through the airport yourself.

A few years ago, Abu Dhabi broke ground on a new midfield terminal, but delays and drama pushed the opening date back many times. Apparently it’s mostly finished, but the opening date is still a mystery. For now, Etihad’s long-haul operations are based in Terminal

Every year I’m told that folks like me are hard to shop for. This is surprising since a big part of the whole “AvGeek thing” is travel. So if you’re in a rush, or you’ve been sent this article by the plane nerd in your family, it’s quite simple: Travel.

Travel is the best gift you can give an AvGeek. That’s it. But don’t take it just from me. Numerous studies conclude that money spent on experiences has a bigger impact on happiness than money spent on physical things.

“Create memories, not clutter.”

– Marie Kondo (probably, sounds like something she’d say)

Before folks run to the comments, travel doesn’t have to be expensive. With a gift card of whatever value to someone’s airline of choice, or a contribution towards an experience (like those below), I am

This past week, after a decade-long pause, Air France returned to Newark Liberty International Airport. The service is operated by a Boeing 777-200ER, a staple of the airline’s long-haul fleet. Passengers and higher-ups from both the airline and airport celebrated the occasion with plenty of fanfare, including speeches, a ribbon cutting, and cake.

Air France already operates multiple flights into New York through JFK, so the focus here is really on the parts of the tri-state area — like New Jersey and Staten Island — that are closer to Newark. As someone who grew up in central Jersey I can attest to that convenience advantage. Newark’s outdated terminals catch flak from some travelers, but like LaGuardia and JFK, EWR already launched a massive project to improve its ground game.

JFK is a SkyTeam stronghold thanks to Delta, but Newark has fewer connections with Air

When I fly for personal reasons, I will often think of a possible story angle before my flight. Sometimes I find one, sometimes I do not. During a recent trip from Seattle (SEA) to Houston (IAH), I flew on an Alaska Airlines 737. I thought what possible story angle could I come up with that could be unique when I am flying another Alaska 737 out of Seattle? I figured that this would just be a flight that I would enjoy and no story to be told (which is not always a bad thing).

As I sat at the gate, waiting to board, I looked at my flight details. Yes, I am a bit embarrassed to admit that I did not take a closer look at what aircraft I was flying on earlier, but that allowed me to have a nice little

Last month I found myself with a full-day layover in Casablanca, Morocco. I was on my way to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire to cover Royal Air Maroc’s oneworld celebration. My flight from JFK arrived mid-morning and the ABJ flight wouldn’t depart until late evening. Armed with this knowledge, I had a jam-packed, prearranged agenda which included PlaneSpotting in Casablanca. For a relatively small airline like RAM, this was a chance to see all of the airline’s fleet types in the same place at the same time. Exciting!

PlaneSpotting in Casablanca, up close and air-side

They take

Last week, without any fanfare, United Airlines updated its app. No big deal, right? Well this new update includes a flight simulator game! We played it. And while it’s no Microsoft Flight Simulator, for an app-within-an-app it’s pretty great.

Once you get your app updated, you hit the “More” button on the bottom tab, go to the Game Center at the bottom of the “For your flight” section … and voila there it is, sitting next to Sudoku.

The game puts you in a Boeing 787 Dreamliner in the skies above San Francisco — the only plane and setting the game offers (for now). But the terrain graphics are solid and the aircraft model itself looks great. The game starts with a set of tutorials, which get you used to the controls. You pitch and roll by tilting and angling your phone. As the

I might as well get this out of the way right at the start: I am a Trekkie. I have tried to love Star Wars and I can appreciate it for what it is. But I have just never been able to get into it and I know not too much about the franchise (spoiler alert: I think Darth Vader is Luke’s father and Luke is Princess Layla’s sister which caused some family awkwardness all around).

However… when you put a nice looking Star Wars livery on a 737, I can sway my sci fi space nerd alliances for one morning. This week (on what was appropriately May 4th), Alaska Airlines unveiled their newest special Disney livery. 

It has an eye catching black

Typically we cover airlines and airliners here at AirlineReporter, but occasionally an opportunity in the non-airline[r] worlds pops up that we just can’t pass on.

So when the Museum of Flight here at our Seattle HQ announced that Doc, one of only two airworthy Boeing B-29 bombers, was planning to visit in mid-May, we jumped at the chance to see her up close. Even better, we got to take a short ride around Seattle.

The airplane arrived earlier this week (May 17). Its Star Wars-esque nose, four engines, and incredibly shiny fuselage made it easy to spot on the horizon. The pilots eased the bird onto the runway and taxied down to the Museum of Flight ramp as a crowd of onlookers gathered to watch.

While the B-29 was originally produced in Seattle, Doc is not a