Tag Archives: Airport

Templehof (unused) Airport Tour, Berlin, Germany

07 Friday Sep 2018

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Our Templehof Airport Tour in Berlin was part of our German Road trip (that page has links to all the hotels, restaurants and places visited).

Tempelhof opened 8th October 1923 and ceased operations on 30th October 2008. The old terminal was originally constructed in 1927. In anticipation of increasing air traffic, the Nazi government began a massive reconstruction in the mid-1930s. The main building was once among the top 20 largest buildings on Earth.

On 20 June 1948, Soviet authorities, claiming technical difficulties, halted all traffic by land and by water into or out of the Western-controlled sectors of Berlin. Faced with the choice of abandoning the city or attempting to supply its inhabitants with the necessities of life by air, the Western Powers chose the latter course, and for the next eleven months sustained the city’s 2½ million residents in one of the greatest feats in aviation history – The Berlin Airlift.

The former airfield is now used as a huge recreational space known as Tempelhofer Feld. The airport buildings are largely abandoned, although there are a few tenants who rent space there.

We purchased two tour tickets online https://www.thf-berlin.de/fuehrungen/english-guided-tours/ for €15,00 per ticket. We had less than an hour to get to Templehof from our earlier Dark Worlds Bunker Tour and arrived 20 minutes late to find the tour office closed and no sign of the tour. There were four doors leading to a corridor – luckily one was unlocked and we went inside.

We walked to the end of the corridor, only to find more doors, all of those were locked. Two thirds of the way down the corridor was a door that opened with steps down to the airfield. We went down, walked to the next set of steps, back up and found the door open – we were now on the other side of the locked corridor doors. There was still no sign of the tour, but it was great fun finding our way around without a tour guide.

We found ourselves in the huge deserted terminal building – an amazing space.

We climbed upstairs for a better view.

We found the doors to the stairwells were open, but once through there was no way back. It was then that the tour appeared – we walked back down and joined them.

The tour guide didn’t immediately notice two extra members. However, others on the tour wore green wristbands and a few minutes later the guide realised ours were missing. She asked if we were part of the tour and I said that we were, had arrived late and showed our tickets. “How did you get in here?” – I didn’t explain our entire journey, just that the door was open. “But you don’t have a green wristband!”. I replied that we did have tickets, but would be happy to continue wandering around on our own. We were invited to remain on the tour.

The tour continued, slowly and included a lot of stair climbing.

The tour was a little boring, especially after the excitement of our self-guided adventure – but at least we knew that we’d be able to leave and not be arrested!

We discovered that we’d missed a trip to the roof of the building – I’m sure that would have been great. What was interesting was how you could go out a door on one level and feel like it was ground level, then walk down a few flights of stairs and repeat.

If you just wanted to view the airport from outside, you could just turn up and wander around. To see the inside and the roof, you’ll need a ticket – if you’re accidentally late, just try a few doors!

Templehof Airport
Platz der Luftbrücke 5
12101 Berlin
Germany

English-language tours:
Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday 1:30 pm
and Thursday (August and September) 1:30 pm

Duration of the tour: 2 hours

Adult: 15,00 €
Students: 10,00 €
Children (6-14 years): 7,00 €

+49 30 200 03 74-41 – although I called this number from the taxi while we were stuck in traffic and just got a voicemail in German

https://www.thf-berlin.de/fuehrungen/english-guided-tours/

Hampton by Hilton Hotel, Gatwick Airport North Terminal, England

04 Wednesday Jul 2018

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We stayed here in June to catch an early morning flight departing from the North Terminal. This was our first stay as we’ve previously stayed at the Hilton South Terminal. The Hampton North beats Hilton South hands down!

The Hampton entrance is directly from the North Terminal and you’re at the reception desk and room in minutes. Contrast this with the Hilton South, a long walk from the terminal and another long walk from reception to your room.

Check in was friendly and they were also able to print a document we emailed them without any issues nor cost. As Hilton Diamond, we were upgraded and also offered a choice of snacks from the snack bar.

The room was clean and functional and had a king-size bed.

The bathroom had a walk in shower.

The view from the room was interesting.

There isn’t an executive lounge, but the Hilton South lounge isn’t much to write home about.

My partner left early for her flight – the EasyJet check in is steps from the hotel entrance.

I had the decent buffet breakfast, which I think is free for all guests – I wasn’t asked for my room number. I wouldn’t be surprised if a few people waiting for their flight in the North Terminal sneaked in for a free breakfast! The Hilton South charges for breakfast unless you book a breakfast included rate or have Hilton Gold or Diamond status.

I’d booked a taxi to collect me from the hotel. There’s a short corridor that leads to the hotel car park and taxis can pick up there – 15 minutes free parking.

I’d definitely recommend this hotel if you are flying in/out of Gatwick North. In fact, I’d almost be tempted to choose it if I was flying in/out of Gatwick South as the walking distance is about the same.

Hampton by Hilton
Longbridge House North Terminal,
Horley, RH6 0PJ, United Kingdom

TEL: +44-1293-579999

http://hamptoninn3.hilton.com/en/hotels/united-kingdom/hampton-by-hilton-london-gatwick-airport-LONGNHX/index.html

SevenAir Aero VIP, Flight between Funchal, Madeira and Porto Santo

22 Tuesday May 2018

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The Island of Porto Santo is 71.4 km from Funchal, Madeira. We spent a week at the excellent Vidamar Hotel in Madeira and decided to extend our holiday with four days at the Pestana Columbos on Porto Santo.

There are two routes from Funchal, Madeira to Porto Santo; an almost daily Porto Santo Line ferry which leaves at either 08:00 or 19:00, takes 2 hours 15 minutes and costs 58 EUR return or a 10 minute flight, with convenient departure times for which we paid 83 EUR return. The ferry appears to be ridiculously overpriced.

We took the 13.00 flight out and 08.00 back – only early as we had to catch another flight from Funchal to London. The small Dornier twin-turboprop aircraft has only 19 passenger seats – our outbound flight had just five passengers.

We checked in a bag but also had carry on luggage. We had to leave this at the aircraft steps and it was put into the on-board hold.

The Captain came out to visit us from the cockpit and asked that we watch the safety video.

The flight to Porto Santo took about 10 minutes. Our carry on bags were returned to us. Ours was the only aircraft on the runway.

And our checked luggage was the only bag on the conveyor.

The bag arrived within five minutes, which isn’t surprising as the aircraft was only a short walk from the empty terminal – we could have taken it ourselves.

Outside, there weren’t any taxis, just a number to call – a taxi arrived within five minutes of the call and took us to the Pestana Porto Santo Columbos (12 EUR) for our four-night stay.

The return flight was busier and this time our seats were just behind the pilot. I took a video of him during take-off.

It took some time before bags arrived at Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport, Funchal. While waiting I took these pictures that advertised the duty free shops – questionably one of the top three things in Madeira!

I’d highly recommend the flight if you intend to visit Porto Santo.

https://www.sevenair.com/

Marco Polo Lounge, Venice Marco Polo Airport, Italy

16 Monday Apr 2018

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We flew EasyJet to Venice Marco Polo Airport and took the Alilaguna Blue Line boat (25 EUR return per person) to the Hilton Molino Stucky Venice on Giudecca Island – just across the canal from St. Mark’s Square.

The walk between the airport and quay is short and there are moving walkways.

We had a few hours before our flight and I decided to use the Lounge Pass that comes free with one of my credit cards – you could also use Priority Pass there. I didn’t expect much but was more than pleasantly surprised.

The lounge was spacious and there were plenty of seats.

We found some good seats, with a view to the runway.

The food selection was fantastic and good quality.

Alcoholic drinks weren’t self-serve, but a member of the lounge staff was happy to pour whatever was asked for.

I would have happily stayed another hour. A lot of airlines should take a look at the Marco Polo lounge and see how they could improve their own dedicated lounges.

If you find yourself at Venice Marco Polo airport for more than an hour, I’d recommend a visit.

http://www.veniceairport.it/en/at-the-airport/marco-polo-club-vip-lounge.html

 

Václav Havel Airport in Lego, Prague, Czech Republic

05 Thursday Apr 2018

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Václav Havel Airport was formerly known as Prague Ruzyně – the airport changed its name on the 5th October 2012 on what would have been former Czech President Havel’s 76th birthday).

There are two Terminals; Terminal One is dedicated to flights outside the Schengen Area (free movement between ten EU countries) and Terminal Two for Schengen Area flights. Terminal Two is much nicer and also has a single security channel. In Terminal One, each gate has security – this leads to increased confiscation of water bottles, poor management of Fast Track access and means that all duty free outlets have to enclose liquids in tamper-proof plastic bags.

But what’s this about the Lego? Terminal Two’s landside concourse has a large Lego model of the airport – that means its accessible to anyone, even non-flyers who might like to visit. The model is interactive, in that you can press various buttons and see vehicles and aircraft move around.

Below some pictures of Václav Havel Airport – in Lego:

Hilton Molino Stucky Hotel, Venice, Italy

28 Wednesday Mar 2018

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For our two-night trip to Venice we chose the Hilton on Giudecca Island – just across the canal from the main city of Venice. The reasons for our choice:

  • Giudecca Island looked like a peaceful haven, away from the busy tourist area and with some good restaurants.
  • The additional benefits offered to HHonors Platinum card holders; upgraded room, lounge access, breakfast.

We landed at Venice Marco Polo airport and had pre-paid for return boat tickets (25 EUR per person) to Giudecca as part of the Venice Unica City Pass: https://www.veneziaunica.it/en/e-commerce/services

The walk from the airport to the quay is short and there are moving walkways.

There was a queue waiting to board our (Alilaguna Blue Line) boat. Boarding completed leaving several people still in front of us. So we had to wait maybe 20 minutes for the next boat. When you board the boat, you need to go down steps into the front or rear compartment – it would be difficult for anyone infirm or disabled to board. The boat left, still with many seats free, but with people left behind on the quayside.

The trip to Giudecca takes 1 hour and 40 minutes, stopping at several places along the way. We started to think about a private taxi for our return.

We were the only passengers left when the boat arrived at Giudecca – as close to the Hilton entrance as you can get.

There was a queue for check in and no priority line for HHonors members. The receptionist was really friendly, spoke to us in English and advised that we’d been upgraded to an Executive Room with view.

Our room was nicely appointed and had a great view.

There wasn’t the usual two complimentary bottles of water – although these were left the next morning. I would have preferred a dedicated shower rather than a bath with shower.

The Executive Lounge ‘Happy Hour’ was 5-7pm – quite an early start and finish compared to other Hiltons. The lounge is on the ground floor of the hotel and is a effectively a narrow corridor, separated from the bar area, with tables squeezed either side.

The food and drink selection was the worst I’ve ever experienced in a Hilton lounge; no strong alcohol like Whisky, Cognac, Vodka, a really poor food selection, the single hot choice was inedible fried mozzarella balls. The red wine was poor quality. The only positive thing was a small table with prosecco, soda water and Aperol where you could make yourself an Aperol Spritz cocktail.

Later, we decided to take a walk along the promenade (turn right as you leave the hotel entrance). The hotel looked majestic and beautifully illuminated.

Giudecca is a lovely peaceful island and we found an excellent restaurant called Majer.

The following day we headed to the Il Molino Restaurant for breakfast. The receptionist advised that breakfast wasn’t included until I explained that I was a Diamond member. We were seated, ordered coffee and went to the buffet. On our return, another couple had taken our table – our coffee was just arriving and there was some confusion until the couple decided to move.

The buffet was very good, although there wasn’t an omelette station.

In a corridor, just outside of the buffet room, I found two lonely mini-buffets; Arabic and Chinese. It was clear that nobody knew these existed.

I was initially excited until I found that there wasn’t anything of interest – the Chinese wasn’t dim sum, just fried rice.

We took the hotel shuttle boat to the main island – the hotel adds 7.50 EUR per person, per stay, for unlimited use of the shuttle. We were lucky to make it on board as there were more passengers waiting than could be accommodated (max. 39). I would have been pretty cross had we not been able to board, with a 40 minute wait for the next boat. The trip to San Marco took 15 minutes.

We had a wonderful day in Venice (review shortly) and returned on the 5pm shuttle – which we lucky to board as it was almost full.

One additional HHonors Diamond benefit was 2 hours access to the Spa. The hotel is huge and it was quite a walk through a labyrinth of corridors and stairs (in hotel slippers and bathrobes!) before we found the Spa. We really shouldn’t have bothered. There was a small Jacuzzi, a mixed wet steam sauna plus men- and women-only saunas. There was also a relaxation room with a few beds with water and tea available. I didn’t check on the gym.

We visited the Skyline Rooftop Bar. The rooftop pool was closed for maintenance work. The bar had two open-air terraces with good views.

On our second breakfast visit, the waitress asked if I would like an omelette or poached eggs – I asked if I could have Eggs Benedict and was delighted to find that I could. What arrived wasn’t a bad attempt, but couldn’t really be described as Eggs Benedict.

Checkout time was 11am – I hadn’t even realised and checked out just before noon. There was a queue for checkout.

We had decided to use our return Alilaguna tickets, rather than pay the 130 EUR private taxi quoted by the hotel concierge. The return trip was still 1 hour and 40 minutes, but the time went quicker than on the outbound.

The airport security was fast and we were soon in the excellent Marco Polo lounge – open to Lounge/Priority Pass holders.

Pros:
I love the Giudecca Island location and the views from the room.
The breakfast was pretty good.
The hotel is spotless and looks great illuminated at night.

Cons:
The Executive Lounge: The biggest improvement the hotel could make would be relocate the executive lounge to a larger area on a higher floor and provide a better selection of food and drinks over a longer ‘Happy Hour’. I’m sure that all Hilton hotels hate to provide free food and drinks, but that is part of the deal – a deal that this hotel is not honouring.
Check-in: Needs more staff and a dedicated HHonors desk.
Spa: Needs at least a hydrotherapy pool, otherwise it’s just a Jacuzzi and a sauna.

I would be happy to stay at this hotel again if the price was right.

HILTON MOLINO STUCKY VENICE
GIUDECCA 810, VENICE, 30133, ITALY

TEL: +39-041-2723311

http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/italy/hilton-molino-stucky-venice-VCEHIHI/index.html

Royal Park Hotel The Haneda, Tokyo, Japan

12 Saturday Nov 2016

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The Royal Park Hotel is part of the new Haneda International Airport complex. Unlike many airport hotels, the Royal Park is only steps away from the departures hall. The monorail (you can use your JR Railways pass) stops at the International Terminal and is also just a short walk away.

Apparently there is another entrance to the hotel airside – so connecting passengers don’t even need to clear customs and immigration. Both sides are obviously kept separate.

We stayed one night in the landside half of the hotel as we were flying out of Haneda the next morning.

To be honest I wasn’t expecting much, perhaps a small basic room with a small bed. And that was fine for the price – just somewhere to sleep before our flight. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the hotel was actually pretty good.

Check in was smooth and the man on the desk said he’d given us a larger room. We took the elevator to our floor and realised that our room was at the end of a long corridor.

royal-park-04

When we arrived the room had a large bed and a small separate lounge area.

royal-park-02 royal-park-01

Pyjamas were laid out nicely on the bed (better than the picture above).

The bathroom had a typical electronic toilet, shower and washbasin with multiple amenities, including toothbrushes, razors etc.

We went for a walk around the terminal as I’d heard there were some good restaurants there – in fact there was an entire Japanese-themed walk, with plenty of great restaurants.

haneda-01 haneda-02

We ate in Yaki Niku Champion 焼肉チャンピオン 羽田店 which was excellent.

Back in our room, the pillows were a little strange – they felt like they’d been stuffed with small rocks. The bed was maybe too hard for some. But we had a good night’s sleep and were ready for our flight the next morning.

We didn’t have breakfast in the hotel as we were expecting to eat this in the ANA Lounge – sadly that was a mistake and the ANA lounge had the same food as in the evening.

I’d definitely recommend booking a night at the Royal Park if you are flying out of Haneda early – or even arriving late and want to rest before starting your Japanese journey.

http://www.rph-the.co.jp/haneda/en/

London Luton Airport, United Kingdom – avoid flying in or out of this place

31 Sunday Jul 2016

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Luton Airport calls itself ‘London Luton Airport’ but it’s actually 34 miles from central London. The airport serves mostly budget and charter airlines such as Easy Jet, Wizz and Monarch.

I previously wrote about this poor excuse for an airport back in November 2014 – who knew that it could get so much worse?

Luton Airport is currently undergoing a £110 million transformation. They even have a website that celebrates the changes they are planning http://transforminglla.com/ And who knows, it may be much better in the future – it certainly can’t be any worse than it is now.

Dropping off at, or picking up from, the Airport is Terrible

The building work, lack of clear signage and restricted space in the drop-off area mean that there are cars queuing from the roundabout at the entrance to the airport. You could be waiting 30 minutes to get to the drop-off point, which then charges you £3 for 10 minutes. There are two entrances next to each other, the one on the left is £3 drop-off, the one on the right is £7 short stay – often drivers realise too late and then the whole queue stops as they try to reverse out and back to the drop-off line.
Top Tip: The best option is to use the free mid-stay car park and let your passengers walk 15 minutes to the airport.

Airport Security takes longer and the fast-track is now £5

Airport Security has been re-located downstairs. The lines are longer. The Fast Track, that used to be quite good is now quite slow and the price has gone up to £5 per person. There are also now only a couple of machines available from which purchase fast-track tickets.
Top Tip: Pre-book fast-track for £3 online here.

The Terminal is even more overcrowded than before.

With one of the large food and drink outlets closed and more flights departing, the terminal is overcrowded. There are long lines for the only table service restaurant, Frankie & Benny’s. There are two main toilets in the main terminal area, plus a few smaller versions dotted around near the gates. Most are pretty busy and grotty.
Top Tip:
For around £18 you can buy entry to the Business Lounge – but you’ll need to do this online. I found that www.executivelounges.com will let you book the same day – so if your flight is delayed, you could go online at the airport and book yourself a lounge pass.

Expect to wait over an hour to clear immigration/passport control on arrival

Passport control at Luton has always been a mess. They have some e-passport gates now, but even with these you could easily wait over an hour to clear immigration. The whole place is understaffed and the flight schedules mean that three flights often arrive all at once. Here are some pictures taken this week:

This is actually a line waiting to get to the passport control area.

This is actually a line waiting to get to the passport control area.

And this is what you find when you reach the front of that line

And this is what you find when you reach the front of that line

and then it's just more waiting

and then it’s just more waiting

It’s a complete disgrace.
Top Tip: Avoid flying into Luton. Just choose to fly in to another airport.

Some more tips for if you do have to fly out of Luton

There is a marks and spencer store landside but not airside. So if you want a decent sandwich, buy there before proceeding through security. You can also pick up some shopping there after you land and exit customs and immigration.

A sandwich in the airside Boots is only £1. Usually chicken mayonnaise or egg mayonnaise – but can’t be beaten for value.

Elegante Salon VIP/Business Lounge, Havana Airport, Cuba

14 Sunday Jun 2015

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There appears to be only one VIP/business lounge at Havana Airport and so no matter what I write here, you will most likely want to go there anyway when flying from Havana.

We were flying Virgin Atlantic in Economy, but my Virgin Gold card should mean priority check in, fast track security and lounge access. Our boarding passes had VIP written on them in ballpoint pen but we’d already found that this didn’t carry much weight at the airport immigration and security.

We initially walked straight past the lounge as there weren’t any signs, then doubled back and realised that it is just on the left after you clear security and immigration. The lady on the desk seemed flustered when we arrived and beckoned us to follow her while she took our boarding passes into the kitchen – when she re-appeared, it was clear that we’d passed muster.

I found a wi-fi signal and asked about the password – only to be told that this wasn’t for lounge visitors. There was a computer station near reception, but this had been taken over my some Canadians.

The lounge had a refrigerator containing some soft drinks and beer – all pretty warm. There was an unattended bar with some bottles of spirits (including peppermint schnapps) and a lonely, unopened, warm, bottle of sparkling wine. There was no ice. It was a bit like looking at a kitchen the morning after a party. I’m guessing that wine bottle will become an institution in the lounge – I’m looking forward to visit it again sometime.

I decided to take a beer. There wasn’t a bottle opener in sight and so I had to visit the reception desk – the lady took me back to the bar and found an opener – hidden behind the counter and on a long string.

There was a small food buffet consisting of some bread, ham, olives, cake and cupcakes with artificial whipped cream. Everything looked like it had been around for a while and the lounge was quite warm. I was surprised later to see that the ham had been quite popular with a couple of Spanish-speaking businessmen.

The flat screen TV showed children’s cartoons for the entire time we were in the lounge. There was another screen by reception that showed flight departures.

Upstairs was a smoking room which was pretty smoky considering that nobody used it. The toilets were okay.

I could hear, but not understand, the casual chatter coming from the kitchen. There were two or three people hiding in there the entire time and I’m guessing they thought they’d done enough to justify the ‘Elegante’ name.

Virgin write this on their Virgin Havana Lounge website when you search for Havana lounge:

We only pick the best…..
Where Virgin Atlantic Airways does not have its own Clubhouse, an alternative lounge is used. These shared lounges are either owned by the Airport Authority or another airline and are offered to our Upper Class passengers.
The Elegante Salon is located after passing through immigration.

I suppose to be fair, they did pick the best lounge as it is the only lounge!

Showing your boarding pass when purchasing non-duty free items at the airport – you don’t have to

18 Tuesday Nov 2014

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I wrote an article yesterday about Luton airport and mentioned that I couldn’t understand why I was asked to show my boarding pass at Boots (the chemist that also sells drinks, sandwiches etc.) when buying a sandwich. I also said that I’d written the following to Boots:

I use the Boots store at Luton airport each week and buy just a sandwich. I’m always asked for my boarding pass and mostly complain that I think this is pointless.
Please can you tell me what information you are retrieving and storing when scanning my boarding pass?
Can you also advise if I am at liberty to refuse to show my boarding pass and still make a purchase?

Well I had a very quick response from Boots (see below) and it seems that you can refuse to show your boarding pass and still be able to make a purchase. I also see from a thread on Business Traveller, that someone had a similar response from WH Smith.

Response from Boots:

Thank you for contacting us to request more information on why you are asked for your boarding pass when you purchase an item in our Airport store.

After looking into this matter, I would like to confirm that the purpose of scanning boarding cards in our airport stores is to ensure the accuracy of our accounting records. The information gained is used for a number of reasons. One such reason is that we’re very keen to ensure that our prices are competitive, and that we do not operate a dual pricing strategy between our High Street and Airport Stores.

I can confirm that we are not required to account for VAT to HMRC for goods that have been sold to passengers flying to non-EU destinations. HMRC and the airports accept that this is general practice for all airport retailers.

By asking for a customer’s boarding pass, we can ensure that our VAT accounting is correct and in line with HMRC’s requirements.

Our airport Store Teams are asked to collate this information, however, I would like to assure you that this is not a compulsory requirement. If a customer does not wish to share this information, then we would still expect the transaction to go ahead, but without the boarding card being scanned.

To also reassure you once more, we do not keep a record of passenger names, or other personal details.

I do hope this information is of interest to you, but if I can help further, please quote your customer reference number 14149058 on any further correspondence. Alternatively, please call on 03450 70 80 90.

Thank you for contacting Boots.

29th November 2014 Update:

I made a purchase from Boots LHR T3 last night (flying to Prague). There were signs saying ‘Please have your boarding pass ready’. The assistant asked me if I was flying direct, which is a reasonable request as I had liquids of over 100ml in my basket. I said I was flying direct. The assistant asked for my boarding pass. I said “Well I’ve been told that I don’t need to show this if I don’t want to – is that correct?”. The assistant replied “Yes, it’s optional” and proceeded to scan my items.