A very cool (and green) pool at the Crowne Plaza
STAYING AT THE CHANGI AIRPORT
This is a continuation of Flying Over 21,000 Miles to Singapore in Four Days – Who Needs Sleep? Part 1…
I had just flown about 18 hours non-stop from LA to Singapore, it was 5am local time, and I had about 30 hours on the ground before I headed back to the states on the world’s longest flight. I wasn’t sure if I was going to head out to Singapore or stick to the airport during my “layover.”
Since I was exhausted, not feeling too well, and knew the Changi Airport (SIN) had quite a bit to offer, I ended up never leaving the airport. Yes, my name is David and I am an #AvGeek.
Qantas’s newest Flying Art livery ’œMendoowoorrji’ – Photo: Qantas
Qantas Airways recently took delivery of the fourth, and latest, aircraft in it’s Aboriginal ’œFlying Art’ livery after an unveiling in Seattle.
Qantas has long had a tradition of special liveries depicting numerous special events, but the ’œFlying Art’ series is iconic and unique to Qantas. Starting in 1993, to celebrate the International Year of Indigenous People, the first Qantas aircraft to get the special treatment was a 747-400 entitled ’œWunala Dreaming’.
Reading a fun website while looking out the hotel room is awesome.
There are hotels and then there are AvGeek hotels. The Fairmont Vancouver Airport Hotel is surely an AvGeek’s hotel, but can still be enjoyed by those who are more practically-minded. The hotel is located inside Vancouver International Airport (YVR), which makes it convenient for people who are flying. There is no need to find a shuttle and you can sleep in until just before your flight, roll out of bed, and either start or continue your journey.
But for many who enjoy aviation, these rare hotels provide something a little bit more: sleeping and relaxing while airline spotting. Heck, it is a thrill to stay at an airport like this, even if you are not flying anywhere. Recently, that is just what Malcolm and I did to check it out, and we wanted to share what we found.
AvGeeks on top of the Theme Building at LAX taking photos of a Singapore Airlines Airbus A380.
When Singapore Airlines came to me and pitched doing something with a small group of AvGeeks at LAX to watch their Airbus A380 land and depart, I was instantly interested and with almost no details said, “yes please.”
Almost five years ago, when I started AirlineReporter.com, I had a hard time defining this passion that I had for airlines and aviation. Once I gained some readers and was able to start defining who we all are (we are AvGeeks), very few airlines got it.
I don’t blame them. It is hard to get how to interact with this group of people that dedicate a large portion of their lives with airliners. Either researching, looking at photos, taking their own photos, flying on them or in my case blogging on them. But we are a force and some airlines, like Singapore, are starting to get who we are — and they like us.
American Airlines Boeing 777-300ER at a cloudy JFK.
AMERICAN AIRLINES BUSINESS CLASS REVIEW BASICS:
Airline: American Airlines
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER (N719AN)
Departed: John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
Arrived: London Heathrow Airport (LHR)
Stops: Non-stop flight
Class: Business Class
Seat: 9A to and 8J back
Length: About 6 hours
Cheers: Amazing new Business Class product that goes head-to-head with international carriers.
Jeers: Still some grumpy employees who need to smile more.
Overall: American is not just talking the talk; they are walking the walk — they just need to walk a bit farther.
