Latest Airtech Podcast Episodes
138 AUH - Chic new Abu Dhabi, all business BeOnd, MAX flying challenge, humane low cost, wireless lavatory IFE
Layovers - Air Travel podcast - May 13, 2024 23:05 - 2 hours ★★★★★ - 112 ratingsIt's Alex and Paul, and it's another Alex (you've met her in 133!). She tells us all about BeOnd, the new all business class airlines that flies ex-EasyJet (!) 319s (!) to get you to the Maldives (did she enjoy the plane more than the beach?!). Humane versus non-humane low cost carriers: a new d...
137 SAI - The Great Tour of Cambodia and Vietnam, with a cup of water from Cambodia Angkor Air
Layovers - Air Travel podcast - April 23, 2024 17:01 - 2 hours ★★★★★ - 112 ratingsPaul is joined by Paolo, one his best friends, to compare notes on a big tour of Cambodia and Vietnam (Paul flew to Cambodia, Paolo flew to Vietnam and Cambodia) with many airports, and airlines along the way (not sure about the water on-board a Cambodia Angkor Air). Paul had his worst fly ever ...
136 DXB - Vegan First Class, lounge bouncers, jet stream rush, intermittent flying fasting, improper JFK
Layovers - Air Travel podcast - March 07, 2024 16:44 - 2 hours ★★★★★ - 112 ratingsIs Emirates low key encouraging membership to the high mile club? (And how Alex and Layovers saved Paul's Emirates First upgrade. The controller goes "oh that sucks", or why Alex keeps listening to ground whilst traveling (but he always gets the last bag delivery ever). Lounge bouncers (not exac...
135 RAK - Epic tropical lounge, composite burn, full row downgrade, going veg, MAXed out Boeing rant
Layovers - Air Travel podcast - February 01, 2024 16:21 - 2 hours ★★★★★ - 112 ratingsQatar'd? No, that new Al Mourjan Lounge at Doha is stunning — one thing we can't say about that RAK one. Turkish'd? Not really, when a downgrade gets you full emergency exit rows — though that 333 seat made Paul act like an animal. Boeing has gone full MAX for its windows openings (ok, ok, poor ...
134 HKG - All business class 321neo, biometrics AI airports, Qatar 2.0, boarding group 0, IFE gold standard
Layovers - Air Travel podcast - November 29, 2023 22:31 - 2 hours ★★★★★ - 112 ratingsAlex tells us all about his return to Hong Kong, with Cathay setting a new gold standard in IFE over Emirates (Greg flew China Southern, and, errr, well). Paul flies the all business class 321neo from La Compagnie from Orly to Newark (road traffic was key to that story, but traffic there is none...
133 ALA - Bundling the unbundling, Condor Brewdog, BER secret door, overhead bin booking, inaugural JetBlue, LH sneakers, with Alex Vukolova
Layovers - Air Travel podcast - October 22, 2023 18:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 112 ratingsSo small, cozy, cute, a very special airport, that was Tegel, not BER: can the finally (nearly) finished Berlin Brandenburg measure up to the "poor but sexy" German capital? At least the cleverly named lounges have an even cleverer backdoor (and, hey, it's not a poor bus station like Schoenfeld)...
132 BLQ - Finnair hippos, IST hugeness, fast track lounge, Super NES passport, Midfield Tom Cruise run
Layovers - Air Travel podcast - September 30, 2023 11:06 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 112 ratingsPaul tries multiple Italian airports, Alex finally visits the new Istanbul (and flies Turkish for the first time!). The passport blowing border official trick (it doesn't work better than the Super NES cartridge blowing). BA will soon introduce water bottles the size of mini bar vodkas (at least...
131 NRT - The Amazing Zipair Race from London to California to Tokyo to Osaka and back
Layovers - Air Travel podcast - August 18, 2023 18:41 - 2 hours ★★★★★ - 112 ratingsCombini, tamago sando, Skyliner, vending machines, ekiben, baseball Suica cards, yes we discuss Japan, where Alex was earlier this summer. And yes we talk (err, Alex talks) about air travel too, British Airways, Southwest, Hawaiian, ANA, and, drumroll, Zipair — not in that order, and with hops ...
130 MSP - Cheap travel and the hamster wheel of miles and status in the post-Covid devaluation times, with Kyle 'Hello Kitty' Potter
Layovers - Air Travel podcast - July 20, 2023 15:16 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 112 ratingsKyle Potter, Executive Editor at Thrifty Traveler, all-around awesome(ly smart) dude, Hello Kitty enthusiast (well, it's that EVA Air flight, you'll see!), and (very) long time Layovers listener and friend, tells us all about why MSP is the best thing ever, like everything in Minnesota — but als...
129 GVA - Attaché bromance, Air Force Ones, 777X windows, fly with film, Covid weight, Vomit Pro, Brian Shul
Layovers - Air Travel podcast - June 19, 2023 18:00 - 2 hours ★★★★★ - 112 ratingsWe flew to Geneva to record an episode of Attaché (now on YouTube, link below), so how were our flights, and what did we think of the airport (the new C-Gates are excellent, the time at immigration not always). Does too much info add unnecessary travel stress? (Aka Flighty is Paul's IFE of choic...
128 AUH - Etihad 2.0, Midfield mirage, Swiss cheeseboard, 40000ft silent floating, Louis Vuitton lounging
Layovers - Air Travel podcast - June 02, 2023 18:13 - 2 hours ★★★★★ - 112 ratingsDo you have a number? The saga of Alex trying to beat boarding time at Lisbon (you won't believe he, of all people, made that mistake). A completely charming SWISS cheese board on-board (and cows in the Zurich airport train). Etihad 2.0 are quietly great, a tasteful experience we appreciate (and...
127 JFK T8 - Mint Studio wow, airfare inflation, BEY dual time, increased turbulences, why do you go to a lounge?
Layovers - Air Travel podcast - April 27, 2023 23:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 112 ratingsAlex gets lost at JFK T8, only to encounter crazy turbulences over the Atlantic (a future worsening trend). But how did he get there? Finally testing what Paul did in 2021, the Mint Studio — a hope for the future of long haul narrow bodies. Airfare prices are way up from 2019 (more than inflatio...
126 MAD - Mad dash at MADrid, skip the JAL banana, BA/LHR chagrin, Lufthansa seat Tetris, Emirates is Apple
Layovers - Air Travel podcast - March 09, 2023 00:00 - 2 hours ★★★★★ - 112 ratingsHow is it we had never actually done MAD as an episode title? This ends today, however the mad MADrid dash from T4S to T4 never does. Alex has lots to say about BA and it's …not great (he's not alone to think like this). Paul calls it, the better London airport is definitively Gatwick (stop bein...
125 CDG T2 - The 747 is forever, a London NY bridge at JFK T8, Air France lounge joie de vivre, 777 guillotine, the airport game
Layovers - Air Travel podcast - February 18, 2023 13:49 - 2 hours ★★★★★ - 112 ratingsThe airport you think is overrated, the airport you like, the airport you love, the airport you feel yourself in, the airport you need to visit — play the airport game with us (and feel free to tweet us your answers!). The new Air France lounge at CDG T2F is beautiful, as can be CDG …when it wo...
124 LAX — In and out LAX, the rise of Turkish Airlines, frequent flyer free agents, airline consulting, LA celebrity handling, with Hakan aka LAFlyr
Layovers - Air Travel podcast - January 21, 2023 00:05 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 112 ratingsFriend of the show, and very long time listener (since episode 1!), Hakan Yılmaz, aka @LAFlyr on Twitter, grew up wanting to go early at the airport to see the planes, and collect avgeek paraphernalia, and never stopped being a kid, by still going early to the airport to see the planes, and a ca...
123 BRR — Flying the Concorde, visiting all the Concordes, accessing the Concorde Room, a Concorde episode with GGL Ed Parsons
Layovers - Air Travel podcast - December 31, 2022 08:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 112 ratingsEd Parsons, the Google Maps guy, is our guest today. He's heard the Concorde prototype noise as a kid, flown on the Concorde before it got retired, explored all the Concordes in existence around the world since — a true fan — and we discuss it all, from the history to the conspiracy theories, to...
122 FLR — Joyful Norse, Doha Changi Gardens, in-flight 5G, A380 returns, Avios loot boxes, limitless UK liquids, nacho cheese lounge
Layovers - Air Travel podcast - December 15, 2022 14:34 - 2 hours ★★★★★ - 112 ratingsAlex has a joyful experience to Oslo with Norse Atlantic Airways (he flies to Stockholm too, the Nordics know how to handle snow, whilst the UK clearly doesn't). Finland sees record traffic to meet Santa Claus, whilst Air Greenland celebrates a new 330neo. France says NO short haul flights, the ...
121 JED — Flying to Saudi Arabia to see AlUla, Jeddah airport aquarium, Emirates cost cutting, desert driving, Indy travel philosophy
Layovers - Air Travel podcast - November 22, 2022 20:47 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 112 ratings"What are you going to Saudi Arabia for?" asked the puzzled flight attendant — Paul was flying to Jeddah, to then drive 8 hours, to reach one of the places of his dreams: the Nabataeans tombs of Al-'Ula. From sand to copper, the massive new Jeddah terminal is impressive, and big, and really big,...
121 JED — Flying to Saudi Arabia to see AlUla, Jeddah airport aquarium, Emirates cost cutting, Indy travel philosophy
Layovers - Air Travel podcast - November 22, 2022 20:47 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 112 ratings"What are you going to Saudi Arabia for?" asked the puzzled flight attendant — Paul was flying to Jeddah, to then drive 8 hours, to reach one of the places of his dreams: the Nabataeans tombs of Al-'Ula. From sand to copper, the massive new Jeddah terminal is impressive, and big, and really big,...
120 YUL — World Cup flights, Avios stash, Alaska royalty, Nein to AirTags, Upper First Class, Trudeau Dorval or Mirabel
Layovers - Air Travel podcast - October 31, 2022 18:47 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 112 ratingsAlex needed to be in Quebec City, so he obviously flew to Montreal — that made him try Air Transat (is that a controversial airline, Canadian friends?). Our friend Greg sadly never got to fly WestJet however …and Paul still hasn't been to Canada. Qatar is getting ready for a massive amount of da...
119 KHI — Flying in and around Pakistan, Queen NOTAMs, Japan rush, United x Emirates, ticket inflation, Virgin plusgrade, Argo escape
Layovers - Air Travel podcast - September 28, 2022 18:11 - 2 hours ★★★★★ - 112 ratingsKarachi, Lahore, Islamabad, three cities, three cultures, and three airports that correspond them well — Paul flies in and around Pakistan (flying out was not a given on one of those trips!). The retro liveries of PIA and QR. Japan opens up on October 11th, ticket prices skyrocket, also as the U...
118 LAP — Victorville overfly, 2bn Emirates refresh, Star losing Lufthansa, taxiing EWR for 9hrs, Windsor Suites, smuggling McMuffins
Layovers - Air Travel podcast - August 25, 2022 15:18 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 112 ratingsNo, the other La Paz — the Southern/Baja California Alex Hunter 2022 Tour, with Megan as a VERY supporting avgeek act (aka Alex is the supporting act, Megan is the star, but you all knew that already). Emirates refreshes its fleet on a crazy tight clockwork upgrade schedule. Air France reveals i...
117 VLC - Summer of discontent, Alitalia hit-and-run, AirTag anxiety, A380 comeback, so long Comair, Vuelinggedon
Layovers - Air Travel podcast - July 08, 2022 16:30 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 112 ratingsAlex lives and sweats the travel chaos, trying to get to Valencia with Vueling (what was he thinking?!) with an epic (FAIL) journey that ended up with Easyjet saving the day. Paul develops some Apple AirTag anxiety. The A380 is back with a vengeance, though Tim Clark wishes he had a two-engine 3...
116 MDE - Brace for travel chaos, turbulence forecast, Medellin missed approach, 747-200m fine, air-bus routes, cascading wet leases
Layovers - Air Travel podcast - June 23, 2022 15:17 - 2 hours ★★★★★ - 112 ratingsBrace brace brace, travel chaos ahead — from staff shortages, to strikes, to supply chain issues, to a global recession, it's going to be a messy year (and more) ahead. The mess will however make for an interesting wet-lease global puzzle (Mel Air for Air Nostrum as Iberia??), and the experience...
115 RTW - Mark Vanhoenacker: Imagine a City, a (787) Pilot Sees the World
Layovers - Air Travel podcast - May 12, 2022 06:00 - 2 hours ★★★★★ - 112 ratingsA Round the World conversation with our friend Mark Vanhoenacker for the launch of his new book 'Imagine a City, A Pilot Sees the World', a sequel to 'Skyfaring'. We talk about our love for cities, the small ones of our birth, the big ones of our dreams, the ones visited once (even only at the ...
114 UVF — Losing Virgin(ity) from sunset to sunrise, SLU, Airbus Ecureuil, ever late 777X, who pilots Air France?
Layovers - Air Travel podcast - April 29, 2022 17:12 - 2 hours ★★★★★ - 112 ratingsFrom sunset to sunrise: Virgin Atlantic to the Caribbean and back, Paul is finally no longer a Virgin virgin. Flying from SLU over St Lucia, its Pitons, in an Airbus Helicopter (well, Aerosptiale). The (mysterious) Cathay white liveries. The 777X is delayed for the 500th time. Who's flying the A...
113 MLE - Seaplanes, A380s and (not) remembering DXB. A220 flying through the biweekly BA IT mess.
Layovers - Air Travel podcast - April 06, 2022 14:14 - 2 hours ★★★★★ - 112 ratingsEmirates, Emirates and more Emirates, in First, in Business, on 380s or 777s. To Male and seaplanes for Alex, to Dubai with a blank at deplaning for Paul. But also some SWISS (the savior), some BA (when it's not cancelled), the new longest route in the world (who's currently flying it??), the QR...
112 JFK T5 - JetBlue Mint Studio, SFO for 3 hours and back, powered 747 relic, non-reclining Finnair, Airpotle
Layovers - Air Travel podcast - February 17, 2022 17:54 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 112 ratingsWe're back, Alex having taken the time to hack a 747 seat belt sign, Paul having played too much Airportle. We talk about the non-reclining business class from Finnair (it's divise, but we think it might be a winner), the new Qatar Q suite which isn't a Q suite, and the big winner of this pande...
111 LIH - Touring the US in the pandemic-ish era, the MAX is back, the recovery not yet
Layovers - Air Travel podcast - September 29, 2021 14:51 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 112 ratingsAlex tours the US, from Denver to San Francisco to Las Vegas to Oakland to Hawaii, and gets to experience his first 737MAX, and the Great Pacific (aka lyrically talking about ZOA KZAK Oakland Air Route Traffic Control Center). We discuss the state of travel in this weird era, not yet post-Covid,...
110 SIN T4 - Vaccine tourism, supersonic Boom, Mi(g)nsk detour, Covid passports, plague terminal
Layovers - Air Travel podcast - June 09, 2021 15:55 - 2 hours ★★★★★ - 112 ratingsAlex gets cancelled (not him, the flight!). Duty free to nowhere (and no good pricing anyway). No kidnap fee, a new product by Ryanair. Plague terminal at LHR. Amber, the color of confusion. Genomics quarantine. Digital health visas (aka Covid passports, what a silly name). The travel bubble tha...
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