Layovers - Air Travel podcast

Hakan Yilmaz is an airline management and operations consultant, and a longtime listener to the show. He returns to the podcast to share everything relevant in aviation today, what he sees through his work and travels.Notably, we discuss the trend of the enhancement (and increase) of the premium part of the flying experience, as opposed to an apparent worsening of flying in economy, including what is the perceived value of premium versus the actual value (including the hiccups of seat certification).We also debate whether low cost airlines' glory years are behind them (Ryanair being the exception), whether AI is more than a buzzword for airlines (besides those pesky chat bots), how narrow bodies are creating new opportunities for medium to long haul travel (is United the de facto third Japanese carrier?! Will they ever have a Pokemon livery then??), and what is the future global outlook for air travel.Does Finnair have the best business seat there is? Can Kirby make United an Emirates? Other good questions we touch on (plus quoting Sir Tim Clark, the Emirates Almighty, is often a good idea).Hakan can be found on Twitter:https://x.com/LAflyrThe Lufthansa book we mention:https://www.amazon.com/Lufthansa-First-Years-Hartmut-Berghoff/dp/3791393898The seat map site that is taking over the world:https://www.aerolopa.comHakan appeared in episodes 124 in 2023, and 140 in 2024. Like Bond, he will return. Happy flying!_____A show created and hosted by Paul Papadimitriou: Instagram - LinkedInThe show is on Instagram - Facebook - Bluesky - more links on the websiteVideo and audio on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and wherever you podcast.

Christian Nolle is a maker, designer, photographer, whose work focuses on aviation culture, the stories behind route maps, and the historical impact of flying on what ties us all together and makes us dream. He is the editor of Direction of Travel. We discuss everything, from his obsession with Heathrow (he was testing T5 before the opening!), his collection of route maps, his beautiful print magazine, old logos and liveries, photographing air travel (we both love it), his various exploratory projects into what flying means, and why we love this all so much — we reminisce, and also look forward (even admiring Ryanair's design!). From old timetables, freezing a network into time, to the soft power airlines held for their respective countries (Pan Am and Aeroflot!), to the promise dreamt up by looking at a big miniature aircraft at the window of an airline travel agency, it's a episode full of wonder — you'll hear (or see) that Paul could not stop his enthusiasm, from discussing his discovery of the three abandoned Olympic Airways aircraft at Ellinikon (the old Athens airport), to making Christian reveal his latest project (one you'll all love, and why the release of this episode has been delayed by a week, he needed to finish it!).Christian can be found here:Direction of Travel: https://directionoftravel.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/directionoftravel/The project we discussed in episode 150, and today:Tickets to Everywhere: https://tickets.directionoftravel.comThe new project Christian revealed during the episode (IT IS AMAZING):Airline Atlas: https://airlineatlas.comAlso mentioned:Old airline time tables: https://timetableimages.com/Happy flying!_____A show created and hosted by Paul Papadimitriou: Instagram - LinkedInThe show is on Instagram - Facebook - Bluesky - more links on the websiteVideo and audio on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and wherever you podcast.

Varig, VASP, Panair, the names are long gone, but they put Brazil on the map for us, alongside iconic cinema imagery and a legendary national football team that captured every kid's imagination.Grab a caipirinha (and some black licorice) as we chart how the jet age shaped our vision of the country, before diving into our actual experiences flying in and out of SDU (that final!), GIG, CGH, GRU, POA, SSA, and IGU.From Paulistano football derbies and missing luggage to drunken airport runs, domestic workhorses, rustic 737s, the Concorde, or 7AM beef, it's all in there.Enjoy the World Cup, the heat, and Happy Flying! (We had a recording issue, you won’t notice it on the audio, but there are a handful of video cuts made to correct the sync, barely noticeable!). _____A show created and hosted by Paul Papadimitriou: Instagram - LinkedInThe show is on Instagram - Facebook - Bluesky - more links on the websiteVideo and audio on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and wherever you podcast.

Two sagas of snow and ice: going to Dubai via Helsinki, in that unconventional (revolutionary?) cocoon seat by Finnair, and to Kelowna (YLW) with the appropriately named Air North — snowy take offs, blueberry juice and de-icing drama (no blueberry juice was used to de-ice, but an in-flight magazine was taken).Would you fly to Dubai now? Where we stand (that jet fuel price), and where to stand in Dubai to plane spot (Paul did not say it: the metro station is called Abu Baker Al Siddique Metro Station 2).Starlink everywhere, what it means for in-flight calls, TikTok challenges, and our general quiet in an airplane (oh boy). Boarding lane clogging, and the boarding zone police (main syndrome character much?).  We both want to fly that ITA 321 business class, have you? More questions, and stories, on this episode which you can now watch on video on Apple Podcasts (bragging rights: we were one of the first ones to get video on Apple, all episodes from 150 are there now)._____A show created and hosted by Paul Papadimitriou: Instagram - LinkedInThe show is on Instagram - Facebook - Bluesky - more links on the websiteVideo and audio on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and wherever you podcast.

Vinod's Olympics adventure: Flagship lounge, Flagship upgrade, Flagship Wifi (err), Flagship chicken, Flagship plane (well…), all the hopes and expectations of American Airlines Flagship were placed into that trip. And that Black Card! That vintage boarding pass! Does the British Airways return compete with that? Yes (that shortbread biscuit does a lot of heavy lifting). Milan finally gets the airport it deserves, with a tasteful redesign. Flighty introduces Airport Intelligence (Paul had to bight his tongue for so long on that one). Get that on the biggest TV you can buy. Dallas DFW, where you can cosplay as crew and confuse everyone (what's a jump seat?).And yes, we are entering the era of "Bring Your Jet Fuel".Plus many questions, such as:How do you expect to be recognize for your loyalty?Do you leave your stuff unattended in the lounge? Where do you put your trash when aboard? Would you like to get cleaning on demand in an aircraft? (Lufthansa does, but not in the way you might expect). Mentioned in the show -Flighty Airport Intelligence: https://flighty.com/airportsStardrift Starlink search: https://stardrift.ai/starlink_____A show created and hosted by Paul Papadimitriou: Instagram - LinkedInThe show is on Instagram - Facebook - Bluesky - more links on the websiteVideo and audio on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and wherever you podcast.