For starters, I dont have a clue what Flying Hirsch means so if it is nasty, I have been duped. But I digress, this story starts at the ‘09 AIX Panasonic Party at a wonderful place called The Parliament. It looks like a converted government building with a killer bar and a huge eating hall. To those of you who have been to a Panasonic Party (Yes, it is capitalized because it is that good!) at an IFE function know, it is usually first class. We know, Panasonic has extended an invitation to most of them and we now get a way to say thanks. But I digress. This story has... [Read more]

As usual, the Aircraft Interiors this past week was like an all-you-can-eat-buffet. It was more ground than a team could cover in a week…and we are talking IFE only. As a comparison, the exhibition booths occupied 4 buildings that were approximately one football field square each with IFE and Connectivity occupying roughly half of one building. Interiors, fabrics, hardware, trash compactors, coffee machines, etc all plied for a space on the plane. Airbus was there in force, and interestingly, Boeing was not. Perhaps they did not want to explain why their B787 was... [Read more]

More than anything, the twin towers at the entrance of old Lubeck, set the stage for what lies in the island-like town. The towers were the bold face of the original fortress that protected a trading center with access to its many storage buildings by sea. Eventually leading to the Baltic Sea, the river that “surrounds” the town set it apart geographically and psychologically from the rest of Germany. Indeed, when Lubeck became a “free” town in 1266, it was given a tax-free status much like a free trade zone today. This meant that the city would become its own entity... [Read more]

After dragging into Hamburg the prospect of leaving on a train to visit another city the next day seemed — as Ralph Waldo Emerson put it — “..dragging ashes to ashes.” Our tour guide and trip promoter, John Courtright was MIA. It seems that because of an aircraft cancellation he was somewhere on a plane over the Atlantic and madder than a wet hen. Germany is efficient, friendly and very interesting and the trains are pleasant and easy to navigate. After clearing the human minefield that lies between our hotel and the North train station in Hamburg,... [Read more]

Do you like meat? If your answer is “Yes” and you find yourself in Hamburg, Panthera (pronounced here as “pant-tera”) is your feed bag. Not far from an area noted for it’s missionaries and churches — the Reeperbaum — this Brazilian hangout does meat and there is not a vegan in sight. Dinner starts with a GREAT salad bar but control yourself. Don’t eat the shrimp and do eat the sliced ham leg (Serrano?) and great chorizo and summer sausage. Next the veggies arrive by messenger such as rice, french fries, sautéed peppers (dont... [Read more]

Copenhagen Kastrup is one of the nicest airports in the world with plenty of shops and lots of security. Did we mention the teak floors. Did we mention security? Yup, you get off the plane, walk 50 yards and bingo, wait in line and go through security again. Guess they don’t trust their own people because we couldn’t have brought aboard contraband. Did we mention border check? Two booths open, lines down the block and another 10 minutes wasted. So far we have spent a total of 20 minutes of our one hour stop over. Oh did we mention that the stopover lost 30 minutes... [Read more]

With the addition of Pacific Place to Seattle’s SeaTac Airport, flying might be improved to just abysmal again. Since the TSA outlawed regular people in the post security checkpoint, traffic has been reduced enough to make the visit tolerable. The IFExpress team arrived in plenty of time to take in window shopping… especially at Fireworks. This store has good news and bad news. The good is the incredible assortment of cool stuff — best in show. The bad is that no pictures are allowed in the shop — to bad, we told you we would tattle. Eating next... [Read more]

That’s right, time once again for Aircraft Interiors Expo! We’re sending our crack team to Hamburg to sleuth out the hottest new technologies and products heating up the IFE industry. While we’re there, we’ll be posting regular updates to this blog so you can get the inside scoop on what we find! Got a hot tip on something you think we should check out at the show? Drop us a line at ifenews@airfax.com!  Read More →