Airports O-S

Airports around the world are centres for culture, commerce and human interaction. This video from Phoenix Sky Harbor (the airport's transit train is also beautifully captured against the skyline in the photograph above) underlines the impact of the airport on the city and region.

The approach to Queenstown Airport in southern New Zealand is often rated as one of the most spectacular in the world by pilots and passengers. This stunning image gives you a good idea why. (Photo: ©Hannah Hurwitz)

Combining a Sense of Place and a ‘sense’ of retailing: ‘Carioca Street’ at RIOgaleão Tom Jobim International lets departing passengers stroll through four of Rio de Janeiro’s favourite neighbourhoods one last time before they take off. Four spaces – Copacabana, Ipanema, Maracanã and Lapa – showcase some of the top Brazilian brands. And after shopping the passengers can indulge in ‘A Saideira’, an expression in Portuguese that refers to the last drink (usually a beer) ordered before going home. A clever way of ensuring that final impressions are local impressions.

National pride: Irish travel retailer Aer Rianta International partnered with Riyadh Airport Company in September to mark Saudi Arabia’s National Day with a dash of colour at Riyadh King Khaled Airport Terminal 5.

How many airports can boast a backdrop and view quite like this? The blend of sun, snow, cloud and moutntains help frame Salt Lake City Airport in a majestic pose

The SFO Airport Traffic Control Tower, which became operational in 2016, has quickly become an iconic landmark. The airport continues to build remarkable new facilities designed to elevate the air travel experience. In 2019, it will open a newly renovated Terminal 1 and the Grand Hyatt at SFO, a new on-airport hotel.

Photo courtesy of PPS

Shanghai Hongqiao International is one of two international airports that serve the megacity of Shanghai, mainly through domestic and regional flights. Traffic here is set to boom in coming years as the Chinese thirst for domestic and international travel intensifies.

Shanghai Pudong is the major international gateway to Shanghai, with Shanghai Airport Authority preparing to open the world’s largest satellite terminal, now in construction. It promises to be one of the world's great air terminals.

Shannon Airport, famously, was the birthplace of duty free in 1947, when it served as a refuelling point between Europe and North America. Recently upgraded, its new-look duty free store captures a Sense of Place from the west of Ireland, right down to the moss wall in the local design store (Photo: Cathal Noonan, True Media).

The world’s great airports are now home to some of the world’s most spectacular digital advertising displays, as brands seek to connect with premium, high-spending travellers. Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport Terminal B, although it serves the domestic traveller, represents a valuable marketing opportunity amid a revival in Russian travel. The four-sided screen at the heart of the terminal, opened earlier this year, offers wonderful engagement to a mass audience.

Built at 1,000ft above sea level, with the relentless South Atlantic Ocean abutting three sides of the airfield, the engineering marvel that is St Helena Airport has been constructed on St Helena, a British Overseas Territory in the middle of South Atlantic Ocean. The island was made famous by the incarceration and death there of Napoleon Bonaparte.

As one of the most remote airports in the world, the construction of St Helena Airport posed some very distinct challenges. Not only did the airport developers need to construct an airport and associated infrastructure to meet international aviation standards, it needed to do so in an environmentally friendly way. The only place on the Island that could accommodate the airport is also the most environmentally sensitive.

A taste of London: Even the largest airports today reflect the sights, sounds and designs of their home cities stylishly and with pizzazz. Here, London Stansted Airport and food & beverage concessionaire SSP have opened a new restaurant inspired by London’s “uber-cool Camden and its famous market stalls”. (Photo: PPS Publications)

Sit and wait: A relaxing feel to time spent at Stockholm Arlanda. Swedish minimalism, Swedish chic.