Layovers - Air Travel podcast

Paul has just got back from Fukuoka, and the route he took makes no sense on paper - a true scenic route: 8 flights, 6 layovers, including sleeping at airports. Add two Shinkansen trains, a laminate wood floor train, a smoky first class, a ferry, and more, and it's been a real fun adventure.
Along the way: upgrades, a thought about that over-engineered EU Entry/Exit System, a lounge that went offline, a stroll through some new parts of HKG, the views from the new DOH concourses, the Qatar Pacific planes (plus the actual Cathay ones), and what Paul considers to be the best business class cabin in the world.
We also discuss clocks and cockpits (Europe has changed its clocks, North America hasn't yet, how the hell do you reconcile this in flight planning).
A rather lengthy flight diversion due to the dreadful weather over Europe.
The plethora of new vibe-coded flight apps (don't trust them all, as Paul learnt through his journey!).
Starlink as the new differentiator (and how WiFi login is evolving).
We even debate hot towels, their (mis)use and how to be a good passenger.
Would you leave the aircraft still in pyjamas?
A big adventure, many stories. And Japan is always a good idea.
We mentioned:
Fleet
Tripsy
Timeshifter
Happy Flying!
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A show created and hosted by Paul Papadimitriou: Instagram - LinkedIn
The show is on Instagram - Facebook - Bluesky - more links on the website
Video and audio on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and wherever you podcast.

Vinod returns to share a three-week family journey through Tokyo, Sapporo, and Osaka, plus more in between — and the choices along the way: fly or ride the Shinkansen, explore the airport or head into the city, and which flight is worth taking just for the aircraft.
Paul and Vinod compare Air Canada, ANA, JAL, and Zipair, swapping stories about standout service, a 24-year-old JAL 767-300, and everything that make Japanese travel memorable.
From observation decks to QR-codes galore, embarkation cards to that boarding group process never tried anywhere else, from beef consommé to an unheard of seating experience, the little surprises are everywhere - often delightful, sometimes puzzling, but Japan always turns a trip into a transport adventure.
We mentioned:
Airline Atlas, order your personalized route map today
That ANA stub from 1964
Check our new website and happy flying!
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A show created and hosted by Paul Papadimitriou: Instagram - LinkedIn
The show is on Instagram - Facebook - Bluesky - more links on the website
Video and audio on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and wherever you 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/LAflyr
The Lufthansa book we mention:
https://www.amazon.com/Lufthansa-First-Years-Hartmut-Berghoff/dp/3791393898
The seat map site that is taking over the world:
https://www.aerolopa.com
Hakan 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 - LinkedIn
The show is on Instagram - Facebook - Bluesky - more links on the website
Video 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.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/directionoftravel/
The project we discussed in episode 150, and today:
Tickets to Everywhere: https://tickets.directionoftravel.com
The new project Christian revealed during the episode (IT IS AMAZING):
Airline Atlas: https://airlineatlas.com
Also mentioned:
Old airline time tables: https://timetableimages.com/
Happy flying!
_____
A show created and hosted by Paul Papadimitriou: Instagram - LinkedIn
The show is on Instagram - Facebook - Bluesky - more links on the website
Video 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!).
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A show created and hosted by Paul Papadimitriou: Instagram - LinkedIn
The show is on Instagram - Facebook - Bluesky - more links on the website
Video and audio on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and wherever you podcast.