A recent Twitter exchange about long stopovers reminded me of one thing that has absolutely improved about travel over the years I’ve been doing it: the standard of airport terminals.
Although some may complain that the departure area has been taken over by duty-free booze and perfume outlets, not to mention all-too-familiar fast-food franchises, it’s a far cry from what was on offer not so long ago.
The biggest improvement in my experiences is the availability aerobridges, also known as jetways, gangways, airbridges, air jetties, skybridges or portals (which sounds even cooler than they actually are), to get you on to the plane.
While some airports still require passengers to walk across the tarmac — or catch a bus — aerobridges are very common now. The airports that don’t have them, or don’t have enough of them, are busily rectifying that.
As the video — a copy of a home movie my father made at Brisbane Airport back in the 1960s — shows, departure and arrival was generally less elegant.
The terminal buildings, often empty and soulless places — Brisbane International was a converted hangar for many years– have also been improved, with more comfortable seating and plenty of toilets and other amenities, along with shops, bars and restaurants.
Some even have cinemas, hotels, swimming pools and spas to cater for the needs of passengers.
Nowadays, those people fortunate enough to be travelling business or first class, or to be frequent flyers, have access to a level of luxury that could only be dreamed of back in the day. Some airport lounges resemble private clubs (which is essentially what they are).
And when you arrive at your destination these days, your baggage is delivered via a complex system of conveyor belts, and is often waiting for you. In the past, it came in on the back of a trailer after the plane was emptied, and you had to take part in an unseemly exercise of push-and-shove just to get it.
For those with connecting flights, it was a crazy, time-consuming scramble to get your bags, get through the arrivals hall and go back to the departure area to start again.
So while there is plenty of room for improvement, things are far better than they used to be. The airports of the future will be even yet more comfortable and efficient — even if some of the planes are not.
