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  • Alongside the official portrait of a member of the Bahraini royal family, the smiling face of a blonde Dutch KLM airline girl adorns a poster in the airline's office in Bahrain airport. This European airline is showing the greatest of respect to the ruling classes in this Gulf State. Similar portraits of kings and princes are seen throughout the arab world, especially where business is being conducted and contracts being sought. Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. (KLM Royal Dutch Airlines), known by its initials KLM, is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM's headquarters is in Amstelveen near its hub at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. KLM operates worldwide scheduled passenger and cargo services to more than 90 destinations. It is the oldest airline in the world still operating under its original name.
    bahrain_klm_poster01-21-04-2001_1.jpg
  • Meat salads are stacked in readiness for an airline flight in the world's largest independent provider of airline catering and provisioning services, Gate Gourmet, on the southern perimeter road at Heathrow Airport, West London. Gate Gourmet serve more than 200 million meals on 2 million airline flights a year to their 250-plus airline customers at more than 100 airport locations around the globe. Apart from creating the bespoke meals for an airline's culture and ethnic demands, that pack the pre-flight carts, deliver and load into the aircraft galleys and afterwards, they dispose of the waste and strip, wash and sterilize the equipment. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009). .
    heathrow_airport1353-18-08-2009_1.jpg
  • Menu specification of a Business Class in-flight airline salmon meal are compared next to finished dishes in the world's largest independent provider of airline catering and provisioning services, Gate Gourmet, reaches out to add the last items in the company's factory on the southern perimeter road at Heathrow Airport, West London. Gate Gourmet serve more than 200 million meals on 2 million airline flights a year to their 250-plus airline customers at more than 100 airport locations around the globe. Apart from creating the bespoke meals for an airline's culture and ethnic demands, that pack the pre-flight carts, deliver and load into the aircraft galleys and afterwards, they dispose of the waste and strip, wash and sterilize the equipment. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009).
    heathrow_airport1379-18-08-2009_1.jpg
  • A lady employee of the world's largest independent provider of airline catering and provisioning services, Gate Gourmet, wheels a galley trolley to be filled with fresh airline food in the company's factory on the southern perimeter road at Heathrow Airport, West London. Gate Gourmet serve more than 200 million meals on 2 million airline flights a year to their 250-plus airline customers at more than 100 airport locations around the globe. Apart from creating the bespoke meals for an airline's culture and ethnic demands, that pack the pre-flight carts, deliver and load into the aircraft galleys and afterwards, they dispose of the waste and strip, wash and sterilize the equipment. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009). .
    heathrow_airport1376-18-08-2009_1 1.jpg
  • A lady employee of the world's largest independent provider of airline catering and provisioning services, Gate Gourmet, wheels a galley trolley to be filled with fresh airline food in the company's factory on the southern perimeter road at Heathrow Airport, West London. Gate Gourmet serve more than 200 million meals on 2 million airline flights a year to their 250-plus airline customers at more than 100 airport locations around the globe. Apart from creating the bespoke meals for an airline's culture and ethnic demands, that pack the pre-flight carts, deliver and load into the aircraft galleys and afterwards, they dispose of the waste and strip, wash and sterilize the equipment. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009).
    heathrow_airport1376-18-08-2009_1.jpg
  • Meat salads are stacked in readiness for an airline flight in the world's largest independent provider of airline catering and provisioning services, Gate Gourmet, on the southern perimeter road at Heathrow Airport, West London. Gate Gourmet serve more than 200 million meals on 2 million airline flights a year to their 250-plus airline customers at more than 100 airport locations around the globe. Apart from creating the bespoke meals for an airline's culture and ethnic demands, that pack the pre-flight carts, deliver and load into the aircraft galleys and afterwards, they dispose of the waste and strip, wash and sterilize the equipment. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009).
    heathrow_airport1353-18-08-2009_1 1.jpg
  • Menu specification of a Business Class in-flight airline salmon meal are compared next to finished dishes in the world's largest independent provider of airline catering and provisioning services, Gate Gourmet, reaches out to add the last items in the company's factory on the southern perimeter road at Heathrow Airport, West London. Gate Gourmet serve more than 200 million meals on 2 million airline flights a year to their 250-plus airline customers at more than 100 airport locations around the globe. Apart from creating the bespoke meals for an airline's culture and ethnic demands, that pack the pre-flight carts, deliver and load into the aircraft galleys and afterwards, they dispose of the waste and strip, wash and sterilize the equipment. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009). .
    heathrow_airport1379-18-08-2009_1 1.jpg
  • A chef working for the world's largest independent provider of airline catering and provisioning services, Gate Gourmet, fries Welsh Lamb cutlets in the company's factory on the southern perimeter road at Heathrow Airport, West London. Gate Gourmet serve more than 200 million meals on 2 million airline flights a year to their 250-plus airline customers at more than 100 airport locations around the globe. Apart from creating the bespoke meals for an airline's culture and ethnic demands, that pack the pre-flight carts, deliver and load into the aircraft galleys and afterwards, they dispose of the waste and strip, wash and sterilize the equipment. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009).
    heathrow_airport1368-18-08-2009_1.jpg
  • A production line of lady employees from the world's largest independent provider of airline catering and provisioning services, Gate Gourmet, prepare salad trays in the company's factory on the southern perimeter road at Heathrow Airport, West London. Gate Gourmet serve more than 200 million meals on 2 million airline flights a year to their 250-plus airline customers at more than 100 airport locations around the globe. Apart from creating the bespoke meals for an airline's culture and ethnic demands, that pack the pre-flight carts, deliver and load into the aircraft galleys and afterwards, they dispose of the waste and strip, wash and sterilize the equipment. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009). .
    heathrow_airport1361-18-08-2009_1 1.jpg
  • A lady employee of the world's largest independent provider of airline catering and provisioning services, Gate Gourmet, reaches out to add the last items in the company's factory on the southern perimeter road at Heathrow Airport, West London. Gate Gourmet serve more than 200 million meals on 2 million airline flights a year to their 250-plus airline customers at more than 100 airport locations around the globe. Apart from creating the bespoke meals for an airline's culture and ethnic demands, that pack the pre-flight carts, deliver and load into the aircraft galleys and afterwards, they dispose of the waste and strip, wash and sterilize the equipment. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009). .
    heathrow_airport1349-18-08-2009_1 1.jpg
  • A lady employee of the world's largest independent provider of airline catering and provisioning services, Gate Gourmet, reaches out to add the last items in the company's factory on the southern perimeter road at Heathrow Airport, West London. Gate Gourmet serve more than 200 million meals on 2 million airline flights a year to their 250-plus airline customers at more than 100 airport locations around the globe. Apart from creating the bespoke meals for an airline's culture and ethnic demands, that pack the pre-flight carts, deliver and load into the aircraft galleys and afterwards, they dispose of the waste and strip, wash and sterilize the equipment. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009).
    heathrow_airport1349-18-08-2009_1.jpg
  • A lady employee of the world's largest independent provider of airline catering and provisioning services, Gate Gourmet, reaches out to add the last items to fresh fruit salads in the company's factory on the southern perimeter road at Heathrow Airport, West London. Gate Gourmet serve more than 200 million meals on 2 million airline flights a year to their 250-plus airline customers at more than 100 airport locations around the globe. Apart from creating the bespoke meals for an airline's culture and ethnic demands, that pack the pre-flight carts, deliver and load into the aircraft galleys and afterwards, they dispose of the waste and strip, wash and sterilize the equipment. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009).
    heathrow_airport1364-18-08-2009_1.jpg
  • A chef working for the world's largest independent provider of airline catering and provisioning services, Gate Gourmet, fries Welsh Lamb cutlets in the company's factory on the southern perimeter road at Heathrow Airport, West London. Gate Gourmet serve more than 200 million meals on 2 million airline flights a year to their 250-plus airline customers at more than 100 airport locations around the globe. Apart from creating the bespoke meals for an airline's culture and ethnic demands, that pack the pre-flight carts, deliver and load into the aircraft galleys and afterwards, they dispose of the waste and strip, wash and sterilize the equipment. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009). .
    heathrow_airport1368-18-08-2009_1 1.jpg
  • A lady employee of the world's largest independent provider of airline catering and provisioning services, Gate Gourmet, reaches out to add the last items to fresh fruit salads in the company's factory on the southern perimeter road at Heathrow Airport, West London. Gate Gourmet serve more than 200 million meals on 2 million airline flights a year to their 250-plus airline customers at more than 100 airport locations around the globe. Apart from creating the bespoke meals for an airline's culture and ethnic demands, that pack the pre-flight carts, deliver and load into the aircraft galleys and afterwards, they dispose of the waste and strip, wash and sterilize the equipment. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009). .
    heathrow_airport1364-18-08-2009_1 1.jpg
  • A production line of lady employees from the world's largest independent provider of airline catering and provisioning services, Gate Gourmet, prepare salad trays in the company's factory on the southern perimeter road at Heathrow Airport, West London. Gate Gourmet serve more than 200 million meals on 2 million airline flights a year to their 250-plus airline customers at more than 100 airport locations around the globe. Apart from creating the bespoke meals for an airline's culture and ethnic demands, that pack the pre-flight carts, deliver and load into the aircraft galleys and afterwards, they dispose of the waste and strip, wash and sterilize the equipment. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009). .
    heathrow_airport1357-18-08-2009_1 1.jpg
  • A production line of lady employees from the world's largest independent provider of airline catering and provisioning services, Gate Gourmet, prepare salad trays in the company's factory on the southern perimeter road at Heathrow Airport, West London. Gate Gourmet serve more than 200 million meals on 2 million airline flights a year to their 250-plus airline customers at more than 100 airport locations around the globe. Apart from creating the bespoke meals for an airline's culture and ethnic demands, that pack the pre-flight carts, deliver and load into the aircraft galleys and afterwards, they dispose of the waste and strip, wash and sterilize the equipment. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009).
    heathrow_airport1361-18-08-2009_1.jpg
  • A production line of lady employees from the world's largest independent provider of airline catering and provisioning services, Gate Gourmet, prepare salad trays in the company's factory on the southern perimeter road at Heathrow Airport, West London. Gate Gourmet serve more than 200 million meals on 2 million airline flights a year to their 250-plus airline customers at more than 100 airport locations around the globe. Apart from creating the bespoke meals for an airline's culture and ethnic demands, that pack the pre-flight carts, deliver and load into the aircraft galleys and afterwards, they dispose of the waste and strip, wash and sterilize the equipment. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009).
    heathrow_airport1357-18-08-2009_1.jpg
  • Waiting in line for a departing flight, an airline captain patiently queues with his flight baggage along with passengers. Rather than being on duty and flying the aircraft himself, he is travelling home as a passenger. On many commercial flights, off-duty air crew position as passengers. Airlines plan complicated logistics with cabin and cockpit crew members' duty rosters. This man's four stripes denotes his seniority as a captain who flies right-hand seat, in command of a airliner. In the US, pilots might also have National Guard careers flying jet fighters in times of conflict while off-duty in airline shifts. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_corbis53-10-11-2000_1.jpg
  • Posing in the open doorway of an Airbus A319CJ Business jet, four female cabin crew members wear the uniforms of Qatar Airways whose airline has made a public relations stop at the Farnborough Air Show to publicise this new model of executive service. Airline stewards and stewardesses are nowadays more commonly referred to as cabin crew or flight attendants. They stand close together with broad grins showing their varied ethnicity. Middle-Eastern airlines generally recruit men and women from western Europe, Asia, Australasia and the Indian sub-continent dependent on routes and aircraft type. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_corbis24-23-07-2002_1.jpg
  • An airline flight-engineer occupies his own seat in the cockpit of a Boeing 747 - before the era arrived when technology made his role as a third flight crew member redundant. With a bowl of fresh fruit beside his seat, the male member of the flight-deck crew watches instruments and readings in front of the unseen pilots at the front. Wearing the three stripes designating his rank and seniority within his unspecified airline, the specialist's skills are in engineering systems that maintain efficient flight. When introduced, the Boeing 747-400 model was equipped with a two-crew glass cockpit, which dispensed with the need for a flight engineer - many of whom lost their jobs or retrained as pilots themselves.
    flight_engineer01-07-08-2000_1.jpg
  • A United Airlines ramp agent stands in the terminal building of Chicago O'Hare airport before continuing his airside shift, dispatching and communicating with his operational airline colleagues. The man stands with hands in pockets wearing his company issue fluorescent safety jacket with reflective materials important on the ramp, in the company of dangerous vehicles and running aircraft engines. Ensuring the smooth arrival and departures of flights across America and the rest of the world, he is a key member of the airline at its O'Hare hub. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_corbis55-10-11-2000_1.jpg
  • A moon-walking NASA astronaut model stands in the middle of two terminal escalators - as an airline pilot glides past at Miami International airport. As the state from where all the Apollo moonshots were launched at Cape Canaveral, Florida is proud of its space race heritage. Like US astronauts of that era, the airline pilot may be an ex-military aviator too now flying commercial aircraft from hubs like Miami and across the US.
    airport_astronaut01-10-01-2003_1.jpg
  • The legs of anonymous airline employees are seen from below a smoking screen that obscures their faces outside Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5 building. In afternoon sunshine, the women wear their airline uniforms and are sharing an off-duty puff on their cigarettes as part of their working shift at this international aviation hub. Without seeing their upper-bodies, we imagine their conversation and gossip. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009).
    heathrow_airport1058-11-08-2009_1.jpg
  • The legs of anonymous airline employees are seen from below a smoking screen that obscures their faces outside Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5 building. In afternoon sunshine, the women wear their airline uniforms and are sharing an off-duty puff on their cigarettes as part of their working shift at this international aviation hub. Without seeing their upper-bodies, we imagine their conversation and gossip. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009).
    heathrow_airport1058-11-08-2009_1 1.jpg
  • Malaysian Airlines Airbus A380 performs in blue skies during Britain's Farnborough Air Show. The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, wide-body, four-engine jet airliner manufactured by the European corporation Airbus, a subsidiary of EADS. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and, due to its size, many airports have had to expand their facilities to properly accommodate it. Malaysian Airline System Berhad (MYX: 3786), doing business as Malaysia Airlines (abbreviated MAS), is the government-owned flag carrier of Malaysia.
    a380_farnborough02-11-07-2012_1.jpg
  • The cockpit window and nose design of a Qatar Airways Boeing 787 at the Farnborough Air Show, UK. Having just taken delivery of their new generation ''Deamliner" three years late, the middle-east based airline is displaying on the ground. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a long-range, mid-size wide-body, twin-engine jet airliner developed by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It seats 210 to 290 passengers, depending on the variant. Boeing states that it is the company's most fuel-efficient airliner and the world's first major airliner to use composite materials for most of its construction. According to Boeing, the 787 consumes 20% less fuel than the similarly-sized 767.
    qatar_78701-09-07-2012.jpg
  • Pet dog rides on top of an airline animal cargo box in the main terminal of Paris Orly airport. Perched on top of the animal transport container, the dog looks attentive and interested either before or after its flight from or to, the Paris airport, being wheeled on a baggage trolley. Other passengers walk past in the terminal. Animals have been transported by air since the early 1930's. In today's modern world, carriage of live animals by air is considered the most humane and expedient method of transportation over long distances. ATA's Live Animals Regulations (LAR) is the worldwide standard for transporting live animals by commercial airlines.
    orly_dog01-05-06-2014_1.jpg
  • Pet dog rides on top of an airline animal cargo box in the main terminal of Paris Orly airport. Perched on top of the animal transport container, the dog looks attentive and interested either before or after its flight from or to, the Paris airport, being wheeled on a baggage trolley. Another passenger walks through the terminal, amused at the strange dog. Animals have been transported by air since the early 1930's. In today's modern world, carriage of live animals by air is considered the most humane and expedient method of transportation over long distances. ATA's Live Animals Regulations (LAR) is the worldwide standard for transporting live animals by commercial airlines.
    orly_dog02-05-06-2014_1.jpg
  • On a grey day in the metropolis of Hong Kong, a giant airliner belonging to an Asian airline passes overhead, seemingly just over the roofs of apartment buildings and offices. The aircraft is nearly at the point of touching down on the runway which is just beyond this street in Kowloon district in the days when Hong Kong was still a British colony and before its handover to Chinese law. The dominating shape of the jet is flying into the former airport called Kai Tak whose runway jutted out into the city’s harbour before the airfield was closed and a new location was opened in an outlying island. We look up to see a wide expanse of overcast sky with the red vertical Cantonese characters of a local business and which echoes the red beacon on the plane’s belly that flashes during the last moments of flight before the actual landing.
    hongkong_jet-21-04-1995_1.jpg
  • The nose detail of a de Havilland Comet in the colours of the long-defunct airline Dan Air is seen in profile at the Imperial War Museum's Duxford airfield, Cambridgeshire, England. The British de Havilland Comet first flew in July 1949 and is noted as the world's first commercial jet airliner as well as one of the first pressurized commercial aircraft. Early models suffered from catastrophic metal fatigue and the aircraft was redesigned. Here, the nose structure is held together with rivets that sit askew of the aircraft skin making it aerodynamically unfit to fly. It remains however, one of the classic and iconic designs in the history of commercial aviation. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_corbis15-12-12-1997_1.jpg
  • A demonstration by Resonate Testing Ltd. to illustrate that they test and contribute with the certification of fire-retardent airline seat materials, at the Farnborough Airshow, on 16th July 2018, in Farnborough, England.
    farnborough_airshow-100-16-07-2018.jpg
  • A demonstration by Resonate Testing Ltd. to illustrate that they test and contribute with the certification of fire-retardent airline seat materials, at the Farnborough Airshow, on 16th July 2018, in Farnborough, England.
    farnborough_airshow-102-16-07-2018.jpg
  • A demonstration by Resonate Testing Ltd. to illustrate that they test and contribute with the certification of fire-retardent airline seat materials, at the Farnborough Airshow, on 16th July 2018, in Farnborough, England.
    farnborough_airshow-101-16-07-2018.jpg
  • A demonstration by Resonate Testing Ltd. to illustrate that they test and contribute with the certification of fire-retardent airline seat materials, at the Farnborough Airshow, on 16th July 2018, in Farnborough, England.
    farnborough_airshow-96-16-07-2018.jpg
  • A boeing 777ER (Extended Range) airliner belonging to the airline Qatar Airways, that is based in the Gulf State. Placed low in the picture to emphasize the blue airspace above, we see it's two-tone coloured nose and cockpit with arabic writing below one pilot's windscreen.
    farnborough_airshow11-21-07-2010_1.jpg
  • An American Airlines male flight attendant stands with his crew baggage against a window at Dallas Fort Worth airport, Texas. Dressed in the corporate airline uniform he stands erect with a hand in his pocket, his ID badge clipped to his jacket and a pin conveying his command of the Japanese language. A mesh screen partially obscures drab concrete buildings outside which can be seen through the glass. Dallas Fort Worth is the sixth busiest airport in the world transporting 59,064,360 passengers in 2005. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_corbis48-10-11-2000_1.jpg
  • Parked on the apron at Paris Orly Airport, a lone pilot of the French national airline Air France, leans out of his right-hand seat's cockpit window of his Boeing 777-328/ER aircraft (F-GSQT). It is a bright morning at this international hub for Air France and without help from ground staff, the silver-haired gentleman who may be the captain and commander of the aircraft (because of age and seat position) has decided to get on with the job of cleaning his window himself much like a driver wiping away flies from his car windscreen. Here however, this chore being performed approximately six meters off the ground so safety is vital - just as a clear front view for the flight-deck crew before their flight. Attached to the plane is the mobile walkway, the air bridge, that awaits boarding passengers but no 'ramp agent' is below.
    esa_guiana02513-08-2007_1.jpg
  • Beneath sunlight that filters down through a glass roof, two employees walk through the bright atrium at the British Airways' corporate headquarters at Waterside at Harmondsworth near Heathrow Airport. Passing-by the full-size undercarriage of a Boeing 747, the workers make their way through the bright and clean atmosphere of this airline's nerve-centre, an operational and planning complex designed by architect, Niels Torp, a champion of humanist modern design. It comprises 6 roughly U-shaped buildings with courtyards and lakes stretching out into the landscape. The central spine is the street, complete with village style shops and restaurants. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009). .
    heathrow_airport1606-20-08-2009_1.jpg
  • We look down behind an airline passenger who is alone on seating in the departures concourse of Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5. Mourning the death of a mother, the lady sits with a floral tribute to the recently-deceased relative whose name 'Mum' is laid out next to her in pink flowers. On her lap is the organic Soil Association's magazine Living Earth. Perhaps the woman is on her way to a family funeral and is flying from T5 on this sad flight. Amid the otherwise bustling international airport, the woman seeks solace and tries to sleep before her check-in zone opens. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009).
    heathrow_airport1122-12-08-2009_1.jpg
  • Airline headphone sorting. Piece work. £5 per week. £6 if enhanced. plus £6 per 500. Each one is stripped, re-sponged, folded and bagged. HM Prison Downview is a women's closed category prison. Downview is located on the outskirts of Banstead in Surrey, England. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service. Downview Prison holds adult Sentenced Female prisoners and convicted and remanded female juveniles. The prison holds approximately 50% foreign nationals. Downview is divided into 4 Wings, A,B,C,D (D wing is a resettlement Wing), and the Juvenile Unit. All wings have single cell accommodation with in-cell electricity. The prison offers vocational training courses and NVQs for inmates. The resettlement wing provides opportunities for inmates to work and receive education outside the prison.
    09-downview-4220_1.jpg
  • Rear of an Easyjet Easybus bus, used for cheap transfer to flights for the low cost airline.
    20110208easyjet busA.jpg
  • In an office stock room, an archivist in British Airways' Customer Experiences Divition shows some conceptual design ideas for future Business Class cabin layouts, seen at the airline's corporate headquarters at Waterside at Harmondsworth near Heathrow Airport. Having listened to their passengers' ideas for what they'd like to experience in their long-haul cabins, BA regularly come up with ways to make the flight for premium users a reason to become loyal fare-payers. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009). ..
    heathrow_airport1637-20-08-2009_1 1.jpg
  • While working on his book, "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009), the writer Alain de Botton's sits in an airline seat at the British Airways' corporate headquarters at Waterside at Harmondsworth near Heathrow Airport.
    heathrow_airport1642-20-08-2009_1.jpg
  • Beneath sunlight that filters down through a glass roof, two employees walk through the bright atrium at the British Airways' corporate headquarters at Waterside at Harmondsworth near Heathrow Airport. Passing-by the full-size undercarriage of a Boeing 747, the workers make their way through the bright and clean atmosphere of this airline's nerve-centre, an operational and planning complex designed by architect, Niels Torp, a champion of humanist modern design. It comprises 6 roughly U-shaped buildings with courtyards and lakes stretching out into the landscape. The central spine is the street, complete with village style shops and restaurants. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009).
    heathrow_airport1606-20-08-2009_1 1.jpg
  • A British Airways baggage handler scans the bar code of his airline passenger's item of luggage before loading it into the aircraft hold container bins. 50-70,000 pieces of BA baggage a day travel through 11 miles of conveyor belts which were installed in a 5-storey underground hall beneath the 400m (a quarter of a mile) length of Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport. T5 alone has the capacity to serve around 30 million passengers a year and was completed in 2008 at a cost of £4.3bn. The system was designed by an integrated team from the airport operator BAA, BA and Vanderlande Industries of the Netherlands, and handles both intra-terminal and inter-terminal luggage. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009).
    heathrow_airport1200-13-08-2009_1.jpg
  • Airline passengers make their way along jetties from their newly-arrived aircraft, towards the arrivals concourse in Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5. We see four lines of jetties that are owned by the airport operator, used by British Airways and sponsored by HSBC. Air travellers walk briskly after their long-haul flight either carrying light carry-on bags or towing small cases on wheels. At a cost of £4.3 billion, Terminal 5 has the capacity to serve around 30 million passengers a year. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009). ..
    heathrow_airport1201-13-08-2009_1.jpg
  • A British Airways baggage handler scans the bar code of his airline passenger's item of luggage before loading it into the aircraft hold container bins. 50-70,000 pieces of BA baggage a day travel through 11 miles of conveyor belts which were installed in a 5-storey underground hall beneath the 400m (a quarter of a mile) length of Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport. T5 alone has the capacity to serve around 30 million passengers a year and was completed in 2008 at a cost of £4.3bn. The system was designed by an integrated team from the airport operator BAA, BA and Vanderlande Industries of the Netherlands, and handles both intra-terminal and inter-terminal luggage. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009).
    heathrow_airport1200-13-08-2009_1 1.jpg
  • We look down behind an airline passenger who is alone on seating in the departures concourse of Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5. Mourning the death of a mother, the lady sits with a floral tribute to the recently-deceased relative whose name 'Mum' is laid out next to her in pink flowers. On her lap is the organic Soil Association's magazine Living Earth. Perhaps the woman is on her way to a family funeral and is flying from T5 on this sad flight. Amid the otherwise bustling international airport, the woman seeks solace and tries to sleep before her check-in zone opens. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009). .
    heathrow_airport1122-12-08-2009_1 1.jpg
  • Airline passengers recently arrived from India wait in line at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5 transit concourse. The middle-aged travellers queue patiently after their long-haul flight and two believe that masks will protect themselves from airborne diseases and infections, not wishing to be exposed to Swine Flu or perhaps SARS, in a hectic public place where such bacteria can be transmitted from one human being to another. But a lady at the front of the queue has lowered her mask while the man at the back keeps his covering the mouth and nose. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009).
    heathrow_airport1015-11-08-2009_1.jpg
  • Airline passengers recently arrived from India wait in line at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5 transit concourse. The middle-aged travellers queue patiently after their long-haul flight and two believe that masks will protect themselves from airborne diseases and infections, not wishing to be exposed to Swine Flu or perhaps SARS, in a hectic public place where such bacteria can be transmitted from one human being to another. But a lady at the front of the queue has lowered her mask while the man at the back keeps his covering the mouth and nose. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009).
    heathrow_airport1015-11-08-2009_1 1.jpg
  • Seen through a glass screen, we see a crowd of passengers - a mixture of business and holiday travellers - awaiting the departure of their commercial flight from Frankfurt am Main international airport, Germany. Reflected lights and other windows merge into this scene of European air travel where the everyday misery of delays and disruption affect millions on a daily basis. Some people are still seated while the more enthusiastic wait in line, queuing for the imminent departure. Frankfurt is also a sprawling hub for the German state airline Lufthansa. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_corbis33-19-10-2000_1.jpg
  • Looking down from above, we see one lone queuing traveller at Charles de Gaulle, gazes up towards the large Departures board. Fellow-passengers wait by baggage trolleys in a civilised line beneath the information. Charles de Gaulle/Roissy is a hub airport for Air France north of the French capital. The departures information has schedule times, destinations, flight, satellite and gate numbers plus   remarks. Air travellers experience such misery every day and shows of how global air travel has become a routine, mundane and stressful for the everyday airline passenger - a far cry from when commercial flight was purely for the elite. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_corbis29-27-07-2000_1.jpg
  • An airline passenger awaits his flight, on 26th March 2017, at Brussels Airport, Zaventem, Belgium.
    airport_passenger-02-26-03-2017.jpg
  • Travel agency screen featuring walking airline pilot with City of London walker background. The picture suggests a theme of walking - of the pedestrian making their way through the urban streets. The window belongs to an agency for booking holidays for city workers outside and the lure of summer holidays indoors, where workers can come in to book the getaways from the office or simply dream of beach fantasies in Asia, such as Thailand or Australia - faraway places that this company aims to bring closer.
    agency_reflection04-02-01-2015_1.jpg
  • In an office stock room, an archivist in British Airways' Customer Experiences Divition shows some conceptual design ideas for future Business Class cabin layouts, seen at the airline's corporate headquarters at Waterside at Harmondsworth near Heathrow Airport. Having listened to their passengers' ideas for what they'd like to experience in their long-haul cabins, BA regularly come up with ways to make the flight for premium users a reason to become loyal fare-payers. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009).
    heathrow_airport1637-20-08-2009_1.jpg
  • Airline passengers make their way along jetties from their newly-arrived aircraft, towards the arrivals concourse in Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5. We see four lines of jetties that are owned by the airport operator, used by British Airways and sponsored by HSBC. Air travellers walk briskly after their long-haul flight either carrying light carry-on bags or towing small cases on wheels. At a cost of £4.3 billion, Terminal 5 has the capacity to serve around 30 million passengers a year. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009).
    heathrow_airport1201-13-08-2009_1 1.jpg
  • A tour bus drives beneath a large advert for American Airlines of a wide-bodied airliner in Waterloo, south London. As a pedestrian walks past, we see images of the capital's famous landmarks including The Millennium Wheel, the Gherkin, St Paul's and Tower Bridge, are seen on the side of the bus. Above is a large billboard advertising American Airlines, their wide-bodied airliner seemingly flying across the landscape.
    airline_ad10-15-05-2015_1.jpg
  • A tour bus drives beneath a large advert for American Airlines of a wide-bodied airliner in Waterloo, south London. Images of the capital's famous landmarks including The Millennium Wheel, the Gherkin, St Paul's and Tower Bridge, are seen on the side of the bus. Above is a large billboard advertising American Airlines, their wide-bodied airliner seemingly flying across the landscape.
    airline_ad04-15-05-2015_1.jpg
  • An army recruitment coach drives beneath a large advert for American Airlines of a wide-bodied airliner in Waterloo, south London. The words Leadership, Teamwork and Tactics are seen written on the side of the bus alongside the image of a tank and a professional soldier with arms folded. Helicopters fly in the vehicle's windows. Above is a large billboard advertising American Airlines, their wide-bodied airliner seemingly flying across the landscape.
    airline_ad01-15-05-2015_1.jpg
  • About to board their Sri Lankan airlines flight to the Maldives, crowds of economy class passengers stand and make an orderly queue when their flight has been called by ground staff at London Heathrow airport England. Lines of people from all nations can be seen reflected in a large window that also overlooks the airport apron where their front-facing Airbus A340-300 aircraft awaits them, its flight-deck crew is seen in the cockpit readying their plane for the long night journey ahead. Catering service trucks are parked alongside the aircraft, loading supplies and all is on schedule from this large intercontinental airport hub to the much smaller island airfield in the middle of the Indian Ocean, the idyllic destination for holidaying Europeans.
    maldives01-10-11-2007.jpg
  • A Bahrani aircraft mechanic stands beneath the giant nose wheel assembly of a Being airliner at Bahrain International Airport. Wearing a red headset, he can communicate by cable with the pilots high up in the aircraft's cockpit as a vehicle pushes-back the flying machine onto the taxi-way before starting its engines and departure. It is another hot day in this Gulf State, a key hub airport in the region, providing a gateway to the Northern Gulf. The airport is the major hub for Gulf Air which provides 52% of overall movements. It is also the half-way point between Western Europe and Asian destinations such as Hong Kong and Beijing. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_corbis06-21-04-2001_1.jpg
  • A man tucks in to his in-flight meal on-board an Air France Boeing 777 flight from Paris Orly to Cayenne, French Guiana. Putting more food into his mouth while watching an in-flight movie, the male passenger has an aisle seat on this airliner. We also see on another seat back, the progress of this journey across the Atlantic Ocean towards the mainland of South America, seen on the moving map system screen which reveals statistics such as altitude, airspeed, distance to destination, distance from origination and local time. Using GPS avionics, the capital Cayenne is seen as the destination as well as Caracas, Georgetown, Kingstown and San Juan in the Caribbean. On the viewer's lowered tray is a light lunch of fruit, natural yoghurt, bread roll, orange juice and empty up. This is the best of Economy class.
    esa_guiana02813-08-2007_1.jpg
  • As bright sunlight shines through the window of an airliner, a sleeping male passenger reclines in his seat on a generic transatlantic flight. Sitting in the window seat of this transatlantic flight, the man has a large tummy protruding over his seat belt as he slumbers with a hand resting on the seat arm. The sun is over the port (left) wing as it continues to fly back towards Europe from the USA.
    airliner_passenger01-17-11-2000_1_1.jpg
  • A female member of a United Airlines crew flight attendant, nears the top of an escalator at the Chicago O'Hare airport terminal, USA. Holding the wheelie case with one hand, it stands upright on the travelator, ready to be pulled along the floor to the departure gate. A family picture of a little girl smiles out from behind a plastic protective sleeve - a clue that the woman's daughter might be waiting for her mother to return home safely after the next flight.
    airport_baggage01-10-11-2000_1_1.jpg
  • In fading afternoon sunlight, after the mid-day heat of the arid Sonoran desert are the remains of TWA Boeing 747s and McDonnell Douglas DC-10 airliners which sit as if in a take-off queue at the storage facility at Mojave airport, California. Here, the fate of the world’s retired civil airliners is decided by age or a cooling economy and are either cannibalised for still-working parts or recycled for scrap, their aluminium fuselages worth more than their sum total. After a lifetime of safe commercial flight, wings are clipped and cockpits sliced apart by huge guillotines, cutting through their once-magnificent engineering. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk, 1903.
    mojave_jets02-15-08-1998.jpg
  • In mid-day heat of the arid Sonoran desert sit the remains of a Boeing airliner sat the storage facility at Mojave, California. Here, the fate of the world’s retired civil airliners is decided by age or a cooling economy and are either cannibalised for still-working parts or recycled for scrap, their aluminium fuselages worth more than their sum total. After a lifetime of safe commercial flight, wings are clipped and cockpits sliced apart by huge guillotines, cutting through their once-magnificant engineering. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_graveyard04-16-03-2008-15-0...jpg
  • In mid-day heat of the arid Sonoran desert sit the remains of a Boeing 747 airliner at the storage facility at Mojave, California. Here, the fate of the world’s retired civil airliners is decided by age or a cooling economy and are either cannibalised for still-working parts or recycled for scrap, their aluminium fuselages worth more than their sum total. After a lifetime of safe commercial flight, wings are clipped and cockpits sliced apart by huge guillotines, cutting through their once-magnificant engineering. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_graveyard02-16-03-2008-15-0...jpg
  • The flight-deck crew of a Sri Lankan Airlines A340-300 series Airbus - registration number 4R-ADE - perform a series of pre-flight checks before a scheduled departure, while on the apron at Malé international airport in the Republic of the Maldives. Featuring electronic instruments it is known as a 'glass cockpit' and using a printed checklist manual, they methodically work through dozens of complex systems that require accurate input before the aircraft is ready for take off. Flight navigation computers, fuel and engine settings and radio frequencies all need programming by the two pilots, the captain on the left and the First Officer on the right. These modern airliners have only two pilots in a modern flight-deck as technology superceeded the need for a third member, the flight-engineers of a previous era of aviation.
    maldives452-15-11-2007.jpg
  • In mid-day heat of the arid Arizona desert, a complete set of main landing gear undercarriage stands upright amid a field of similar items from airliners at the storage facility at Davis Monthan, Tucson. Here, the fate of the world’s retired civil airliners is decided by age or cooling economy. Cannibalised for still-working parts or recycled for scrap, their aluminium is worth more than their sum total. Elsewhere, assorted aircraft wrecks sit abandoned in the scrub minus their bellies, legs or wings like dying birds. After a lifetime of safe commercial flight, wings are clipped and cockpits sliced apart by huge guillotines, cutting through their engineering. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_corbis42-15-08-1998_1.jpg
  • In mid-day heat of the arid Sonoran desert sits the gutted remains of a Lockheed Tri-Star airliner at the storage facility at Mojave, California. Here, the fate of the world’s retired civil airliners is decided by age or a cooling economy and are either cannibalised for still-working parts or recycled for scrap, their aluminium fuselages worth more than their sum total. After a lifetime of safe commercial flight, wings are clipped and cockpits sliced apart by huge guillotines, cutting through the sleek curves. Elsewhere, Jumbo jets, Airbuses and assorted Boeings sit abandoned in the scrub minus their bellies, legs or wings like dying birds. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_corbis39-15-08-1998_1.jpg
  • Below the flooring of economy class, a cargo handler manhandles a container of air freight into position in the hold of a Sri Lankan Airlines Airbus A340 that is about to depart from Male, the capital of the Republic of the Maldives  to Colombo. Inside the aluminium box is fresh tuna fish, freshly caught in the Indian Ocean and bound for the supermarkets of the EU and in particular, the UK whose insatiable appetite for fresh, perishable and sustainable foodstuffs make this fast and efficient form of transport important to speedy delivery. Every square inch is accounted for but as well as passengers' baggage, the cramped spaces beneath this modern airliner store loaded revenue-rich cargo though specially-pressurised and heated compartments accommodate live animals.
    maldives436-15-11-2007.jpg
  • In mid-flight over Greater London, we see a passenger’s view of a turning airliner's wing and the capital's dusk landscape below at a low altitude. As the starboard (right) wing dips, the Virgin Atlantic Airbus banks and a long exposure blurs the city lights below. A small curved portion of the passenger window, red engines and the Union Jack colours are seen. As aerodynamic design, the flying machine is a perfect gesture towards the conquest of flight, copied from the characteristics of a bird’s anatomy. As art, the mere beauty of taking to the air and maintaining level, organised speed is so routine, we rarely look our from our window to marvel at how and why. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_corbis50-10-11-2000_1.jpg
  • In mid-day heat of the arid Sonoran desert sit the remains of Boeing 747 airliners at the storage facility at Mojave, California. Here, the fate of the world’s retired civil airliners is decided by age or a cooling economy and are either cannibalised for still-working parts or recycled for scrap, their aluminium fuselages worth more than their sum total. After a lifetime of safe commercial flight, wings are clipped and cockpits sliced apart by huge guillotines, cutting through their once-magnificant engineering. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_corbis40-15-08-1998_1.jpg
  • A father supports his son on his shoulders as a giant four-engined airliner passes directly overhead, about to land at London's Heathrow airport, England. Seen from a low angle, we see the graphic cruciform shape of the aircraft as it screams past two powerful airfield landing lights that help guide arriving aircraft to the runway. The backlit scene is largely monochrome apart from the boys red t-shirt and yellow-faced watch which are lit by flash, underexposing the overcast sky. Prior to 9/11, British airport authorities and police tolerated plane spotters near runway fences but with heightened terrorist alerts, these enthusiasts are told to move on or face arrest. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_corbis13-17-08-1997_1.jpg
  • A father supports his son on his shoulders as a giant four-engined airliner passes directly overhead, about to land at London's Heathrow airport, England. Seen from a low angle, we see the graphic cruciform shape of the aircraft as it screams past two powerful airfield landing lights that help guide arriving aircraft to the runway. The backlit scene is largely monochrome apart from the boys red t-shirt and yellow-faced watch which are lit by flash, underexposing the overcast sky. Prior to 9/11, British airport authorities and police tolerated plane spotters near runway fences but with heightened terrorist alerts, these enthusiasts are told to move on or face arrest. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_corbis13-17-08-1997_1 1.jpg
  • The main nose wheel of an Airbus is parked on a stand at Bahrain International Airport. The names of other Airbuses and Boeing 737 types are also written on the concrete to allow exact distances for expandable air bridges and other airfield vehicles to connect and service these similarly-sized commercial airliners. A key hub airport in this region, providing a gateway to the Northern Gulf, Bahrain is the major hub for Gulf Air which provides 52% of overall movements. It is also the half-way point between Western Europe and Asian destinations such as Hong Kong and Beijing. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_corbis05-21-04-2001_1.jpg
  • Aerial view (from control tower) of generic airliner at London Heathrow airport. A generic airliner turns off a directional centreline that helps pilots navigate to specific locations around the airport of five terminals on a site that covers 12.14 square kilometres (4.69 sq mi). London Heathrow is a major international airport, the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the busiest airport in Europe by passenger traffic. It is also the third busiest airport in the world by total passenger traffic, handling more international passengers than any other airport around the globe.
    adie_dolan_atc60-03-06-2014_1.jpg
  • Aerial view (from control tower) of generic airliner at London Heathrow airport. A generic airliner taxies along  a directional centreline that helps pilots navigate to specific locations around the airport of five terminals on a site that covers 12.14 square kilometres (4.69 sq mi). London Heathrow is a major international airport, the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the busiest airport in Europe by passenger traffic. It is also the third busiest airport in the world by total passenger traffic, handling more international passengers than any other airport around the globe.
    adie_dolan_atc44-03-06-2014_1.jpg
  • Aerial view (from control tower) of Delta airliner at London Heathrow airport. A taxiing Delta airliner turns onto a directional centreline that helps pilots navigate to specific locations around the airport of five terminals on a site that covers 12.14 square kilometres (4.69 sq mi). London Heathrow is a major international airport, the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the busiest airport in Europe by passenger traffic. It is also the third busiest airport in the world by total passenger traffic, handling more international passengers than any other airport around the globe.
    adie_dolan_atc34-03-06-2014_1.jpg
  • Malaysian Airlines Airbus A380 performs in blue skies during Britain's Farnborough Air Show. The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, wide-body, four-engine jet airliner manufactured by the European corporation Airbus, a subsidiary of EADS. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and, due to its size, many airports have had to expand their facilities to properly accommodate it. The Farnborough International Airshow is a seven-day international trade fair for the aerospace industry and held every two years in mid-July, known as the home of British aviation, held since there since 1948. The show is usually attended by more than 1,300 exhibitors and 150,000 trade visitors.
    a380_farnborough01-11-07-2012_1.jpg
  • One a hot November night, a Sri Lankan Airlines A340-300 series Airbus - registration number 4R-ADE - is bathed in high-intensity floodlights on the apron at Malé international airport in the Republic of the Maldives. Surrounded by passenger steps, servicing vehicles for catering and the loading of baggage and air freight in the below-floor holds, the aircraft is readied for its next flight to Colombo, another journey for this aircraft as it travels across the world's air routes.
    maldives434-15-11-2007.jpg
  • In mid-day heat of the arid Arizona desert sit the remains of a Boeing airliner and a US Navy fighter jet and engines stacked  at the storage facility at Davis Monthan, Tucson. Here, the fate of the world’s retired civil airliners and military aircraft are decided by age or a cooling economy and are either cannibalised for still-working parts or recycled for scrap, their aluminium fuselages worth more than their sum total. After a lifetime of safe flight, wings are clipped and cockpits sliced apart by huge guillotines, cutting through their once-magnificant engineering. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_graveyard07-16-03-2008_1.jpg
  • Fading, graduated light of the arid Sonoran desert shows the remains of airliners at the storage facility at Mojave, California, their silhouettes forming a line of aviation's by-gone era. Because of age or a cooling economy they are either cannibalised for still-working parts or recycled for scrap, their aluminium fuselages worth more than their sum total. After a lifetime of safe commercial flight, wings are clipped and cockpits sliced apart by huge guillotines, cutting through their once-magnificent engineering. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_corbis41-15-08-1998_1.jpg
  • Using ladders and ropes during a rescue operation, Fire Brigade crews enter the floodlit broken air frame of a British Midland Airways Boeing 737-400 series jet airliner which lies on an embankment of the M1 motorway at Kegworth, near East Midlands Airport in Leicestershire, England. On the night of 8th January 1989, flight 92 crashed due to the shutting down of the wrong, malfunctioning engine. Attempting an emergency landing, 47 people died and 74 people, including seven members of the flight crew, sustained serious injuries. We see the aircraft's tail snapped upright at ninety degrees. Here perished most of the passenger fatalities. The devastation was hampered by woodland and the fire fighters are attempting to rescue survivors or extract those killed in this air disaster that proved one of Btitain's worst.
    RB_022-30-04-2008.jpg
  • A Concorde supersonic airliner registration G-BOAB flies overhead during its service for British Airways - en-route for a foreign destination. The delta-winged jet was first flown in 1969, entering commercial service in 1976 for 27 years until the disastrous in Paris ended its viability. Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner or supersonic transport (SST). With a program cost of £1.3 billion and a unit cost of £23 million in 1977.
    concorde-11-07-1988_1.jpg
  • In mid-flight between Hamburg in Germany and London Heathrow, we see a passenger’s view of a climbing airliner's port wing and the hazy German landscape below at a high altitude. The sky above reflects its soft blue hue on the upper surface of the left wing but the air below is a soft pink, a rural patchwork of fields and villages. As an example of aerodynamic design, the flying machine is a perfect gesture towards the conquest of flight, copied from the characteristics of a bird’s anatomy. As art, the mere beauty of taking to the air and maintaining level, organised speed is so routine, we rarely look our from our window to marvel at how and why. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_corbis34-21-05-2002_1.jpg
  • An airport worker employed by SABTCO guides an arriving Airbus onto its stand at Bahrain International Airport. The man carefully encourages the slow-moving flying machine using his illuminated sticks alerting the pilot in control of this commercial airliner to an exact stopping place after its taxiing from the runway. It is another hot day in this Gulf State, a key hub airport in the region, providing a gateway to the Northern Gulf. The airport is the major hub for Gulf Air which provides 52% of overall movements. It is also the half-way point between Western Europe and Asian destinations such as Hong Kong and Beijing. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_corbis07-21-04-2001_1.jpg
  • Aerial view (from control tower) of Virgin Atlantic airliner's wing and engine at London Heathrow airport. Taxiing along the centreline that helps pilots navigate to specific locations around the airport consisting of five terminals on a site that covers 12.14 square kilometres (4.69 sq mi). London Heathrow is a major international airport, the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the busiest airport in Europe by passenger traffic. It is also the third busiest airport in the world by total passenger traffic, handling more international passengers than any other airport around the globe.
    adie_dolan_atc235-03-06-2014_1.jpg
  • Aerial view (from control tower) of the tail of an American airliner at London Heathrow airport. The taxiing AA plane turns onto a directional centreline that helps pilots navigate to specific locations around the airport of five terminals on a site that covers 12.14 square kilometres (4.69 sq mi). London Heathrow is a major international airport, the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the busiest airport in Europe by passenger traffic. It is also the third busiest airport in the world by total passenger traffic, handling more international passengers than any other airport around the globe.
    adie_dolan_atc198-03-06-2014_1.jpg
  • Wing tips and tails from British Airways 747-400 jet airliners are almost touching during their respective turnrounds while on the apron outside Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5 building. A passing aircraft taxies past on the left and the other two planes have wingtip devices increase the lift generated at the wingtip which smooth the airflow across the upper wing near the tip and reduce the lift-induced drag caused by wingtip vortices. This improves lift-to-drag ratio and increases fuel efficiency, in powered aircraft. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009).
    heathrow_airport1593-20-08-2009_1.jpg
  • The main nose wheel of a British Airways airliner is parked on a stand at Heathrow Airport. The identifying names of the Boeing type range such as 777s, 767, 747 and 757s are also stencilled on the apron concrete to allow exact distances for expandable air bridges and other airfield vehicles to connect and service these differing-sized commercial airliners. The pilot has devices inside and outside to gauge the exact spot to break to a standstill though these marks are largely unsighted to them, high up in the cockpit. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009).
    heathrow_airport1570-20-08-2009_1.jpg
  • The main nose wheel of a British Airways airliner is parked on a stand at Heathrow Airport. The identifying names of the Boeing type range such as 777s, 767, 747 and 757s are also stencilled on the apron concrete to allow exact distances for expandable air bridges and other airfield vehicles to connect and service these differing-sized commercial airliners. The pilot has devices inside and outside to gauge the exact spot to break to a standstill though these marks are largely unsighted to them, high up in the cockpit. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009).
    heathrow_airport1090-11-08-2009_1 1.jpg
  • The main nose wheel of a British Airways airliner is parked on a stand at Heathrow Airport. The identifying names of the Boeing type range such as 777s, 767, 747 and 757s are also stencilled on the apron concrete to allow exact distances for expandable air bridges and other airfield vehicles to connect and service these differing-sized commercial airliners. The pilot has devices inside and outside to gauge the exact spot to break to a standstill though these marks are largely unsighted to them, high up in the cockpit. From writer Alain de Botton's book project "A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary" (2009). ..
    heathrow_airport1090-11-08-2009_1.jpg
  • The silhouette of an airliner that has taken off from Heathrow Airport to the west, and overflying the capital amid high altitude soft clouds in a dusk sky over south London, on 24th August 2019, in London, England.
    dusk_sky-04-24-08-2019.jpg
  • In the heat and dust of the arid Sonoran desert are the remains of a Boeing 747 cockpit at the storage facility at Mojave, California. The wiring of the now-extinct flight engineer's console is a jumble of old technology. Either by age or cooling economy airliners are either cannibalised for still-working parts or recycled for scrap, their aluminium fuselages worth more than their sum total. Elsewhere, assorted aircraft wrecks sit abandoned in the scrub minus their bellies, legs or wings like dying birds. After a lifetime of safe commercial flight, wings are clipped and cockpits sliced apart by huge guillotines, cutting through their once-magnificent engineering. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_corbis43-15-08-1998_1.jpg
  • A lone passenger gazes out from the departure lounge at Charles de Gaulle/Roissy airport terminal to where airliners are parked. It is late evening and blue light outside makes the orange interior look warm. Designed by Paul Andreu, Charles de Gaulle became a symbol for airport modernity - a Le Corbusier concept of rail stations and ‘autodromes.’ Charles de Gaulle’s role as airport and rail station fuses into one, thus becoming an ‘Aérogare’ where trains and planes whisk the new world traveller of the late ‘60s, away beyond an ever-extending horizon. From here, the Air France Concorde crashed on the aviation employment town of Gonesse on July 25th 2000. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_corbis30-27-07-2000_1.jpg
  • Like a huge caged animal in a zoo, the cockpit section of a Boeing 747 'jumbo' jet is perceived peering over the barbed-wire perimeter fence at London's Heathrow airport between engineering schedules and more transcontinental flights. Two fluffy cumulus clouds are stacked vertically above the hump of the airliner's nose to form three white blotches of the same tone. This major hub is mainly for British Airways operations, one of the three busiest airports in the world. When asked what is his favourite building of the Century, architect Sir Norman Foster offered the 747 the Jumbo has since carried 2.2 billion people: 40% of the world’s population. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_corbis14-17-08-1997_1.jpg
  • Like a huge caged animal in a zoo, the cockpit section of a Boeing 747 'jumbo' jet is perceived peering over the barbed-wire perimeter fence at London's Heathrow airport between engineering schedules and more transcontinental flights. Two fluffy cumulus clouds are stacked vertically above the hump of the airliner's nose to form three white blotches of the same tone. This major hub is mainly for British Airways operations, one of the three busiest airports in the world. When asked what is his favourite building of the Century, architect Sir Norman Foster offered the 747 the Jumbo has since carried 2.2 billion people: 40% of the world’s population. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_corbis14-17-08-1997_1 1.jpg
  • On a hot night at Bahrain International Airport, a Boeing airliner is about to be pushed backwards and start its engines. Two airport agents wearing traditional Arab dress stand patiently high up on the air bridge (that joins the aircraft fuselage during its turnaround time), several metres above ground level, ensuring no last-minute problems occur before departure. This Gulf State is, a key hub airport in the region, providing a gateway to the Northern Gulf. The airport is the major hub for Gulf Air which provides 52% of overall movements. It is also the half-way point between Western Europe and Asian destinations such as Hong Kong and Beijing. Picture from the 'Plane Pictures' project, a celebration of aviation aesthetics and flying culture, 100 years after the Wright brothers first 12 seconds/120 feet powered flight at Kitty Hawk,1903.
    aviation_corbis08-21-04-2001_1.jpg
  • Aerial view (from control tower) of taxiing airliner at London Heathrow airport. Making its way along the centreline that helps pilots navigate to specific locations around the airport consisting of five terminals on a site that covers 12.14 square kilometres (4.69 sq mi). London Heathrow is a major international airport, the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the busiest airport in Europe by passenger traffic. It is also the third busiest airport in the world by total passenger traffic, handling more international passengers than any other airport around the globe. <br />
From the chapter entitled 'Up in the Air' and from the book 'Risk Wise: Nine Everyday Adventures' by Polly Morland (Allianz, The School of Life, Profile Books, 2015).
    adie_dolan_atc299-03-06-2014_1.jpg
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