Layovers - Air Travel podcast

Paul Papadimitriou

The Air Travel podcast
by Paul Papadimitriou, with Alex Hunter & Vinod Viswalingam — #1 in 50+ countries
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20 episodes
Updated June 29

Episodes20

Newest first

June 29 · 2 hr 16 min
160 SDU - The Airports and Airlines That Made Brazil, and Inspired Us to Fly There
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…
May 18 · 2 hr 36 min
159 HEL - Finnair cocoon, Air North to Kelowna, boarding zone police, Dubai plane spotting, tug slippage
Two sagas of snow and ice: going to Dubai via Helsinki, in that unconventional (revolutionary?) cocoon seat by Finnair, and to Kelowna (YLW) with the appropriately named Air North — snowy take o…
April 16 · 2 hr 17 min
158 LIN - American Flagship hopes, Cortina Olympics ride, Flighty Intelligence, crew cosplay, LH on-demand cleaning
Vinod's Olympics adventure: Flagship lounge, Flagship upgrade, Flagship Wifi (err), Flagship chicken, Flagship plane (well…), all the hopes and expectations of American Airlines Flagship were p…
March 17 · 2 hr 33 min
157 KMJ - Japan by air, 17 hours to Perth, tensions and airfare rising, uniforms and identity, Qsuite ganache
Ever wondered what it’s like to fly 17+ hours straight? Matt Drinkwater comes to share his experience with Qantas on the near-Kangaroo route to Perth (we talk the past and present of that route), a…
February 22 · 2 hr 33 min
156 JFK T1 - Lufthansa Allegris Tetris, Air Canada A330, JFK faster than fast-track, 100th liveries, JetClock, how to choose a seat
The road that Lufthansa took to get to their new business class seemed somewhat long and convoluted, Paul is finally able to tell you if it was worth the wait (choosing a seat on Allegris might be…
January 20 · 2 hr 4 min
155 FLIGHTY - Flighty: Reinventing Flight Tracking and the air travel experience, with Ryan Jones, Founder CEO at Flighty
Flighty has changed how we experience air travel. The flight tracking app, which obsessively focuses on the user experience and data accuracy, has been mentioned in nearly all our episodes since…
Dec 25, 2025 · 2 hr 29 min
154 LGA - United fairly tale, Qatar-ish premium economy, SeatGuru farewell, Hanoi underground tension, ORD forever taxiing
Alex finally boards a Qatar Airways flight, and finds how to get a premium economy seat in this airline that doesn't have premium economy (not through that ethernet port though). Paul completely…
Nov 30, 2025 · 2 hr 20 min
153 ROLLS-ROYCE - Inside Rolls-Royce: engineering excellence, how airplane turbine blades are born at the edge of science
We are at Rolls-Royce, exploring the engineering marvels behind aviation engines, the inner workings behind the quiet hums of those incredible machine. We dive into the importance of expertise,…
Nov 10, 2025 · 2 hr 26 min
152 ZNZ - Is Premium Economy premium, when BA was Emirates, Precision Air approximation, caravaning Cessna, Emirates A350
A lot of Premium Economy, a lot of BA, a bit of Safari Link, some Precision Air, and a sparkle of Emirates.
Oct 15, 2025 · 2 hr 59 min
151 WDH - Skeleton Coast driving, Canada wide-body bingo, Namibia airfields, Airlink Embraer, SWISS chocolate, ZRH dance
A Skeleton Coast drive, a wide-body bingo, and some SWISS chocolates.
Aug 31, 2025 · 2 hr 22 min
150 CND - cookware security, voltage chaos, airline excellence truths, boarding Tetris, the one real European business class
More adventures for our 150th, from seemingly attempting to cook mid-flight, to landing in an abandoned primary school.
Jul 29, 2025 · 2 hr 13 min
149 TYO - Narita rave, airline soundtracks, arrivals hell, Tokyo's airport of tomorrow, LEGO MUC, pre-recorded captain
Raves at Narita? On the apron? Can you bring your own air vent? What?
Jun 18, 2025 · 2 hr 19 min
148 JTR - double upgrade bug, Hoper islands copters, BA transatlantic variance, 747s of the seas, easyJet Plus, Air India tragedy
Alex listens to LiveATC as ASMR, whilst Paul recaptures the Greece of his youth.
May 23, 2025 · 2 hr 23 min
147 LIR - new JAL 350 to Haneda, ode to the 757, cockpit cigars and whisky, ATL golden hour, exclusive airline statuses
From Tokyo in what may be the best business class there is, to Costa Rica for the battle of the carts, with a joyful ode to the wild horse of aircrafts, the 757.
Apr 22, 2025 · 2 hr 8 min
146 CUR - KLM timeline, Starlink is airborne, Doha First ceilings, Heathrow fire, UK ETA, bubbly for the pilot
From tech glitches to pristine skies, from the hustle of DXB T1 to an unexpected flyby in Curaçao, we taste turbulences, KLM food, and airborne Starlink speeds.
Mar 14, 2025 · 2 hr 24 min
145 KUL - AF001 fragrance, long-haul family, blue liveries, Jewel bathtub plug, hidden runways, what is premium economy
YVR-SIN-KUL-SIN-TPE-NRT, a long-haul family adventure, and not on a dusty train.
Jan 28, 2025 · 2 hr 7 min
144 10Y — A Decade on the Air, Emirates Zero-Gravity First-Class pinnacle, Virgin Avgeek fan, Finnair joy, BA loyalty controversy
From the controversy of BA to the pinnacle of First Class extravaganza, from London to Delhi to Helsinki to New York to Dubai to Tokyo, this installment has all the emotions of a 10 year anniversary episode.
Jan 3, 2025 · 2 hr 16 min
143 LBG - De-icing YVR, from Air France panache to roomy Ryanair, the retro-future of CDG T1 & the Concorde
De-icing adventures, a tour of Europe, a visit to the wonderful Le Bourget aerospace museum, and the alternative timeline of retro-futuristic air travel.
Dec 14, 2024 · 2 hr 24 min
142 KTM - From Ukraine to Nepal, war zone and sky trails
Paul ventures into Ukraine. Alex soars above the Himalayas.
Oct 7, 2024 · 1 hr 51 min
141 OKA - When building a flying itinerary to Japan and beyond is like building a LEGO set
We take a little tour of those airports: OKA, ISG, HND, HNL, OGG, SFO, CEB, CRK, DXB, LGW, and wish all airlines would be called something like Japan Transocean Air.

Layovers - Air Travel podcast

160 SDU - The Airports and Airlines That Made Brazil, and Inspired Us to Fly There

159 HEL - Finnair cocoon, Air North to Kelowna, boarding zone police, Dubai plane spotting, tug slippage

158 LIN - American Flagship hopes, Cortina Olympics ride, Flighty Intelligence, crew cosplay, LH on-demand cleaning

157 KMJ - Japan by air, 17 hours to Perth, tensions and airfare rising, uniforms and identity, Qsuite ganache

156 JFK T1 - Lufthansa Allegris Tetris, Air Canada A330, JFK faster than fast-track, 100th liveries, JetClock, how to choose a seat

155 FLIGHTY - Flighty: Reinventing Flight Tracking and the air travel experience, with Ryan Jones, Founder CEO at Flighty

154 LGA - United fairly tale, Qatar-ish premium economy, SeatGuru farewell, Hanoi underground tension, ORD forever taxiing

153 ROLLS-ROYCE - Inside Rolls-Royce: engineering excellence, how airplane turbine blades are born at the edge of science

152 ZNZ - Is Premium Economy premium, when BA was Emirates, Precision Air approximation, caravaning Cessna, Emirates A350

151 WDH - Skeleton Coast driving, Canada wide-body bingo, Namibia airfields, Airlink Embraer, SWISS chocolate, ZRH dance

150 CND - cookware security, voltage chaos, airline excellence truths, boarding Tetris, the one real European business class

149 TYO - Narita rave, airline soundtracks, arrivals hell, Tokyo's airport of tomorrow, LEGO MUC, pre-recorded captain

148 JTR - double upgrade bug, Hoper islands copters, BA transatlantic variance, 747s of the seas, easyJet Plus, Air India tragedy

147 LIR - new JAL 350 to Haneda, ode to the 757, cockpit cigars and whisky, ATL golden hour, exclusive airline statuses

146 CUR - KLM timeline, Starlink is airborne, Doha First ceilings, Heathrow fire, UK ETA, bubbly for the pilot

145 KUL - AF001 fragrance, long-haul family, blue liveries, Jewel bathtub plug, hidden runways, what is premium economy

144 10Y — A Decade on the Air, Emirates Zero-Gravity First-Class pinnacle, Virgin Avgeek fan, Finnair joy, BA loyalty controversy

143 LBG - De-icing YVR, from Air France panache to roomy Ryanair, the retro-future of CDG T1 & the Concorde

142 KTM - From Ukraine to Nepal, war zone and sky trails

141 OKA - When building a flying itinerary to Japan and beyond is like building a LEGO set