Enrico Salad

Travel Thoughts

This week I am in Canada at a meeting discusing various things about the future of mobile services. I don't know about you, but I am a paranoid traveller. I have to cintinually check and re-check that I have my tickets/passport/keys etc. before I set out, during the journey to the airport, even when I am waiting in departures. I don't know why I do this, perhaps the fear that if I didn't do it then all my stuff might just magically disappear. It drives my wife crazy.

Landing at Montreal airport was a very pleasant suprise, and proves to me that with the correct amount of planning it is perfectly possible to build a well designed airport (take note BAA). The place is large and airy, clean and (get this) there is an efficient and well-manned immigration room! No waiting for ages in a vast snaking queue, instead an efficient distrbution of all the people to a large number of immigration officials, a couple of routine (if pointless) questions and off you go.

The baggage turned up quickly too.

Then literally five paces outside the airport was a coach waiting to ferry the businessmen and tourists to the major hotels and places of interest in the city (and all for a reasonable price). None of this madness, and expense, you get at Heathrow.

It is somewhat embarrasing to see such good design and organisation, and then to compare it to our flagship airport which hasn't really been designed as such, just splatted down to the west of London. And if was only the airports that were wrong with our transport system then I wouldn't mind as much.....

posted by Enrico @ 11:09 pm