I nearly started this Blog with the words, ‘Welcome to The Moodie Report Interim Bureau…’ but then realised I was at home for once.
Miscellaneous
Qatar Airways inflight safety video leads to Messi moments
I’ve seen some excellent inflight safety videos in recent times (Air New Zealand’s Hobbit-themed and All Blacks/Men in Black efforts among the best) but the new edition from Qatar Airways is right up with the best of them. After a turbulent period in 2015 it’s time to sit back, fasten your safety belts and ride into the New Year with Qatar Airways. You may just recognise some of your fellow passengers…
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Miscellaneous
ACE served at Auckland; Passengers Peppered by Costa
You’ll excuse the slightly off-colour reference above, but given the New Zealand origins of hit US comedy Flight of the Conchords (Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement) it seemed singularly appropriate for this Blog as you’re about to discover.
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Miscellaneous
Humming along at Heathrow as Elvis emerges
From The Moodie Report Interim Caffè Nero (what a great coffee outlet by the way) Heathrow T2 bureau this morning, my meeting was interrupted by what sounded like a very loud barrage of Christmas carols and songs coming over the tannoy. But no, it was the real thing as I discovered when I left to catch the tube back to HQ.
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Miscellaneous
Revamp Heathrow’s Arrivals shops and drive off in a Mercedes
London Heathrow Airport should really charge me rent for the amount of time I spend there. Just imagine that as a new non-aeronautical revenue stream – making travellers who ‘overstay’ pay a concession fee! I can only begin to imagine my MAG (Moodie annual guarantee). I’m surprised, frankly, that no-one has thought of it before.
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Miscellaneous
Following the highway to duty free in Japan
News reaches The Moodie Blog that a ‘Shinjuku joint’ in Japan is to offer karaoke alongside duty free shopping. News also reaches The Moodie Blog that Marie Brizard Wine & Spirits has launched a premium cannabis-flavoured vodka in travel retail called Shotka.
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Miscellaneous
Beautiful mornings, birdies and sartorial sabotage
I’m back in a near-freezing London after a full-on week in the Middle East, starting with the annual MEADFA Conference in Jordan, followed by the Dubai Duty Free Golf World Cup. The former was a good event as always, attracting 342 delegates – not bad given some widely held concerns about the choice of Jordan as a venue in a troubled year.
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Miscellaneous
Up close and personal with a very Premium success story
Meet Pauline Cheung and Shereen Lee. They’re part of one of the aviation world’s most incredible success stories, but one whose success has generally been told away from the headlines and simply by getting on with business. Lots and lots of business.
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Miscellaneous
Pencilling in a journey in style at Heathrow as the great Christmas tree competition begins
About as good a spend of £15 in an airport as I can remember… The item in question is a called ‘A Journey in Style’, written by Elizabeth Walker (with an introduction by Yasmin Le Bon). It’s a lovely pictorial book that celebrates some of the most stylish travellers, outfits and luggage to grace Heathrow’s concourses down the years plus some great on location shots from around the world.
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Miscellaneous
Putting on a show like no other in Dubai
It’s hard to find the will to write a Blog this weekend in light of the atrocities in Paris. Our thoughts are with the people of Paris and France, especially those who have lost loved ones or seen them injured. So much hatred, so much senseless loss of the innocents. In the meantime, we all
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Miscellaneous
Twelve talking points about Hong Kong International Airport
Hong Kong International remains one of my favourite airports. I love its big panoramas; its airfield views; its diverse food & drinks offer (though not always its service quality); its mix of generic and specialist retail; and its sheer sense of drama – a real feeling of a vast international crossroads. It’s pretty damn efficient
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Miscellaneous
A Masterly expression of ambition in Singapore
One thing we should never stop applauding in this business is ambition. I’m not talking the naked, money-lusting form but ambition in its purest form as in the desire or aspiration to achieve something, to be better. Over the past two days I have twice witnessed exactly the right sort of ambition in Singapore, firstly
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Miscellaneous
From browser to shopper, the Benefit way
I’ve dropped into Hong Kong en route to Singapore to attend one of the great events on the travel retail calendar, DFS Group’s Masters of Wines & Spirits, which opens tomorrow. Today I lunched with the dynamic, well make that effervescent, Beatrice Charreire, Global Travel Retail Director for LVMH-owned Benefit Cosmetics, a brand which has