This week’s App Smart column was all about apps that can help you deal with one of the more irritating hassles of going on vacation or a business trip: Navigating an unfamiliar airport efficiently. There are several apps that wrap up information about airports all around the world.
But it is also worth noting that some airports or airport-controlling authorities have taken the effort to produce their own smartphone apps. These are dedicated pieces of software that may be more useful to you if your travel plans are well known.
Some airports in the United States have several apps dedicated to helping you travel through them, too, but they sometimes are not official, and some have only limited information. The $2 O’Hare Airport stats app for iOS devices, for example, simply has flight information. It’s a hit-and-miss affair because there are so many American airports to choose from. So it is worth spending a little time searching through the iOS App Store and Android Play and testing out the free app options long before you fly to see if there is a dedicated app that can help.
For example, London’s Heathrow Airport is a complicated and confusing place, and the generic apps only partly help. But there is an official LHR (Heathrow’s airport code) app for iOS, Android and BlackBerry that is both highly polished and graphically simple. As well as offering live information on flights (subject to your phone’s having a data connection, of course), the app allows you to enter data for your specific trip, find information about transportation connections and parking, view detailed maps, and find out about security procedures, where to find Internet access and so on. There is even a section that lets you reserve some products from in-airport stores, which you can then pick up when you’re there.
If you ever find yourself in Portugal, the Portuguese airport authority ANA has an iOS and Android app that may be the most graphically pleasing yet. It’s simple to navigate and offers flight information and comprehensive data on the services at each of its five airports.
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