Speak the culture britain be fluent in b 294

Identity: thefoundations of British culture 2.. Living culture: the state of modern Britain Up in the air Britain is well served by airports and flight routes, even while the internation

1 Identity: the

foundations

of British culture

2 Literature

and philosophy

3 Art, architecture and design

4 Performing arts

5 Cinema, photography and fashion

6 Media and communications

7 Food and drink 8 Living culture:

the state of modern Britain

Up in the air

Britain is well served by airports and flight routes, even while the international airports are somewhat concentrated in the London area Heathrow and Gatwick are major international hubs, with Heathrow the busiest passenger airport in the world London Stansted and London Luton specialise in low-cost flights to destinations around the UK and Europe Budget flights have mushroomed in recent years, with EasyJet and Ryanair vying for the biggest share of the market by offering flights at little cost above the basic taxes and fees However, as fuel prices and green taxes rise, the golden era of budget air travel may be coming to an end Manchester and Edinburgh are the major northern airports, although limited international flights are available at airports across the country

Welcome to hell

In the week that

Heathrow’s much

anticipated £4 billion

Terminal 5 building

opened in March 2008,

hundreds of British

Airways flights had to be

cancelled The massive

new facility went into

meltdown, with some

28,000 items of luggage

led astray by glitches

in the new baggage

handling system and

inadequate staff

training Escalators

wouldn’t work and staff

couldn’t find anywhere

to park “Welcome to

hell” read the quickly

improvised toilet graffiti.

For some it was all too

much: supermodel

Naomi Campbell was

removed kicking,

screaming and spitting

from a flight after being

informed that her bag

wouldn’t be travelling

on the same plane.

“ I D I D N O T F U L LY

U N D E R S TA N D

T H E D R E A D T E R M

‘ T E R M I N A L

I L L N E S S ’ U N T I L I

S AW H E AT H R O W

F O R M Y S E L F.”

Dennis Potter

284