BACKCHAT sends a big thank you to BAA and British Airways for giving us a sneak preview of the Dome before Tony Blair and the Queen got a look.
The companies’ Home Planet zone thrilled assembled hacks as they were whisked around Earth by, er, British Spaceways from the, um, Intergalatwick spaceport.
BA and BAA went to great lengths to make the flight experience feel real. Well, probably too far on the day Backchat went.
The BA guide informed us as we sat in the coffee lounge that boarding would commence shortly.
Great, we thought, just sit back and enjoy the hustle and bustle of the Dome.
More coffee arrived and still we waited in the cafe.
A ‘shortly’, became ‘soon’ and was then followed by ‘in a minute’.
Our guides wandered over to the zone, peeked in and came back with more bad news. ‘Just a while longer’ we were told. What was going on?
A strangely familiar tale for the well travelled reporters who spend hours each month trapped in airport terminals waiting for boarding – but at least it made it all feel very real indeed.
About an hour later, we were collected from the cafe/terminal (sound familiar!) and strolled in a caffeine-induced daze to the zone.
And the verdict – fun, imaginative and strangely moving. You’ll have to go along if you want to understand that last bit.