The April Fool’s joke never goes to waste, although this year’s harvest is somewhat smaller than in previous years. A quick overview of this year’s April Fools’ Day jokes in the travel world. Under the motto ‘Clapping is allowed’, TUI Netherlands launched the so-called ‘applause light’ on the occasion of 1 April. The applause after landing is increasingly disappearing from the planes, TUI writes in a press release of March 29. Our own research would show that 7 out of 8 holidaymakers would like to clap after landing, but that they feel uncomfortable or even ashamed about it. “And that can’t be the intention of such an innocent and sympathetic gesture,” according to TUI. The solution: an applause light above the passenger seat, so that passengers know when to let their applause sound. The lights were supposed to be installed at the beginning of this week, the week of April 1. The message quotes a TUI pilot, who thinks a round of applause is a nice conclusion to a fine flight. His name: Robbert de Haas. It was also Easter. RTL’s EditieNL picked up the message in its overview April 1 jokes. AI-driven CheapTickets.nl refers to the hype of artificial intelligence (AI). CheapTickets would be the first party ever to start selling tickets for fully AI-controlled air travel on 1 April. The so-called ‘AI®’ flights would be operated without human pilots and cabin crew, making ticket prices much lower than air travel not operated by advanced AI technology. On board, passengers would be completely unburdened by a personal AI flight attendant “It is our goal to make our travel offer more efficient and affordable with the help of innovation,” the ticket seller adds. Joke van der Prank KLM responded to the naming of the new A321 Neos. In a video on X (the former Twitter) you can see how the name of a device is announced. It is the name of one of the employees: Joke van der Prank. Indeed, with the English ‘joke’ and ‘prank’. KLM promises to announce soon what the real name of the A321 will be. 
Balloon to Mallorca Eurowings published a press release on Monday morning announcing that the German airline will start transport by hot air balloon from Düsseldorf Airport to Mallorca. With this, Eurowings wants to increase capacity to the most popular destination for German holidaymakers. The more than 420 flights a week to Mallorca offered by Eurowings in the summer were almost all sold out before Easter, the airline adds. The introduction of the ‘Palma shuttle’, as the route by hot air balloon is called, should also increase the pressure on Airbus and Boeing to speed up the delivery of new aircraft. The balloons, equipped with two engines, can accommodate up to twelve passengers. The flight time to Palma de Mallorca is six to eight hours. Some flexibility is required from potential passengers, however, as weather conditions play a major role.
