This was a great year for April Fool’s pranks in the aviation industry – that’s why our blog this week will focus on some of the best Aviation April Fool’s pranks across airports AND airlines!

1. DEN rewards conspiracy theorists with a “leaked” page. Many of our readers may already be aware of the mythology surrounding the Denver International Airport – that there are underground tunnel leading to Washington D.C. in the case of a nuclear fallout, etc. This belief is so widespread that it makes the Top 10 list of biggest conspiracy theories in the US. These conspiracy theorists played right into the hand of DEN Airport for this year’s aviation April Fool’s, falling hook line and sinker for the “NewWorldOrder” website that was intentionally put up as a gag by the DEN Airport authority as  way to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the “cover up”. At the time of the prank, the page displayed a tour of “DIA’s Underground: The ‘Elite’ Travel Experience…. a private site for our ‘elite’ New World Order travelers who value privacy and exclusivity.” Of course now it just leads to an “Access Denied” message, which only peaks the curiosity further. Well done DEN!
2. MGB puts bike lanes on its runways. This fooled more than a few, and the town Mayor was reported to have “laughed all morning” at this Aviation April Fool’s prank put on by the small Mount Gambier Airport in Southern Australia. A Facebook post with this picture also accompanied a message stating that bike lanes have been installed on one of the airport’s runways as a six month trial.

   

3. EIA announces plans for a waterslide. OK, this isn’t really that far-fetched considering that Changi (SIN) already has one. In a fake promotional video, the head of passenger experience at Edmonton International Airport announces her goals for the slide (producing a “gut-renching” experience) and describes the 890-foot long drop, which allows riders to reach speeds of 110 km/h. The slide would start on the 10th floor of the control tower. Here’s a video that explains it all for EIA’s aviation April Fool’s:
4. Southwest Airlines now charging for bags. My heart literally dropped a  beat when I read this headline last week, because I totally believed it! For those of us who had momentarily forgotten that it was a prank day, this aviation April Fool’s had us all going “Awwww, shucks! It was only a matter of time.” Digging further in to the headline though, it was apparent this was (thankfully) just a gag – this Southwest YouTube video was made announcing the addition of bag fees, while also poking fun at other airlines’ complicated bag fee policies. Nice aviation April Fool’s, Southwest!
5. Virgin Airlines moving its U.S headquarters to Branson, Missouri, USA. This one was another well-crafted aviation April Fool’s, in that it’s quite believable that the eccentric and over-the-top Virgin Airlines CEO Richard Branson might actually move the headquarters to a seemingly random but ego-driven new locale bearing his namesake (and claiming that a long-lost relative founded the town). Virgin went all out to add substance to the prank, sending out multiple press releases and producing a video featuring Richard Branson.

Were you at an airport or flying on an airline that did a mention-worthy aviation April Fool’s prank? Tweet it to us @tripchi or leave a comment below.