Just as with the march 2018 edition, the March issue 32 years ago covered wine, although back then the competition was referred to as “Airwine of the Year”, rather than Cellars in the Sky. It also had the promise that “We stick our nose in other people’s business classes”.  Air New Zealand was top of the wine tasting’s “League of Preference” with South African Airways and Qantas following, then in fourth place, Pan Am. A note mentioned that US airline People Express actually came top of the tasting, but was disqualified because you had to pay for wine on board as it was a low-cost airline.

A feature entitled “Insider’s Guide to Bonn” said it was “dull at the best of times and dead at the weekend”, and the strangely titled “How to Clean Up in Syria” looked at some initiatives to promote trade and tourism in the country. The advice was to adopt a flexible frame of mind and expect to find reasonable prices and a genuine welcome.

Highlights

  • Adverts Air Lanka encouraged us celebrate that latest business deal – and left us in little doubt about how (above).
  • Caribbean The editor wrote a travel piece from several islands in the Caribbean. The present editor would also quite like to do this.
  • Heathrow We were looking forward to the opening of Heathrow’s “long-awaited Terminal 4”. It was “set to provide the UK’s answer to Holland’s super-efficient Schiphol airport”. The auspicious date set for the opening was April 1, 1986.
  • Gadgets The focus was the trusty Zippo lighter and its lifetime guarantee.