Quebec City turns 400 this year and this Friday, just in time for summer festivities, the city plans to open a brand new terminal at the Jean Lessage International Airport.

I had a chance to visit the terminal a few weeks back as finishing touches were being put on the baggage system and gate areas and it really looks lovely. It’s bright and airy and full of amenities travelers are sure to appreciate.

For example, in addition to a children’s play area and free wireless Internet access, there are plenty of well-marked and easy-to-get-to power outlets. Those white power plug graphics on the chair backs tell you that the seat is “hot.”

It wedding season and time for those news stories about people getting married on roller coasters, underwater and in other unusual places such as… airports?

Of course! For my next column on USATODAY.com, I’ve been gathering stories about couples that have tied the knot at airports.

The column should be posted soon, but in the meantime take a peek at the wedding packages offered by Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.

It turns out that the airport that has a casino and its own branch of the Rijksmuseum also has a wedding planner on staff!

Now that American Airlines has announced that it will begin charging most domestic passengers $15 to check their first bag, it’s a fair bet other major airlines will do the same.

Travelers are pissed off about this move, but it just seems inevitable that everyone will soon pay to check their bags at the airport.

But maybe not. Consider this: Southwest Airlines, which allows travelers to check two items for free, sent out a press release Thursday reaffirming that the airline has no plans to change its checked baggage policy.

The release ends: “We look forward to seeing you on board very soon. (And bring your luggage!)”

Any bets on how long this will last?

Country music icon Marty Stuart is not only a songwriter and musician; it turns out the Mississippi native is also an accomplished photographer. He got his first camera at age 13 while making his bluegrass debut as a rhythm guitarist in Lester Flatt’s band.

Beginning June 2nd, you can see 40 of Stuart’s photographs in the Concourse C corridor at Nashville International Airport (BNA). The photographs tell the story of three major influences on Stuart’s life: country music singers and songwriters, rockabilly music and performers, and the Lakota Tribe of North and South Dakota.

Photo of Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard by Marty Stuart

Would you put up with a seat mate who spends the entire flight on the phone?

“No way,” was the response of most everyone who weighed in after reading my recent Well-Mannered Traveler column on MSNBC.com about an Air France plane that allows in-flight calls. See what they said and add your vote to the survey.

The art world is mourning the passing of Robert Rauschenberg, who died yesterday at age 82. He’s described in the New York Times as a “painter, photographer, printmaker, choreographer, onstage performer, set designer and, in later years, even a composer” who “defied the traditional idea that an artist stick to one medium or style”

Travelers flying through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport can pay their respects and see an example of Rauschenberg’s work at the “elbow” of Concourse C, just as you pass the Horizon gates and before you get to Gate C8.

The airport’s art collection includes Star Quarters, an intricate serigraph on mirror-coated Plexiglas.

Photo courtesy: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

On Friday, May 9^th, the TSA posted full body images of millimeter wave full body scans on its Evolution of Security site.

The images, provided by the manufacturer of the scanning machines, are supposed to show what TSA officers see when someone opts for a full body scan instead of a full-body pat down at airports in Phoenix, Baltimore, LAX and JFK, where the technology is currently being used.

Worried that you and your skivvies might end up plastered on some Website? I am, even though TSA blogger “Bob” says don’t worry: “…TSA will not keep, store or transmit images. Once deleted, they are gone forever. For additional privacy, the officer viewing the image is in a separate room and will never see the passenger and the officer attending to the passenger will never see the image…”

Next time you’re at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, take a moment to check out the new exhibit of black and photographs by Rick Williams.

Titled Working Hands, the images portray the rugged lives of the cowboy, the rough work of the west Texas oil field hand and the intricacies of the workplace for the high-tech worker in Austin.

The collection is on loan from Humanities Texas and is on display through July 28, 2008 in the Airside East Gallery, post-security, behind the Austin Article newsstand across from Gate 8.

A while back I wrote a column for USATODAY.com about airports that use celebrity voices to welcome visitors and remind them of security regulations.

Now it seems that Colorado’s Aspen/Pitkin County Airport is considering pulling one of its celebrity announcements – at least until the presidential campaign is over.

According to the Associated Press, someone complained that the airport’s recorded messages made by GOP presidential candidate John McCain “may give him an unfair boost” in the campaign.

Check out the AP report and the original column.

You’d think snow – even a spring snowstorm – wouldn’t get much attention in Alaska. But last Friday the folks in Anchorage got hit with enough snow to set a record for the day and for the month.

According to the National Weather Service, which has an office near the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, 17.2 inches of snow fell in Anchorage and 22 inches of snow fell in northeast Anchorage on Friday and Saturday.

In any “normal” city, that amount of snow would shut down the airport.

Not in Anchorage.

In fact snow has never shut down the airport.

Ever.

And that’s probably why the airport sent out a press release reminding the world that the airport is a four-time recipient of the Balchen/Post award for excellence in the performance of airport snow and ice control.