This week any passengers travelling through Heathrow airport may find themselves immortalised in a book to be written about the famous airport following a collaboration between Alain de Botton, the Swiss philosopher, and BAA.

De Botton was commissioned by the airline to write about a week of life at Heathrow airport for a book using characters based on business travellers, domestic passengers and staff within the story.

De Botton is carrying out his research for the book sat at a desk in T5 and during his stay will have access to all areas of the airport. The book will be entitled A Week At The Airport: A Heathrow Diary and will be published this September when 10,000 copies will be handed out free to Heathrow passengers.

De Botton has featured travel in his work before when in 2003 The Art of Travel was published which was a look at the philosophy of travel. When commenting on his latest book de Botton said:

“I have always found airports mesmerising. If you wanted to take a Martian to a single place that best captures everything that is distinctive and particular to modern civilisation, in its highs and lows, you would undoubtedly take them to the airport. This is where you can see in action all the big themes that we otherwise know just as abstractions: the power of technology, globalisation, the environmental debate, consumerism, the frenzy of the modern workplace and the dreams of travel.”

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