Great World Cup airplane decor

"Vamos Argentina" says the Aerolineas Argentinas Boeing 737. It also sports the I-just-scored-a-wondergoal expressions of Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Aguero.

Qantas is "Proudly supporting the Socceroos" with a Boeing 747 decorated with a large football and a pair of golden boots strung around the airline mascot's neck. No jokes about choking, please.

Personalized headrests and interior decor featuring their key players -- Belgium's Red Devils are being given the star treatment inside the Brussels Airlines Airbus A330 before they've even donned a sock. At 20/1 the team is a top five favorite to win the whole thing.

Low-cost carrier GOL commissioned Brazil's acclaimed artistic duo Os Gemeos to turn the Boeing 737 into a flying canvas. They used 1,200 cans of spray paint to shroud the entire plane, apart from the wings, in a theme of "Brazilianness, democracy and diversity."

Lufthansa has renamed eight of its planes "Fanhansa" and added a football and German flag motif. The team -- 6/1 to become champions behind only Brazil and Argentina -- is being flown on an Airbus A340.

Solid, sturdy characters behind with a flash of dazzling flair up front -- the motif on the Aircharter.com Boeing 767 is much like the team it's transporting. Let's just hope star forward Asamoah Gyan remembered to pack his astonishing goal-scoring record.

We're not sure what'll make the champions of four years ago more uncomfortable -- their 13/2 odds this year or the beaming, highly expectant fan faces adorning the back end of Iberia's Airbus A330. Nice and colorful though.

It's not carrying a national football team, but this Air Berlin Airbus A320 has been turned into "Fan Force One" during the World Cup.

• Airlines are playing their part in the World Cup fever, with many rolling out themed liveries


• Brazil's team is using a plane completely covered by graffiti art


• Germany's Lufthansa has renamed eight of its planes to "Fanhansa"

(CNN) -- They may have a silly name and be 750-1 against to win the tournament, but Australia's "Socceroos" were Team Keen on May 28, arriving first for the Brazil World Cup in a specially designed Qantas jet marked with the team logo.

Thus began a small but nevertheless slideshow-worthy trend for spruced up World Cup aircraft.

Brazil's GOL adopted the role of attention-stealing host, with a paint job so magnificent it's worthy of its own gallery.

Germany's Lufthansa became "Fanhansa" on eight planes, in a design that valued minimalism and efficiency over gaudy ostentation.

Click through the gallery for more.

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World's most expensive city is ...

A weekend break in Sydney is relatively cheaper than it was last year -- the city dropped four places on this year's TripAdvisor survey of the world's most expensive holiday cities. Click on to see the full top ten and best value vacation city.

Could high prices in Toronto finally be a reason for the rest of the world to get upset with Canadians? Probably not. As always, they're by no means the worst offenders.

Regularly named one of the world's best cities to live in, Helsinki is ruined only by the sound of tourists grumbling about their hotel bills.

With Danish restaurants charging top dollar for seaweed foraged from shorelines, imagine what actual food costs in Copenhagen.

Good thing you set up that secret Swiss bank account all those years ago. You'll need to dip into it to enjoy a weekend in Zurich.

It helps that winter gets so cold in Oslo. Why else would anyone pay $52 for a three-kilometer cab ride?

For the price of an evening meal for two in Stockholm, visitors could be living it up in Hanoi. They might struggle to find a decent plate of pickled herring though.

No wonder the Yankees paid Masahiro Tanaka $155 million to play baseball in New York. Views like this one don't come cheap.

Paris visitors might be tempted to splutter over their cocktails when they get the check. Or at least they would if they could afford to spill a single drop.

Views over the river are about the only thing you won't be charged for in the English capital. TripAdvisor says a weekend city break in London will set you back about $523.

Going out for a night in Hanoi almost costs less than staying at home and thinking about going out for night in Stockholm.

• London named most expensive city destination in TripAdvisor survey


• Evening out and overnight stay in four-star hotel costs average of $523 in English capital


• Weekend in Hanoi can be cheaper than a meal out in Stockholm

(CNN) -- If there's any truth in the old saw that London's streets are paved with gold, it's probably because they've been gilded by cash stripped from the pockets of tourists.

It won't surprise anyone who's seen their budget evaporate seconds after exiting their over-priced hotel, but the English metropolis has been named the world's priciest city break destination.

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Review site TripAdvisor compared prices in 48 leading tourist destinations to conclude that London has overtaken Oslo as the world capital of the inadvertent splurge.

According to the site's annual TripIndex Cities study, seven of the world's 10 most expensive destinations are in Europe.

Asia fields the majority of the list's most affordable cities for a holiday.

MORE: World's best shopping cities ranked

The list says an evening out and overnight stay in a four-star hotel in London will relieve visitors of $523 -- more than three times the cost of the same break in Hanoi, which is named as best value.

Travelers to Paris should be warned against working up too much of thirst while pounding its boulevards -- the city is identified as the priciest place for pre-dinner cocktails.

Two dry martinis there set drinkers back an average $52.

Even then the cocktails will probably be watered down by the salty tears of whoever's footing the bill.

MORE: 10 top value destinations

New York still the place for expensive hotels

TripAdvisor's research reveals Stockholm is the costliest place for an evening meal.

For the same money in Hanoi visitors can can pay for a four-star hotel, cab fare, cocktails, dinner for two and still have enough change to call Sweden and gloat.

New York tops the list for expensive hotels for the second year running, with a night in a four-star hotel costing an average of $365 -- four times the price of the same deal in Bangkok.

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While Oslo may have lost out to London in the overall list, the Norwegian city still rules when it comes to taxi fares.

There, a three-kilometer (1.9 mile) journey will set customers back $57.

In Jakarta, the cheapest city, the same journey can be made for less than $3.

Here's TripAdvisor's top 10 of most expensive cities: London, Paris, New York, Stockholm, Oslo, Zurich, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Toronto, Sydney.

Here are the site's best value destinations: Hanoi, Jakarta, Sharm el Sheikh, Bangkok, Sofia, Cape Town, Mumbai, Kuala Lumpur, Prague, Budapest.

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Do airlines have image problem?

Air New Zealand has boosted its image with eye-catching safety videos, like the one pictured.

• Airlines only just more popular than banks, says survey


• Industry figures admit airlines must do more to create better travel experience


• "The industry is not customer focused," says Air New Zealand CEO

CNN celebrates 100 years of commercial aviation with a week of programming presented by resident travel expert Richard Quest.

Doha, Qatar (CNN) -- When the CEO of a major international airline says that half of the passengers on his planes are "uncomfortable," you might think the carrier in question had a major PR disaster on its hands.

But what Alexandre de Juniac, CEO of Air France-KLM apparently meant by "uncomfortable" was more of the Gallic, philosophical variety; that people are just unsettled when they sit on his planes and not even an extra few inches of legroom can placate their metaphysical disquiet.

"If I give them more space, they will probably be happier, but it will not change their uncomfortable feeling because they are not comfortable in the air," he said, talking to CNN's Richard Quest at the recent International Air Transport Association (IATA) AGM in Doha, Qatar.

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Many flying economy class on any airline however might think de Juniac is spot on; that flying is just an uncomfortable, cramped experience and the worst part of travel today.

That sentiment is borne out in some recent research by U.S. PR firm Ketchum.

It ranked the public reputation of the airline industry in the United States as only just above banking, the government and the tobacco business in terms of positivity: 42% of people had a negative view of airlines, while 61% had a positive perception of the travel and tourism business.

In the hyper-competitive world of airlines, some have better reputations than others, be that through the power of the brand or genuine, good customer experiences.

For Air New Zealand -- a company that has helped to boost its image by using hobbits and cabin crew in body paint in its in-flight safety videos -- passengers cannot be thought of enough by airlines.

The industry is not customer-focused, we're too fixated on operations.

Christopher Luxon, CEO, Air New Zealand

"The industry is not customer-focused, we're too fixated on operations," said Christopher Luxon the airline's CEO. "We do have things to mitigate long-haul travel, like our skycouches, but we do have (as an industry) a pretty low innovation rate."

Many of the in-flight innovations are of the variety that make headlines and feed into the aspirational nature of flying, such as new first class cabins. But these are a long way from what the majority of fliers will experience.

And for de Juniac the experience is key and currently lacking.

From the moment a ticket is booked on a website all the way through to the moment the passenger arrives at their destination, it needs to be improved, he believes-- even if some things are out of an airline's control, such as long immigration queues and poorly equipped airports.

"The experience of travel is from 'home to home,'" he said. "We (as an industry) need to do better."

However some question whether or not the industry as a whole needs to do better to collectively to boost its image.

"The reputation of airlines in America are particularly bad, but elsewhere in the world it's seen as pretty good because it is still aspirational to fly," said Rowena Olegario, senior research fellow at Oxford University.

She also noted how hard it could be for many airlines and those in the aviation business to rally together to boost the idea of flying if many within it lament the experience themselves.

"(They) should be the champions of the industry but what I've been struck by (while at the IATA AGM) was how they complain about flying," said Olegario.

In that respect, there is at least some egalite between those squashed in economy class and some of those who sit towards the front of the planes running the airlines.

Read: Airlines make 'less than $6' per passenger

Read: Is this the future of flight?

Underground park in the desert

Thomas Heatherwick recently unvelied plans for Abu Dhabi's Al Fayah Park. The underground park will be shaded by a series of canopies, which will resemble cracked earth.

• British designer Thomas Heatherwick recently unveiled plans for Al Fayah Park


• The park will be covered with a dome that resembles a parched desert landscape


• Underneath, the park will have pools, streams and lush community gardens

(CNN) -- Sometimes it seems like Abu Dhabi suffers from an inferiority complex.

Sure, it's one of the riches cities on Earth, plopped on top of one of the most scenic expanses of desert in existence; but if its architecture and public spaces are anything to go by, it would really just rather be European.

"Some of the parks that have existed here have been based on the romantic notion of a European park. It's as if someone went to Paris and said, 'ooh, that's a nice park,' and rolled it up and dropped it on top of the desert," notes Thomas Heatherwick, the British designer of the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics cauldron and the London Routemaster bus.

Heatherwick is hoping to renew the UAE capital's pride of place. His weapon of choice? A cracked, underground park that embraces both the natural aesthetic and flora indigenous to the land.

An artist's impression of Heatherwick's design.

"There can be a mentality that can easily exist here that sees the desert as a surface to be covered up, instead of maybe celebrating its uniqueness," says Heatherwick, who recently unveiled plans for proposed 1.3-million-square-foot Al Fayah Park.

On the outside, the public space will resemble a 65-feet high mound of parched earth.

Heatherwick imagines it as a space where residents will congregate to picnic, or catch an outdoor concert.

Underneath the dome (which is really a patchwork of canopies held up by several columns) will live lush gardens (including date palms and a community vegetable patch), streams and pools, cafes, and a public library.

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Dubai Mall's famous fountain show

"The amazing thing about living in a city, in a place where people live in close proximity to each other, are those times when you want to see your fellow citizens, when you want to be amongst them and have your mind move forward," Heatherwick notes.

An alternative to shopping malls.

"Unlike in London, where you can go for a walk down the street, the extreme climate in Abu Dhabi limits your options. That kind of socializing tends to happen mainly in shopping malls," explains Heatherwick.

Al Fayah Park, he hopes, will be offer the city's residents a viable alternative. The domed park will also give the otherwise flat city an undulating quality.

"It's almost two stories in the middle. It's almost like Abu Dhabi's first hill," he says.

To reduce the nation's carbon footprint, Heatherwick has also opted to mix concrete from desert sand, eliminating the need to rely on imports. Furthermore, the shade provided by the rooftop will also reduce the amount of desalinated water needed to irrigate the plants underneath by restricting evaporation.

"The partial shade will mean we can use half the quantity of water that the current site used, and create more lushness in the process," he says.

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Airbus unveils electric aircraft

Airbus Group's E-Fan training aircraft has zero carbon dioxide emissions in flight and is cheaper to fly than conventional planes.

The two-seater is powered by two batteries, producing 60 kilowatts of power.

The four-seater version E-Fan 4.0 will be a training and general aviation aircraft which will also have a combustion engine within the fuselage to provide an extended range or endurance.

Airbus tested its electric E-Fan plane for the first time publicly in April 2014, in Bordeaux, France.

The solar-powered aircraft Solar Impulse flies above Lake Geneva during a test flight from Payerne to Geneva on September 21, 2010.

The top surface of the plane's wings is covered with 17,000 solar cells that supply four electric motors with renewable energy. Its batteries can store enough solar daytime energy to keep the plane moving throughout the night.

• Electric hybrid motors signal a greener, quieter flight path


• Airbus group developing electric planes to train pilots by 2017


• Company plans to have electric flights for 90 passengers in 15-20 years

CNN celebrates 100 years of commercial aviation with a week of programming presented by resident travel expert Richard Quest.

(CNN) -- Imagine taking a peaceful flight, gliding along without much noise or any fuel, effortlessly descending into the airport without a trace of emissions.

Sounds like a dream? It is. But one we can imagine in the not-so-distant future.

E-Fan, the brainchild of parent Airbus Group, is a prototype hybrid electric motor glider which will first be used for training pilots for their license at a school in Bordeaux, France, by 2017.

It debuted with its first public test flight in April 2014, and the two-seater electric aircraft is powered by two batteries, producing 60 kilowatts of power, which will be able to run for half an hour.

This is a learning curve to get to the big ones in the future.

Jean Botti, chief technical officer, Airbus Group

The E-Fan has been a continuous journey of evolution, says chief technical officer Jean Botti. "This is a learning curve to get to the big ones in the future."

It started five years ago when Airbus Group experimented with the Cri-Cri, a tiny plane based on the 1970s Cri-Cri, one of the smallest twin-engine planes in history.

Besides the benefits of noise and emissions reduction, the reduced cost of training pilots with the E-Fan is incredible, says Botti. It costs about two cents per hour to fly the electric plane, a number which is up to 20-50 times cheaper than the normal fuel costs of today's aircraft, he says.

Ultimately, these savings will get passed on to the customer, explained Botti, as the electric-powered flight training becomes a reality.

What's ahead for electric?

Eventually, the company has its eye on building planes for regional flights, with up to 90 people flying for three hours, although this is still 15-20 years away, says Botti.

We're not talking about replacing the A380.

Jean Botti, chief technical officer, Airbus Group

"We're not talking about replacing the A380," he says. But the shorter-term goals also include helicopters with hybrid electric technology.

For Airbus Group, much of the investment is being mobilized by the European Commission's "Flightpath 2050" which aims to cut aircraft CO2 emissions by 75%, and noise levels to be reduced by 65% from their 2000 levels.

The goal is to make tens to hundreds of these planes, and Airbus Group says it will be designed by schools with apprenticeship programs in order to help raise up the new engineers of tomorrow.

The biggest challenge for E-Fan is developing new energy storage. "We cannot afford to stay with the state of batteries today. We need to go much higher in terms of efficiency," says Botti, adding that the company's new research center in Munich, Germany, will have the capacity to do just that.

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Commercial aviation in the 21st century

Alternative planes take off

It's not just Airbus looking to alternative aircraft to help save energy, cut fuel consumption and reduce noise.

There are several others developing alternative aircraft with their own success. Recently, the Solar Impulse 2, a fully solar-powered aircraft, was unveiled by a Swiss duo which will attempt to fly non-stop for 120 hours without any fuel next year.

Made of carbon fiber, its predecessor, Solar Impulse, smashed aviation records as it succeeded in the first solar-powered overnight flight, lasting 26 hours in 2010.

Another creation is the Dutch-designed, German-built Antares 23E, an electric aircraft with 23-meter wings which can glide for 60 kilometers (37 miles). The Antares 23E can climb to 3,500 meters on a single battery charge.