There was little of the previous chaos evident as passengers stayed home and rebooked
AIRLINE PASSENGERS are quick learners. Or so it seemed yesterday at Dublin airport. There was little evidence of the chaos caused last month by the volcanic ash disruption. More than 200 flights and some 20,000 passengers were affected by the disruption at all Irish airports, the majority in Dublin. Most travellers heeded warnings from Ryanair and Aer Lingus, stayed home and rebooked. But there were those who didn’t get the message. And a few for whom the volcano knocked twice.
Martha Jiminez and Alex Benzon, from Illinois in the US, were on spring break in Ireland and were due to return on a 6.30am flight to Paris where they are studying. The 21-year-olds did not know about the disruption and were stunned to discover volcanic ash was the cause.
“We were flying to Venice from Paris on April 16th and ended up taking the train,” said Alex. “We never thought we’d have to think of volcanic ash ever again.” They rebooked their Ryanair flights to Beauvais for 8pm last night, found a relatively quiet corridor at the airport and, equipped with sleeping bags, got some sleep.
There was little rest, however, for Eliz Chaushevh and Ridvoin Eminov. The Bulgarian couple were returning home after two years in Ireland and arrived at the airport for a 6.20am flight.
“The taxi driver told us,” said Eliz of the delays. The next available flight for them was Thursday “but we have left our accommodation and have nowhere to stay”. So they booked another flight due to leave at 4.30pm going via Romania at a cost of €150. “We have another two hours then to my city, Svishtov,” said Ridvoin.
Vincent and Maria Duffy and their three children from Bray, Co Wicklow, were due to travel to Palma, Majorca, for a week’s holidays at 7am on a charter flight. “We’re going with Falcon Travel,” said Vincent. “We heard the warnings to check the websites, but there was nothing on the Falcon website to say it was cancelled and Falcon wouldn’t answer a phone.”
The family decided to go to the airport and eventually were told there would be news at noon. Their flight was eventually scheduled for a 3pm departure.
Throughout the morning the information board showed “cancelled” for most flights and delays for a number of others. The terminals remained quiet for most of the morning. Passengers began to arrive at about 11am after the all-clear was given and by lunchtime the departures area was busy, but not frantic. Aer Lingus flights resumed at 1 pm and Ryanair at 2pm.
“The airlines just started their schedules again,” said a Dublin Airport Authority spokeswoman.
Both airlines provided extra capacity by using larger aircraft on busier routes and will do the same today.
It was a different matter for other airlines. John and Bobbi Breakey from Newcastle, Co Down, faced a dilemma. They were going on their annual trip for a month to the Cihangir area of Turkey, due to fly to Istanbul at 1pm with Turkish Airlines.
They heard about flight disruption, but decided to come to the airport “because the flights only go three times a week and we thought they might travel at a later time”, said Bobbi. They took the coach to Dublin but the flight was indeed cancelled.
They were given a choice – fly via London and arrive in Istanbul at 4.20am or book into a hotel and fly today direct. “I’d like to go, to be on the move,” said Bobbi. “Ah yes, but the problem is at the other end,” said her husband. The airline official left them to make their choice.
