Four British airports as well as Dublin Airport appeared in the awards lists handed out by Airport Council international, (ACI) the trade association of the world’s airports, last week.
Dublin Airport has now become the biggest economic powerhouse in the whole of Ireland.
Whatever the answer is, passengers seem to feel underwhelmed with European airports.
A new roller-coaster for Blackpool, building changes at Dublin Airport and the beginning of the Autumn foliage display join together in Adrian’s thoughts as National Champagne Week begins.
Adrian considers the staycation summer that boomed and wnders whether we will return to three favourite British holiday destinations – Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey.
This year, terminal 2 at Dublin airport celebrates its fifth birthday. Terminal one doesn’t; its much older and it shows.
We all think we know Dublin. Let’s state the obvious. It means pubs and bars, good conversation and Guinness, friendly people and a zest for life. Is it still like this now that the attraction of being the Celtic Tiger has suffered such a hammering of late? Dublin appeals to those wanting a weekend break that isn’t too far away. (only about 50 minutes by plane from any of the London airports and closer from Cardiff, Manchester or Glasgow) It also has good flight connections from just about any biggish UK airport, not forgetting the ferries or the train from Belfast. But what can you do in just a day. In the days of the £1 flight on Ryanair, it was a popular day trip destination. Now with all the taxes and fees, it is unlikely to cost you less than £40. That’s still cheaper than often heading from the north to south in England and vice versa.
This isn’t really a moan. It comes under the category of “just one of those days…” It’s more about how the fates can conspire against you. It seems that there is some mysterious law that says there are days when, if one thing goes wrong, lots of others will as well. And yesterday was one of those.
I was flying to Dublin to hear what Tourism Ireland (see yesterday’s story) was planning for the next few years. From Gatwick, I was travelling on Aer Lingus but first I had to get to the airport for the 6.50 am flight. My problems began before I even got to the airport.
Both Ryanair and easyjet have complained about the landing fees being charged by certain airports. According to easyjet, Luton Airport’s fees have risen by over 25% over the last few years and that it is why it has cut the number of flights operating from there. The same applies to the cutbacks by Ryanair at Manchester, Dublin and Stansted airports.
