Passengers glad to be getting back to the skies

Passengers glad to be getting back to the skies


Anton McNulty
in Knock

IT wasn’t exactly business as usual at Ireland West Airport Knock last Wednesday but the flurry of people running around the terminal with suitcases was a welcome return from the silence over the previous six days.
After Aer Lingus announced they were lifting their restrictions on travel, Knock Airport was back in business - even if it was at a reduced capacity - with the London Gatwick flight the first plane to touch down in nearly a week.
As passengers flying to Gatwick waited in the departures lounge not even the announcement that their flight would be delayed for 45 minutes would put them out. While some people were waiting days to get back to London some had judged the disruptions just right. Rob Mulleady who was visiting family in Blemullet for a week described being ‘dead lucky’ having arrived in Ireland the day before the eruption and was due to leave on the first flight out.
One couple who were not so lucky were John and Mary Ravenscroft who were staying in Westport with relatives. They were due to fly back to London last Saturday and were contemplating getting a ferry - something they were not relishing.
“We would have had to get a train from Holyhead into Euston, then get an underground to a main line station to get home and it would have been a hell of a journey. We had a great time but it was the uncertainty of not knowing when we could get back meant we could not relax,” said Mary.
As the flight from Gatwick touched down, relieved passengers and family meeting them were glad to get back after the delays. Christine Heuston was meeting her mother Nelly Lavelle from Keelogues who had been to her sister’s funeral in London and was due home last Friday.
“My mum was due back last Friday and we had to keep changing the reservations since then. It was difficult because Mum is no spring chicken any more and we are glad she is home,” she said.
Nancy Tighe from Ballymote had returned from Mexico to London the day before the volcano erupted and admits she was very lucky to have been in London rather than Mexico.
“We stayed in Kent with our daughter so that was like a second holiday but we were lucky to get back to London when we did. We are glad to be back because it was scary when everything was off and we were not sure when we’d be home.”
“We had this flight booked but we didn’t know until this morning when we phoned the airport that it was going ahead. We thought we wouldn’t be going ahead with the flight. We had nothing else booked and we were thrilled when we heard the flight wasn’t cancelled. If it was we would probably have cancelled the flight as we couldn’t go today,” said Frank and Una Keaney, Sligo.