Delayed flight and airport (dis)comfort
Our flight was meant to take off at 21:55, but instead it will take off at 00:20.
Not a huge delay, but more than you would want, and enough to make it uncomfortable.
The airport is not a big one, and there is a passport control before the gates, funnelling passengers into a smaller and smaller space.
We were already through security by the time we realised there was a delay. Thankfully I had already clocked that there were more free seats before passport control than after, so we didn’t join the masses there.
The first I noticed of the delay was a text.
We have issued vouchers for snacks/beverages at participating outlets
Ryanair is not in the business of handouts, so something was surely up. I checked the app and yes, there was a delay. No reason stated at first, then a minor technical error, and now a different airline providing the flight with new boarding passes issued.
We went through passport control once the last flight other than ours went. Everyone trying to pass the time, trying to get/stay comfortable. We play bananagrams on a small table. I started the game with QUIZZED and QUIPS. Personal favourite word was RANCID (expanded from ACID), but I came unstuck when my penultimate letter was a second Q…
People talk to each other, compare holidays, toddlers, gripes about the delay. I spoke with Eduardo, who hadn’t realised how big the island was and ended up stuck in one town (he still had a good time). We compared Greek islands, and went off to get our paper vouchers to spend.
People huddle by the charging stations, stacks of devices feeding off the multitude of cables. The charging is slow but at least it is something. I forgot to pack a cable for our phones that would fit the battery bank we have, won’t forget that next time.
Our flight is the last to take off from the airport. The next flight is not until 9am, so I assume the staff still here are working overtime? The shops outside the passport controlled area are already closer, and somehow people are still making their way through security. How people leave it so late I don’t get, but this time I am envious. There is a bar with a pool just outside the airport which would have been far more comfortable than these plastic seats.
It is funny how the extra two and a bit hours at the airport drag on and on and on. We will have longer on the plane itself than stuck at this airport, and at least here we can get up and move about freely.
But we were mentally prepared for the flight. We knew what we needed to do. But we weren’t expecting this time at the airport. And this extra time is not welcome.
Ah well. boarding soon. Hopefully I can have a lil snooze on the plane. It will be nice to be moving again.
Quack