As someone who travels abroad on a regular basis for work, the glamour of air travel has long since dissipated. I've got no illusions about sitting back and relaxing while cabin crew attend to my every need - all I want is my flight to run smoothly and get there on time.
Everything else is just a process, and the whole rigmarole of getting to and from the aeroplane seems to be more and more of a challenge. I accept that security is a necessary evil, and it is hard to get too worked up about putting liquids in a clear plastic bag and emptying my pockets, although it would be nice if Edinburgh Airport could get their act together and cut the queues.
What really annoys me these days is airport buses. It is not just the trip from the car park to the terminal, but more importantly from the boarding gate to the aircraft (or the reverse journey). These buses across the tarmac to and from the aircraft are the complete antithesis of relaxed travel: they rattle and shake, they have hardly any seats, and by the time every single person on the flight has boarded they can be more cramped than a tube train at rush hour. Not only that, in poor weather - such as in the photo at Amsterdam above - you have to wait in the rain on the steps, cursing the people ahead of you who take an age to find their seat and carefully fold their coats before finally sitting down to let other passengers pass by.
It can also really add to the time of the flight: for example, flights from Edinburgh to Paris land at the far side of Charles de Gaulle, take 10-15 minutes to taxi to the stance, where a bus awaits. Eventually everyone decants onto the bus, and you find that this airport has a strict rule that buses must come to a complete stop at every white line on the road; so the passengers stumble and hang on as the bus negotiates junctions, u-turns and roundabouts on the ten minute trip to the terminal, where they are discharged to passport control and the arrivals hall.
I know, I know. It has to be this way to keep costs down and cope with the huge volume of passengers. But would it really be too much to ask for airlines to take an interest in the comfort of their customers for the whole journey, not just their time in the air?
Everything else is just a process, and the whole rigmarole of getting to and from the aeroplane seems to be more and more of a challenge. I accept that security is a necessary evil, and it is hard to get too worked up about putting liquids in a clear plastic bag and emptying my pockets, although it would be nice if Edinburgh Airport could get their act together and cut the queues.
What really annoys me these days is airport buses. It is not just the trip from the car park to the terminal, but more importantly from the boarding gate to the aircraft (or the reverse journey). These buses across the tarmac to and from the aircraft are the complete antithesis of relaxed travel: they rattle and shake, they have hardly any seats, and by the time every single person on the flight has boarded they can be more cramped than a tube train at rush hour. Not only that, in poor weather - such as in the photo at Amsterdam above - you have to wait in the rain on the steps, cursing the people ahead of you who take an age to find their seat and carefully fold their coats before finally sitting down to let other passengers pass by.
It can also really add to the time of the flight: for example, flights from Edinburgh to Paris land at the far side of Charles de Gaulle, take 10-15 minutes to taxi to the stance, where a bus awaits. Eventually everyone decants onto the bus, and you find that this airport has a strict rule that buses must come to a complete stop at every white line on the road; so the passengers stumble and hang on as the bus negotiates junctions, u-turns and roundabouts on the ten minute trip to the terminal, where they are discharged to passport control and the arrivals hall.
I know, I know. It has to be this way to keep costs down and cope with the huge volume of passengers. But would it really be too much to ask for airlines to take an interest in the comfort of their customers for the whole journey, not just their time in the air?
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