An ode to the airport, our gateway to freedom
Whether you love them or loathe them, airports represent the gateway to freedom. There’s the absence of real time, the joy of spending like it’s Monopoly money, and the promise of a get-away-from-it-all break. Yes, they also have long queues, there’s the rigmarole of security and, lest we forget, the hours of unexpected waiting. But, with new Covid-19 lockdown measures imposed today preventing any travel within the UK or abroad, is there a chance we could all return to airports with a renewed affection?
For many of us in 2020, the sight of an airport has been a distant memory, having not made it on a holiday at all. Footfall figures at London’s busiest, Heathrow, plummeted 85% between March and September compared to the same period last year, meaning millions of us missed out on not only a holiday but the effusive joy that the terminal can bring.
Lots will remember the enriching warmth of those first childhood memories where butterflies swirled in your belly knowing a holiday was imminently on the horizon, despite not really knowing what one was. The excitement of catching a ride on the suitcase trolley to the check-in desk, showing your passport to just about everyone, and the sheer thrill of spotting the wing of the plane you were waiting to board for the very first time.
Then, as you got older, there were likely arguments about who wanted to go where and why you weren’t getting those headphones from Currys. Then there was the first time at the airport without your parents, doing all the things they wouldn’t allow: changing your money at the last minute, drinking before a flight, waiting until the last call for the gate. And the year abroad where the elongated airport goodbye was tinged with tears as well as trepidation.
The airport offers different things to different people. For little ones, it’s the fun of pressing their nose against the window and seeing a plane take off, being allowed to buy a toy in the duty-free shop, and knowing a burger and chips is almost guaranteed. For adults, it’s the instantaneous switch into holiday mode, and the knowledge that the ‘out of office’ is on.
Everyone’s experience is also, of course, different. If you’re a late dasher you’ll barely have seen an airport, slaloming past others on the race to the gate. If you’re an early morning boozer, you know how to transfer to ‘airport time’, sounding the holiday klaxon as soon as the first drink lands on the bar. Spendthrifts see mostly the shops, splashing the cost of the holiday on all the ‘essentials’; fine for the outbound journey but problematic for the luggage allowance on the return. And, then, there’s the early birds, like me, who arrive before the check-in desks are even open.
Years of working as an airline cabin crew taught me the penalties for arriving late so I arrive three hours before a flight and never two. I like to know at security I have time to unpack, undress and rummage for those pesky loose liquids without breaking into a suspicious sweat.
Then there’s the food. It’s come a long way since the Christmas Day lunch I spent in Burger King at Gatwick with my devoted parents who dropped me off before I headed for a two-month trip to Australia. It’s definitely worth turning up early to dine in a modern terminal, especially if you’re not partial to bland airline food. Even Pret tastes better when you can eat it at the airport and not back at your desk.
And, of course, there’s the shopping. Buying another book (on top of the one already in your bag) you probably won’t have time to read, not worrying about the gross inflation on a packet of sweets and throwing caution to the wind and investing in those Gucci sunglasses that will really make your holiday. Why? Because you’re at the airport and you can.
But, beyond all the obvious, there’s the sense of togetherness an airport conjures. Seeing loved ones saying goodbye, watching families frivolous with excitement... there really is something magical that bubbles beneath the terminal roof.
Imagine if when we can fly and roam carefree once more, none of the outlets are there. What if there is no mooching, no watching the airplanes dance around each other on the tarmac and no time to soak up the pre-holiday excitement. Just queues and waiting. It would, quite frankly, be a travesty. So, when we can travel again, let’s embrace the airport like a long lost friend: set the alarm one hour earlier and really make the most of the encounter.
