Empty Dublin Airport shows how Covid has debilitated our nation
IT HAS always been my happy place. Somewhere that fills me with excitement and anticipation, that marks the beginning of an adventure, heralds a much-longed-for reunion with someone special and simply makes me feel upbeat the minute I walk through its doors.
Unlike many people, when it comes to travelling, I enjoy the process of getting there almost as much as arriving at my destination. That means I love airports. All airports, really, from small regional ones like Trapani in Sicily and Leeds-Bradford in Yorkshire to the larger, sprawling types that I’ve encountered, such as Chhatrapati Shivaji in Mumbai, Madrid’s Barajas and Dubai International.
When it comes to my airport love affairs, however, it’s Dublin’s that I still hold closest to my heart. It is that rarity – both a pleasant and well-designed space in itself and also somewhere that functions exactly as it should. Security is a doddle, The Loop offers a great shopping experience and the parking is hassle-free. Terminal 2, meanwhile, is simply a thing of beauty. Every time I drive into the airport, my first glimpse of it never fails to take my breath away.
As it did yet again last week. What a frisson of excitement I felt as I parked my car and headed into Terminal 2 for an early-morning flight. Here I was, finally, back in my happy place again. Except that my happy place was happy no longer, because it was an empty, silent Dublin Airport that greeted me last Wednesday morning. A sad place, if truth be told.
Nobody checking in on the ground floor. Not one person in sight ahead of me for the boarding pass check before security. A smattering of people strung out at just a few bays in the security area itself. Through to the duty-free, specialised shops and café area I proceeded. Surely there would be a bit of a buzz here. But no. Only one café open, plus a few individual shops outside the large duty-free shopping section. I bought a coffee and walked further down the floor to a seat, listening to the echoing of my footfall.
I just sat there, taking in the scene. Was this the new travelling normal? I took a photo with my phone and sent it to my sister. “Empty, sad airport,” I wrote. “It would make you weep.”
What would also make you weep in these trying times is the ongoing courtesy of the airport staff.
Add to that their new-found resilience in the face of a workplace slap-in-the-face from Covid-19 and you begin to understand the magnitude of all that has been lost when viewed through the prism of this one airport visit, this snapshot of a travel industry on its knees.
You don’t have to quote plummeting passenger statistics to ‘get’ it. You only have to walk through Dublin Airport; the devastation is right there, right now.
Which makes the fact that the airport is so pandemic-proofed an even more bitter pill to swallow. Terrific signage, constant announcements, seats blocked off, sanitisers at every turn – they’ve covered every base. And for what, they must be asking themselves.
I was travelling to Italy last week, staying just three days. Despite the fact that Italy’s Covid rate is far less than ours, I’m now quarantining for two weeks, privileged to be able to do so and still earn a living.
I live alone, so I am inconveniencing no-one. Not everyone is so lucky. And yet, with our Green List now deeming no country in Europe fit for travel, the message is clear: if you go anywhere, you quarantine on return.
Earlier this week Tánaiste Leo Varadkar spoke his mind about protecting jobs and keeping our economy afloat. It’s time he took a stroll through Terminal 2.