The Irish Government published a "Green List" of countries Irish people could visit without having to quarantine on return. At the same time, their advice was do not travel at all unless it's urgent. Of course, people can travel anywhere they like, as long as they go into self isolation for 2 weeks on arrival. All of this conflicting information has meant Ireland is basically the only EU country that is "closed" (due to the self isolation on arrival), and almost no-one is travelling at all. It's a real shame, because it is devastating the tourist industry here, as well as the airlines.
After an aborted trip to St. Petersburg in April, a group of friends and I decided to go to France. One of their parents said we could stay at their house, so we flew there and stayed a week by the pool. We didn't leave the house at all, apart from the first day to go to a supermarket for supplies. It was lovely, 30 degrees and sunny most days, plenty of wine and lots of food.
To get there, I originally booked British Airways Dublin-London Heathrow-Nice and to come back Aer Lingus Nice to Dublin. Both airlines cancelled their flights, so I ended up going Dublin to Amsterdam on Aer Lingus, overnight there and flew with my friends on easyJet to Nice. To come back, I flew Swiss. Anyway, this is the first flight for me in eight months and the first one of 2020.
Dublin Airport - well, I have two words for you – ghost town. On arrival at Terminal 2, only a few people were dotted around, no traffic, and about six cars lined up outside the terminal. All very post apocalyptic really. The nuclear winter vibe continued in the terminal. Up the two sets of escalators, which were empty, and straight to a lone attendant checking boarding passes before security who looked delighted to have something to do for a moment.
From there, no wait at security, and another friendly staff member smiling away behind her mask asking me the usual set of questions. General security is as fast as fast-track at the moment, so no need to buy that service. Passing through Duty Free is the same, with it all open. I mean, lets face it, there could be a war on and airports would still be selling Duty Free, am I right? Into the terminal proper and many shops were closed, such as the Chocolate Lounge, while a couple of others were open.
Down the escalators to the gates, where every second seat is blocked off and everyone is told to wear a mask. The Aer Lingus gate staff came around offering us contact tracing forms to complete, to hand over to the Dutch at the other end. Boarding was called, from back to front, with people having to show their completed forms, as well as boarding passes and Passports. There may have been roughly 60 people on board, but not many more than that. Needless to say, nobody was sat next to me.
EI602 – Dublin to Amsterdam (DUB-AMS)
23 August 2020
Airbus A320 – EI-DVG – St. Flannan
Seat: Economy 3A
Departure: 18:15 Arrival: 20:55
Safely ensconced in my favourite seat, I watched the safety demonstration, all done with the crew in masks. Next, off to the runway, where we departed into the Dublin evening sky.
During lockdown, the Aer Lingus inflight magazine, Cara, is not being printed. All that sat in the seat pockets were the safety cards and nothing else. We were encouraged not to put anything into the seat pockets. When it comes to inflight service, Aer Lingus has decided to serve nothing whatsoever. On four flights for this trip, each of the other two airlines offered their normal food and drink.
With nothing else to do, I sat around enjoying the view and waiting to land. We landed miles away and traipsed around runways for 15 minutes before arriving at the terminal. Deplaning was simple, as was Dutch immigration, though the usual desks were closed so I had to walk to ones that were. Meanwhile, who collected that contact tracing form? Nobody.
Flying during lockdown is a little different to the usual. Everyone wears masks (apart from the morons), airport seating is socially distanced, sanitation stations have popped up, and distancing markers are on the floors. Otherwise, the situation is far more pleasurable than usual. There are no queues, no waiting, no people getting in your way, no harassed barking staff, it’s all round very good.
Aer Lingus really should be offering an on board service. My next flight was on easyJet who I purchased food from, then Swiss who offered one of the nicest business class meals I’ve ever had. It just seems stingy to have nothing, and the poor cabin crew did nothing all flight which must be boring too.
Have you flown with Aer Lingus or through Dublin Airport during lockdown? What are your thoughts on all of this? Remember, please click here for all the pictures. Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
