We made it! Having left for Dublin Airport on a cold clear morning at 11am we were very happy to finally arrive in Stockholm by midnight local time. All was calm at Dublin airport when we arrived; check-in was a breeze and the x-ray machine didn't beep as it has done every other time.
I should have suspected something bad was going to happen as the weather closed in and heavy snow started to fall on the planes sitting on the tarmac. Looking back it feels like watching the start of a disaster movie where all of the characters are introduced one after another: the girl with her dog, the guy that looked like Santa Claus, and of course, the couple with the one year old daughter.
Comfortably seated we were informed that the plane would need to be de-iced and this would delay our departure. But by the time it was done, the snow had turned to hail. Time for the next announcement: the runway had closed so they could remove the snow that had fallen. This would take two hours; we had missed our departure window. Worse still the hail meant that the plane would have to be de-iced again before take-off. Not much to do except wait and let Olivia play in the aisle. Not long into this wait, we were informed again that the plane had to move away from the gate to allow another plane to dock. Time ticked by.
By now, we were speculating about just when we would get to Stockholm and how much food did we have for Olivia. A few phone calls to the folks just to pass the time and give them the inside story on what turned out to be a showstopper for the whole city of Dublin that Wednesday afternoon on the last day of Christmas. To put some perspective on our situation, it wasn't just our flight that was delayed, but all flights were, as the only runway that was open was now closed. Flights were being diverted away from Dublin airport. On the ground, we were some of the few who had at least got onto their planes. The terminals themselves were gradually filling up with more passengers that were queuing to board and yet more were arriving to the airport all the time. Onboard, things were calm thanks to the helpful and informative staff. I was glad to be on a SAS plane.
Another announcement, bad news. Aer Rianta had no proper equipment for removing the snow/hail/slush from the runway. They had tried salting it but two planes that had subsequently landed reported extremely icy conditions. The only runway out of town would remain closed until they got to grips with the problem. To liven things up a bit, our plane was towed to one of the gates at the new unfinished T2 terminal. The sky had cleared up and the sun was starting to set. Whatever was on the runway was about to freeze. It was about 4pm.
At some point, the crew decided to give everyone food, at no charge. Great! But of course then everyone wants free food and 30 of the 120 passengers didn't get anything, including us. Pleas from the cockpit to the terminal were finally answered when a Gourmet Catering truck pulled up to the plane with a box of frozen pizza sandwiches. Eh? The crew hastily warmed them in the airplane ovens but the results were a bit uneven to say the least. At that was that. There was nothing more to eat or to buy to eat, except maybe a Twix.
At some point during the half-time refreshments, we were informed that the runway would only re-open again at 7.30pm. Time to do the math. It is a two-and-a-half hour flight to Stockholm approximately. Taking into account de-icing and taxiing to the runway, it would be close to midnight by the time we would get to the arrivals hall with our bags. That was of course if we could take off at all. Phone call to the parents. The news was not good on RTÉ either. The city was in chaos. Dublin Bus had stopped running (again) and the roads were slippery as hell. What were the chances of getting out of the airport if we couldn't take off?
Another problem to worry about was that aircrews can only(!) work 15 hour shifts and ours would have to call it a day if we didn't get off the ground by 8pm. Fingers crossed that Aer Rianta could re-open the runway in time.
Olivia kept us busy and the time passed reasonably quickly. I can't remember being bored. Their were dogs in the cargo hold. One was a 12 week old puppy called Spike that was allowed on board for food and water. Laptops were brought out. Kids huddled together in front of the screen as Mowgli led Bagheera on a merry chase throught the jungle. Olivia made sure she was in on the action.
Another announcement. Finally! Some good news. We would be the one and only plane to take-off that evening from Dublin airport. All other flights were cancelled. Passengers on other planes were forced to debark to an already over-crowded airport only to have to queue to get new tickets for the following day. All the hotels in the area were fully booked. A smattering of applause from the passengers. We were the lucky ones it seemed.
And take-off! More applause. I looked out over a night-time Dublin glowing brightly from the city lights and the snow that reflected them. We circled the city and headed east. Olivia drank her bottle and fell asleep. We were still awake and alert. The whole thing had the feel of an adventure and we had made it out of the jungle. Maybe that's why I didn't feel so hungry with only a dodgy pizza sandwich to eat since breakfast. And so ends the story of escaping from Dublin airport.
Here begins the story of how my car locked me out with the engine still running in the middle of Arlanda's long-term car park. We had made it out of Dublin airport but would we make it home?
I left Stina and Olivia in good spirits in the arrivals hall and took the bus to the long-term car park. Well, if you think there have been artic conditions in Ireland for the past two weeks, then it has been even worse in Sweden. The morning of our flight home, it was a frosty -22 degrees in Arlanda. After two weeks of winter weather it took a good half-an-hour to remove first the thick layer of snow from the car and then the 3cm of ice under it. All the while the engine was running, providing heat to warm the windscreen and the interior of the car. At one stage I opened the door to throw the brush back in. Then I closed the door and heard the hum of the electric motor as the door locked. What the! Checked the door, all the doors, the boot. Nope, definitely locked out. Rang Stina. Quickly came to the conclusion that our best bet was to take a taxi home and get the spare key and get the taxi back to the airport. It was after 1am (Swedish time).
The car was still running when I got back to the long-term car park at 3am. The spare key worked. Whew! Home and in bed finally by 4am. Too tired to be hungry. My last thought was there's nothing for breakfast in the apartment.
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