Now that it's all over and flights are more or less back to normal, our local newspaper published some interesting bits and pieces of information.
A quarter of a million people passed through the port of Dover during the crisis. 21,500 of these were foot passengers, about 10 times the normal number.
Capacity was increased on some ships.
Freight carriers increased staff so that they could take more passengers.
Carriers who don't normally take foot passengers ran coaches to carry them.
The increase in traffic was felt by trains, taxis and car hire firms as well as the ferry companies.
Of course, the problems didn't end at Dover for people who managed to return to the UK because so many of them then had to retrieve cars from wherever they had left them, Heathrow, Gatwick or further afield.
A, interesting piece, there has been a lot of issues with flights from BKK to the UK since the end of restrictions.
ReplyDeleteThe Brits involved haven't exactly covered themselves in glory with some of the UK tabloid press describing scenes at BKK as like the last days of Saigon!
Unfortunately Asian carriers(Thai, EVA and Jet Airways particularly) are not bound by the same rules as those of the EU so folk have been bedding down at the airport with many not able to get home before early May.
Saigon? More like Dunkirk.
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