FARO AIRPORT - GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 9:38 am

Hi Peter,

I'm not complaining - I would gladly stay in Carvoeiro or Faro airport for years rather than return to UK but sadly I have to return to UK whilst my children attend school.
As soon as they are old enough to leave school hopefully I will be out of this Island which is sinking rapidly.
I too have to have my twice yearly fix of Carvoeiro and the queues dont bother me but bother my children who dont understand why we always are unlucky especially when their clothes in a suitcase remain at Faro airport for 3 days and their favorite football shirts are amongst them. Have you ever tried reassure crying children when at the same time have no idea whether they will get their best and only summer gear back

surrounded by other adults shouting at airline lost property at 10 pm:
I always thought the luggage should match the people onboard the flight seemingly not?????? Not reassuring when Faro couldnt trace 12 peoples luggage for 3 days.

Gambrinus · Post by **Gambrinus** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 10:25 am

I have to counter that last post saying, that a colleague flew UK - Lisbon 3 times in 2 months and the UK airline staff lost his luggage every time

Other than that I am willing to modify the proverb of inevitability - death, taxes and lost luggage.

As a friend of mine once said:
"Ah, the pleasures of modern travel - breakfast in London, lunch in Paris, dinner in Berlin and my luggage in Moscow."

100 points to Peter for his €-pean post - as long as british authorities insist that they are an island (or 1 1/2 islands) and therefore do everything in different manners to the rest of Europe, you brits will have to live with queues and getting shouted at when you come out of Rocha Brava on the wrong side of the road.

maddi · Post by **maddi** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 5:40 pm

I am a little confused by reference to Britian not being "european" on this topic heading. Great Britain is a member state of the European Union and as such I always travel through gates for EU Members. As I understood it the only diiference between us another member state (in these terms, before one of you starts) is that we do not have the Euro as our currency.

Passport Control is seperate from immigration and serves a different functions, like other people from an EU country, Brits do not have to ascede to immigration regulations when travelling within the EU.

Passport Control is about security (averting terrorist attack or hijack) and if any of you do not have to show your passport to board a plane, then let me know at which airports, and which flights so I make darn not I am not on one of those planes.

Maddi

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Jul 03, 2003 2:05 pm

I fly to and from Ireland( also an island ) and haven,t come across any of the above problems,i feel a bit cheated,do you british not think you are getting just a little bit paranoid?.By the way,Gambrinus (island and 1/2)? explain please.

britinfrance · Post by **britinfrance** » Fri Jul 04, 2003 12:35 am

I am in absolute agreement with Maddi, who always makes very valuable contributions to the debate in this forum.

Whilst it is logical that one might conclude that the reason that delays are experienced by the British especially, one might also conclude that the reason for this is simply that there are more flights to Britain than to northern Europe.

I don't believe that this forum deserves to be dominated by pro or anti european political exchange, because, in my opinion, the arguments that have been put forward are highly ridiculous! Britain is most definately an island - a fact. Without some feat of amazing technology, it will never be; physically - that is to say geographically - a part of mainland Europe. But likewise britain IS a part of the European Union, and is most unlikely, politically, to not be thus. The reason why the British are obliged to show their passports is because, unlike other European states, they have not yet introduced a national identity card.

The solution to the problem does indeed lie in the staffing issues and the airport's ability to cope with traffic. Please let's not get silly about this.

Regards.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Jul 04, 2003 12:57 am

And why do we bother with British Passports anyway when half of them are counterfeit and easily obtained by criminals and terrorists! The British Passport system is a joke but as usual we havent got I.D. Cards coz we bow to the bloody do-gooders in UK who protect criminals rights but that is yet another subject.

The main priority should be updating forms of I.D. to include iris scanners etc. which will help prevent terrorism and hopefully help with delays at airports but I doubt British Govt. will be ahead in the queue with that one compared to other countries.

maddi · Post by **maddi** » Fri Jul 04, 2003 10:25 am

I bare little or no resemblance to my passport photo and this has been commented on just once, having landed back in the UK at Exeter airport (I think with the whole dozen planes a week, they still get a little excited when one comes in

). And in Cairo, we weren't even with our passports when they were checked.

In honesty the relationship between passports and the particular terrorist activities that I fear is negliable - a suicide bombers' martyrdom is only assured by everyone knowing his identity and therefore his cause.

And to return to an ealier topic, I am very happy to be subjected to additional security checks, I do not want to be on the same plane as a bomb or armed person, but why take the tweezers out of the first aid kit and then allow me to buy 2 Litres of spirits to carry on - I could do a lot more damage with a couple of large broken glass bottles than I ever could with a pair of tweezers ( the "I" obviously being used metaphorically - there are people who visit this forum who need that pointed out, I am sad to say).

And all you guests, please register so we know who you are, particularly the one who says I make valuable contributions, I like you already

Gambrinus · Post by **Gambrinus** » Fri Jul 04, 2003 10:42 am

My, my, we are a bit touchy, are we not? In case you had not noticed the smileys (alas they don´t seem to have the desired effect) I was joking, but your national issues do not seem to be a laughing matter.

I apologize profusely, I did not mean to degrade your nationality and it is also never my intention to generalize individual problems.

Schengen treaty - loosely put, outlines the free circulation of people, monies and goods within europe - if UK had signed it, your passports would no longer be an issue.

Nuff sed.
G.

e-richard · Post by **e-richard** » Fri Jul 04, 2003 10:47 am

Damm, I missed Maddi baring herself at Exeter airport. Now that would have caused some holdups at the immigration desk

maddi · Post by **maddi** » Fri Jul 04, 2003 11:12 am

Hey e-Richard, I have a reputation as a "valuable contributor" on this topic, probably best if we keep up the illusion, and contain my "after a few black russians" activities to one of the topics where my reputation is already tarnished

Plus, you are going to get into big trouble with Mike, Chislehurt, for not maintaining the serious nature of the debate

Maddi

e-richard · Post by **e-richard** » Fri Jul 04, 2003 11:24 am

OK Maddi, my apologies to Mike then....

Back to the serious tone of this thread, I've found Faro airport much more tolerable on Mondays or Tuesdays. Of course, this is not always possible with rigid changeover days, but perhaps property owners could help a little by attempting to vary changeover days. Charter flights may be part of that problem, but Easyjet, TAP and BA (to name but 3) fly in/out every day so its not impossible.

I'm certainly not suggesting that the airport authorities shouldn't improve their services and that its not their fault, but a solution can be found (or at least a getaround) in many different places and/or with many others helping too.

Mike,Chislehurst · Post by **Mike,Chislehurst** » Fri Jul 04, 2003 11:35 am

Thanks Maddi, it is a serious subject that the tourism board, Ana-Aeroportos have yet to respond to my emails. I don't think e-richard meant any harm though. perhaps someone who flew back yesterday could update us as to the current situation. There were approx 72 arrivals yesterday so it's fair to assume there were approx 72 departures. Today,Friday there are about 39. No days off on Thursdays might help.

maddi · Post by **maddi** » Fri Jul 04, 2003 11:53 am

I agree e-Richard, that could be one possible solution to ease the situation. And you could even out the cost of flights as well.

Often find it possible to get a reasonable flight on a tuesday say, but then can't get accommodation to match. Obviously I am not fortunate enough to have my own place out there as it then wouldn't be a problem.

But clearly this could cause enormous problems to owners, and scheduling would become a massive task and result in vacant nights, so I do understand their problem. Which clearly puts the onus back on the airport to get the staffing right. But I will re-iterate that Faro is a joy compared to say, Banjul, Cairo, Kalamata and Heraklion even.

Mads

Mike,Chislehurst · Post by **Mike,Chislehurst** » Fri Jul 04, 2003 12:39 pm

Our changeover day is Thursdays but if Monarch fly their scheduled on Wednesdays next year as they are this year, we will switch to Wednesday changeover. That would give BA, Easyjet and Monarch almost 7 days a week coverage and may even reduce the charter prices as well! Our house manager likes the idea as well as it's less stress on the maids.

maddi · Post by **maddi** » Fri Jul 04, 2003 1:01 pm

In fact, it has just occurred to me that the best interests of consumers and the management of Faro Airport would be served by all private advertisers of holiday accommodation using a changeover day different from the main charters/tour ops.

But it does really need to be "all" to make it impact on a wide scale.