Dèja vu, of sorts. Arrived at the airport yesterday to be told by the lady manning security that my flight wasn't due to leave for another four and a half hours. About turn to the airline desk where they tell me the delay is even longer - six hours, with the flight scheduled to leave at around the time the not-so-mighty Cannoniers would be taking a half time break in their battle with the red Scousers. No point in going then, so I caught the bus home, again. Still, at least this time I wasn't left sitting going nowhere for five hours in the cold, draughty prefabricated hangar that passes for the low cost airline terminal at Lyon airport. And at least this time there was a happy ending to the match, which we watched in the pub after an enormous fish and chips dinner and went a little way towards easing the pain of the previous two.
Footnote to my travel misadventures of the past 10 days - phoned the Stelios 'customer care' help line when I got home to claim my refund, and eventually spoke to someone after a 15 minute wait. After my explanation he goes away for a couple of minutes to consult, presumably with a superior, then informs me that as the flight is not yet delayed by an hour he can't authorise the refund.
"What do you mean the delay's less than an hour, I was told it was a six hour delay?!"
"No, I mean at this moment in time, the delay is less than an hour."
Hmm... I look at the clock. Fifty-five minutes after the scheduled departure time.
"You mean if I call back in five minutes you'll be able to give me the refund?"
"That's correct, sir."
Great, another 20 minutes waiting on the phone? Screw that, I tried email instead. We shall see with what result...
The official blame for the delay yesterday was the weather. A few centimetres of snow at Lyon airport caused delays of between fifteen minutes and... six hours. Strangely, most Air France flights were delayed by a mere hour or less, while the only flights delayed by more than three hours were, you guessed it, FacileJet. It is cold again in Lyon. All day snow on Tuesday was of the wet, melt immediately variety in the city, though elsewhere, such as the airport, it apparently settled. It has since got even colder - maximum of minus three forecast today...
