And when you call yourself the Best then you need to follow through and be named the Best airport in the UK.
Belfast was early to the party in the UK to follow the global convention of naming airports after hometown heroes.
Belfast City’s being football great George Best.
With only John Lennon in Liverpool and Robin Hood in Doncaster Sheffield (a steal from Nottingham surely?) participants.
Of course that’s a different subject which we’ve been tracked before, championing Billy Connolly for Glasgow and Sean Connery for Edinburgh.
And Bono for Dublin in the Republic of Ireland.
Belfast boys
For the week that’s in it though we’re celebrating another Irish city, Belfast and its airport.
Which we were only too happy to divert to from Edinburgh at the start of our 13 years odyssey in Ireland.
For our family holiday to Mallorca.
And if those circumstances arose again, and we can only hope, then we’d gladly swap airports from Edinburgh to Belfast.
Because Belfast’s average delays (12 and a half minutes) are the shortest of any in the UK.
With Liverpool John Lennon 13 minutes and 24 seconds.
From Edinburgh to London
My local airport, Edinburgh’s (21 minutes and 48 seconds) are among the longest.
The worst culprit is Gatwick at 27 minutes behind schedule last year.
Where I have suffered with Ryanair.
Although there is recourse for financial and/or accommodation compensation with all airlines if delays become too lengthy.
Of course, all delays disrupt your travel plans, particularly if you’ve onward flights.
Texan travels
Spare a thought then for the poor couple beside me on in the queue on the flight back from Dallas, Texas to London.
With the American Airlines flight delayed so long that the couple lost their connection from London.
And the onward flight from London to Glasgow and on to Austria.
What made it worse was that it was their honeymoon.
Little help from our friends
Of course, we are all fellow travellers on this life’s journey and where you see someone in trouble then you should help out.
And so I advised the couple who were thinking of hiring a car from London to Glasgow.
To consider a National Express coach instead.
We exchanged details so I could hear how they got on but never heard back.
I trust they got over to awesome Austria and back to Texas.
All things considered my odyssey to get back to Edinburgh and then the last train to North Berwick was small beer.
My travel being disrupted by a Harry Styles concert at Murrayfield which brought my aircoach to a standstill.
Best in the business
All of which brings us back to the airports that keep delays to a minimum.
And maybe I’m being a bit too ethereal here but there has to be something in the fact that the airports that score best have a guardian angel looking over them.
With the Best airport in the UK named after the fleet-footed Belfast boy George Best.
Who ironically was known for his lateness which I experienced in my own time in Aberdeen, and no-shows.
But that was another story and George was well worth the wait.
