Madam, - I returned recently from a holiday in Canada where I travelled through efficient modern airports in Calgary, Comox, Vancouver Island and the very busy Toronto, where a new international terminal is being developed.
By contrast, our arrival in Dublin airport was akin to landing in a third-world country and must have been a sobering welcome to the many tourists on the Air Canada flight.
We waited and watched for 10 minutes while some seven Servisair staff struggled to push a set of steps to the plane door. Then we queued on the tarmac and aircraft steps in searing temperatures awaiting the arrival of three tired looking coaches.
The coaches delivered us to Gate 27 where we climbed a short flight of steps to enter the immigration hall through a set of doors which had a badly damaged glass panel held together by sticky tape. The elevator from the immigration area was out of action so we were required to use the adjoining stairs, having first avoided the decorators' ladder which was partially blocking access.
A number of passengers with mobility problems experienced extreme difficulty in negotiating the stairs and completing the long walk to the luggage retrieval hall.
Surely Ireland of the booming economy can do better! - Yours, etc,
LIAM O'RIORDAN,
Arundel,
Monkstown Valley,
Co Dublin.