‘We didn’t get anything, we were just left waiting outside’

PASSENGERS were left angry and frustrated rather than frightened following yesterday’s bomb scare — the second to hit Dublin Airport in four days.

An abandoned rucksack caused a state of red alert during the airport’s busiest period of the week.

Englishman Clifford Baxton was getting used to the chaos, and said he almost knows the evacuation procedure off by heart.

He arrived in Dublin Airport from northern England on Tuesday, and was one of the hundreds who ran when a man in the arrivals area shouted: “I have a bomb, I have a bomb.”

Yesterday, he was hoping for a more peaceful experience on his return flight home, but was once again evacuated from the building after an unattended bag was left just metres from where the man had made his threats on Tuesday.

“To be honest, the whole anniversary of the London bombings didn’t really cross my mind, I just thought straight away that it was another hoax,” he said.

Sheila Melia from Dublin was angry with the incident: “We waited out in the car park for three hours, and there was nothing at the end of the day. We didn’t get any tea, we didn’t get anything, we were just left waiting outside. If you wanted to go to the toilet, if you wanted food, there was nothing.

“I just kept on asking what was going on and they just told us to get back.”

Frank Ryan from Bray believed airport management had their hands tied: “They can’t really control it can they, you can just bring in any sort of a device now,” he said.

Greig Houghton who just flew in from Edinburgh said: “Frustrated would be the best way to describe how we feel. We were waiting at one of the gates for about an hour, and when we got through it was at least another hour to collect our baggage. My girlfriend is from Ireland and she told me there had been a bomb scare earlier in the week, so I wasn’t worried because of that,” he said.

Wanda Jackson from Texas said: “We stayed on the plane for almost two hours. I was concerned; if there’s a package or something left in the airport I’m always concerned. But most people on the flight were just tired and wanted to get off.”

Paul Seagar from New Zealand, who was due to fly to Rome, said: “I live in London so I am used to bomb scares and hoaxes all the time. You just have to take them with a grain of salt these days, you can’t let them disrupt your life.”