Heathrow fallout: Heroic grandad 'moving mountains' to make child's Legoland dream come true

Jim Dodd and his granddaughter Luna Ormond along with her mum, managed to get a flight to Birmingham where they will get a taxi for the two-hour trip to Windsor to make sure Luna gets her trip to Legoland. Picture: Gareth Chaney

The fallout from the closure of Heathrow Airport rippled across the world, as frustrated passengers juggled alternative flights, trains, and taxis to get to their destinations.

One heroic grandfather was “moving mountains” at Dublin Airport, determined not to let his five-year-old granddaughter down, after their trip to Legoland — a Christmas gift — was facing the axe.

Luna Ormond, from Dún Laoghaire in south Dublin, was none the wiser as she patiently sat on her baggage trolley while her grandad Jim Dodd organised another route to get her to the UK for the Legoland adventure.

Mr Dodd told the Irish Examiner about their ordeal: “We are booked on a trip to Legoland for the weekend. It was my granddaughter’s Christmas present.

“I got the news this morning that the flight was cancelled. We were two hours on hold on the phone with Aer Lingus trying to arrange another flight.

“The best they could do was a flight to Birmingham and obviously I didn’t want to let my granddaughter down, so we will fly to Birmingham where we will pay €250 for a taxi because the train times are different.

“The trains were €240 for the three of us but then we would have had to get a taxi from Birmingham Airport into the train station that does the high-speed train, followed by another taxi from Windsor to Legoland.

“The €250 taxi was really the cheapest option.”

Mr Dodd was still facing a four-hour wait before he, his daughter, and granddaughter would leave Dublin.

“It’s not the airlines’ fault,” he said. “My granddaughter is young enough not to realise what’s going on, so that’s a good thing.

“We will get there when we get there.”

Meanwhile, nothing was going to stop problem-solver Kelly Walton from getting to Lisbon for a much-needed two-week family holiday.

Kelly and Chris Walton with their children Charlotte and Lennon were on their way from Toronto to Lisbon with a long stop in Heathrow when their flight was diverted to Shannon. Picture: Gareth Chaney

She was en route to Heathrow from Toronto with her husband Chris and children Charlotte and Lennon, when their plane was diverted to Shannon.

“We were supposed to have a long layover in Heathrow before we went to Lisbon,” she said.

“We were going to spend the day in London.

“Then we got diverted and they had us land in Shannon, and there were no flights out of Shannon.

“When we landed on the tarmac, I opened my phone and booked a flight from Dublin to Lisbon because that is our final destination.”

The family rented a car and drove from Shannon to Dublin to catch their new flight.

“It took nearly four hours to drive, but we stopped on the way,” Ms Walton said.

“Our flight is in nearly two hours, so we have made it on time. We will be in Lisbon for two weeks.”

Things were not working out so well for a Brazilian couple who live and work here in Ireland.

Jessica Vieira and her wife Patricia Gonzalez (right) with Patricia's aunt Encarnação Garcia and mother Tania Arcanjo. Picture: Gareth Chaney

Patricia Gonzales described how a holiday reunion with her mother and aunt in Ireland turned into a nightmare when they had to be separated on their flights home to Brazil.

Her wife, Jessica Vieira, said: “They have to go home separately, one will go to Frankfurt and the other from Switzerland.

“They were both going to London and then to Brazil,” she said. “Now they both have to go on different flights alone and neither of them speak English.

“It is really worrying for us; they have to go on different flights all the way to Brazil. We are so nervous.

“We will worry all the time until they get home safe.”