Home for Christmas - Travel staff take a bow

AS the emotional scenes playing out at our airports and ferry terminals, when loved ones manage to defy weather conditions and get home for Christmas, we are reminded that there is no place like home.

This is underlined again by the natural sympathy for those unfortunate travellers stuck in airport terminals, in some instances for several days, right across Europe.

Airlines and airport authorities have been criticised because some seemed ill-prepared for the weather that has dogged Europe for some weeks, but in reality none of us were adequately prepared for the bitter cold.

It is only through the great efforts of so many workers involved in the transport systems we depend on — planes, ferries, trains, buses and even taxis — that so many of our friends and relatives are here to join us in the celebrations. Take a bow one and all.