Same here, arrivals was to be avoided, those hectors were bastards, they knew we were just doing a job and wanted to get moving as soon as possible but they wouldn't give you 2 minutes to find your punter. Like you I used to wait at either the Airport Hotel or over near Etrop Grange and collect from the petrol station.
These days I struggle to keep my bearings when I use the airport, everywhere looks the same and all I'm interested in is getting on and off that fucking plane and enjoying some sun on my shoulders. I much preferred it when it was Ringway, if you wanted to see someone off, which a lot of people did back then, you could just rock up, walk straight in from the covered carpark, through the swanky space age automatic doors, down the ramp, under the dust covered chandeliers and you got to the viewing/waiting area with a panoramic view of the airfield from behind the glass, a few rows of comfy chairs to slouch in. Mind you there was probably no more than a couple of dozen flights a day, if that. I've no idea how many flights there are these days but judging by the traffic that passes over us on their approach it's a lot.
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