Unexpected business trip to Europe #4

You might find it funny now, but an unexpected incident tends to plunge everyone present into a kind of collective hysteria, regardless of their position.

Our flight from London to Prague was suddenly cancelled. After standing in a queue for four and a half hours, there was growing frustration, exhaustion and anger among everyone there.

The alternative flight we finally secured was scheduled for the following morning. Furthermore, it was not with British Airways as originally booked, but with Austrian Airlines, departing from a different terminal.

Had it merely been a change of airline, that would have been one thing, but we ended up having to take an even greater gamble. The alternative flight we were offered had a layover time of just 25 minutes in Vienna, which would be unthinkable in Japan by any reasonable standard.

When we protested the 25-minute layover time was simply unreasonable at the Heathrow check-in counter, we were met with the irritated response, “So would you rather wait another day?” and that was the end of the matter.

The situation was not just an emergency, but an abnormal situation in which nobody present was able to think clearly. Instead, they imposed their own opinions and actions due to a loss of control, which just made things worse.

The next day, with no other option, we boarded the flight to Vienna. Throughout the journey, however, I was extremely anxious, wondering whether we would actually make our connecting flight to Prague. I repeatedly checked with the cabin crew and, based on their estimate that we would arrive about ten minutes early, I repeatedly ran through the sequence of actions we would need to take within 35 minutes to avoid missing it.

Another miscalculation on my part was revealed here: it’s “BREXIT.”

The UK withdrew from the EU in 2020.

This meant that, in order to fly from the UK to Austria, which is in the EU, we had to pass through both security screening and EU immigration control.

Moreover, we were clearly foreigners to them. As you may know from experience with Japanese immigration control, checks for foreigners can take a considerable amount of time.

My fatal mistake was flying to the UK, an island nation and a non-EU country.

However, in order to complete the limited 35-minute mission, I had no choice but to press on.

As soon as the plane touched down, I grabbed my luggage and ran off at full speed.

Thanks to Japan’s globally trusted passport, I breezed through immigration in seconds. Glancing back occasionally to check if the senior sales manager Mr. K was keeping up, I hurried to the security screening.

After arranging my laptop and smartphone on the tray and retrieving them immediately after screening, I exchanged a few words with Mr. K,

“Don’t forget your bag!” “OK!”

– and, breathless, somehow managed to scramble onto the Prague-bound flight just five minutes before take-off.

Mission completed!

Several other passengers had made the same flight connection, so we congratulated each other on the flight.

This meant that we would arrive at our hotel in Prague before noon, meet Mr. S — the CEO of the North American agency who was waiting for us there — and pay our respects to the client that afternoon.

But why did the effects of the collective hysteria I mentioned above linger for so long? Unexpected, inexplicable events still awaited us.

< to be continued…>