One of the things I love about Frankfurt Airport is that Lufthansa has coffee stations set up around many of its gates — areas which offer complimentary self-serve coffee, tea, or hot chocolate. Not to denigrate other cultures, but it just shocks me to see these stations orderly, clean, and still stocked even for evening flights – can you imagine what would happen to the cups, tea bags, napkins, and sugar (and machines) in about 20 minutes at other airports, even in more civilized countries?! Well, if Lufthansa ever resumes service to London Gatwick, it probably does not want to offer anything complimentary–that is not secured:
It was supposed to be a way of helping hard-pressed families with tired children cope as they stepped off their long holiday flight.
But the idea of providing a fleet of 150 complimentary pushchairs at the arrivals hall at Gatwick Airport has backfired – after the majority of them were stolen by passengers.
Instead of leaving the buggies at the designated drop-off point in the baggage reclaim area when their own pushchair arrives on the carousel, some holidaymakers have brazenly walked off with them before loading them into their car or boarding the Gatwick Express rail service with their newly acquired booty.
I just love the Daily Mail.
The problem with these strollers is that there was no RFID tag or those annoying little wheel locks found on some supermarket grocery baskets that keep you from taking them beyond a designated area. There was also no markings on the strollers identifying them as property of London Gatwick.
The strollers feature a multi-position reclining seat with adjustable calf rest and normally cost £49.99 on the High Street.
So it is not surprising that of the 150 purchased, only five remain.
What is surprising is the airport’s response: purchase 200 more strollers. No, the next batch will not have any security features or property markers either.
That’s about as logical as when a certain country that rhymes with pants responded to an incidence of illegal dog droppings by spraying it with perfume instead of fining the violators who failed to pick up after their pets!
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