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Nowadays most people go by air if they want to travel a long distance,
or if they want to get quickly from one place to another.
Last week Nick and Liam flew from Dublin to Gatwick airport,
near London. The previous week
they had gone to a travel agency and had found out
the times and cost of the flight. They had decided
to go on a charter flight, organized by a tour operator,
because it was cheaper than the ordinary scheduled flight.
They had booked two seats for the following week
and the travel agent had given them their tickets.
On the day of their departure, they arrived at the airport
about an hour before the plane was due to take off.
They found a trolley to put their luggage in
and went to the check-in desk. Here their tickets were checked
and they were asked whether they wanted to sit
in a smoking area or not, and whether they wanted
to be near the window or the aisle. Then their luggage was weighed.
They only had one suitcase each so it was not very heavy.
It was then put on a conveyor belt to be taken to the plane.
Nick and Liam were given a boarding pass and told to wait in the departure lounge
for their flight to be called. Then, taking their hand luggage,
they went through passport control, where their identity cards were looked at
(they didn't need a passport because the Republic of Ireland and Britain
are both in the EU, the European Union).
They then had to put their hand luggage
on a security conveyor belt and go through the security check themselves.
As soon as they were through, they went to the duty-free shop
to look around. Nick bought some whisky
and Liam some chocolate. Then they decided to go
and have a cup of coffee. They had just finished
when they heard their flight being called, so they picked up their bags
and went to gate number five. There their identity cards and boarding cards
were checked once more, before they finally
went on board the plane.