OK, pretty much anything to do with airports is a First World problem. But hear me out.

We were living in the Gulf where I was teaching at a medical school. My wife had been to the UK and we reckoned it would be fun to meet up in Venice before both heading home.

So my wife flew directly to Venice from London. I arranged an early flight from the Gulf, via a large halfway hub, before flying on to Venice. I had a 90-minute transit time at the hub, due to get into Venice late morning.

The plane landed at the hub 10 minutes late. That’s OK, still plenty of time. But no air bridge — we wait 20 minutes for a bus. The bus comes, we get on, the bus stops within sight of the terminal — there are no slots. This airport has multiple short-and medium-distance flights landing at …