Passengers on the first transatlantic flight to land in Dublin since last Tuesday's attack arrived home exhausted and emotional yesterday morning. Aer Lingus flight EI2102 from New York landed on schedule at 6.27 a.m., to cheers from the cabin crew and passengers.
Most passengers on the flight had been scheduled to depart New York last Tuesday and had been stranded there since.
Ms Mary Curran and her Australian fiance, Mr Benjamin Wilson, who are due to get married in Dublin this afternoon, were among the first off the flight. Waiting at the airport for her daughter, Ms Maureen Curran from Oldcastle, Co Meath, shed tears of relief.
"We didn't know if we were going to be forced to postpone the wedding. We only found out at nine on Saturday night that they were getting on the first flight," she said.
"They were talking about hiring a car and driving to Toronto, but that wouldn't have worked. All I could say was that even if she's to swim home, she's getting here."
The groom-to-be said he was "elated" to be back.
"It's been an awful time. We've spent the last four days in our hotel room ringing the Aer Lingus phone line to try and secure a place. We even bought a mobile phone so that we could make more than one call at a time . . . We had to battle tooth and nail to get on the flight," Mr Wilson said.
Cabin crew on the flight were in tears by the time they greeted family and friends. "It was all very surreal," said Ms Louise Faherty, a flight attendant on EI2102. "We weren't in any danger over there, but we felt helpless. The passengers were fantastic, they were so patient with us."
Passengers with tickets faced three-hour queues at JFK. Seats on the flight were allocated on a priority basis. A second Aer Lingus flight, EI2108, touched down at 7.18 am.
Some 600 passengers were accommodated on the first two flights; however, a third flight scheduled to depart from Newark Airport yesterday was cancelled.
Mr Ronan Gillespie, from Swords, Co Dublin, was on a business trip to New York with six colleagues and had been due to fly home last Tuesday.
"It's been a very emotional and frightening time. I travel to New York around eight or 10 times a year on business, but this incident has made me think twice now about transatlantic travel. We can't take it for granted any more."
There were a number of J1- Visa students on board returning from a summer working in the US. Mr Steven Crowley, from Blackrock, Cork, who had spent the summer working in Newport, Rhode Island, and Montauk, Long Island, admitted he was fortunate to get a seat on the flight.
"It was really difficult. The flight we were supposed to get was cancelled so I've spent the last week in my uncle's apartment in Queens waiting for a phone call from the airline.
"I don't know where a lot of my friends are now; some have to wait until next weekend to get flights home."