We walked out the gate and the big green bird was waiting 50 feet away. In front of it an airport bus. They put us in the bus and then drove us for five minutes around the apron before parking back at the Aer Lingus Airbus. The doors remained closed. Five minutes later we were driven back to the gate, the long way. Disembarked and waiting, we were then put back in the bus and driven again around the apron to the plane. This time they let us out.
"Don't know," the Aer Lingus flight attendant said. "We were ready and fueled."
That's Italy. That's particularly Leonard Da Vinci, Rome's main airport. There's probably a logic, maybe something about keeping people employed. In this instance, bus drivers. You get used to it.
