'The sky is clogged with traffic, I've never seen it so busy': 48 hours at Luton Airport

Audrey Eary, 57, duty free manager

I was working at a Boots branch when I saw an ad for an airport perfume supervisor. I got the job and started in July 2001, in the old, old airport terminal, which was tiny. A few months later, I was going to one of the restrooms when I saw a huge crowd gathered around a television screen. I assumed there was a football game on, but when I got closer I saw planes flying into the twin towers. For a while, that put me off wanting to work here; airports felt tense and a real target. Fortunately, I continued.

I have improved since then. When the store here grew into the department store it is today, I came back as general manager. People say that once you've worked in travel retail, you'll never want to go back to other stores. We rarely deal with refunds or complaints, and those who pass tend to be in good spirits, going on vacation.

We are a team of over 100 people -time staff: it's a lot of people. The thing is, you have to walk through the store to get to the gates. We don't have a door. This means that we can never close up shop overnight; we are a 24/7 operation and constantly need staff here. During Covid, when the airport was almost empty and the shops were closing, we had to use contractors. They erected a fence throughout the store while our staff were on leave. It had been a really good year for us in 2019 - the team had worked so hard - so to see the store closed and locked down was really upsetting. It was an emotional day when that fence finally came down again. And we have come back with every one of our employees: none have been laid off or lost to the virus.

Reverend Canon Liz Hughes, 63, chaplain

As Chaplain, I offer spiritual services or pastoral support to anyone in need, and wearing my hi-vis, I spend a lot of time helping with passenger issues. I am a pair of hands to call in any situation; someone who can drop everything to come and focus on helping people. This can mean supporting a struggling staff member or stepping in when a customer needs something urgently. Of course, I also look like a vicar. People stop me if they need religious advice. Once a man stopped me, telling me he thought he had just said goodbye to his elderly mother for the last time. I listened to it as we walked slowly through the terminal together.

My herd here at the airport changes every day: there are both passengers and an ever-changing airport workforce. We have a new prayer room used by people of all faiths - both staff and passengers - but most often by Muslim taxi drivers who work outside the terminal.

During Covid, I was unable to offer in-person support or identify those who needed me. It was hard. On my return I realized that many colleagues had been lost to Covid and the staff had not had a chance to say goodbye. So people wrote the names of those who died on ribbons and tied them to a tree that we bought. We'll do it every year now, I think, in memory of those who didn't make it.

Nic Gibson, 28, senior first officer