Can someone explain 5am airport drinking?

Ah it's been a while since I had an early morning airport drink - always felt to me like a wonderfully decadent way to start the holidays. Proof that you are indeed on holidays - no going to work, no rushing around getting the kids ready, no errands to run. If you can relax with a drink at 5am, you are indeed on holiday time where regular time has no meaning

I have the obligatory pint before boarding the flight, its the start of the holiday

or depends- sometimes it’s the build up and finally off duty thing or to help sleep on plane-
i rarely do it that time in a morning b ur so understand

Some people don’t go to bed at all before an early flight, so it’s just an extension of the night before.

Can someone explain- liking grey carpets , getting takeaways every week, driving short distances, eating dinner after 7pm, wearing make up …..the list of things would be endless that wouldn’t work for me but work for others just because we are all different

Yep, my sister definitely has that T-Rex look about her.......

Yes and then they become absolute arseholes on the plane. I personally don't think they should serve alcohol on the plane because of anti social behaviour. I probably will be alone in my opinion though; I've seen too many nasty drunks on the plane. Everyone suffers because of it, surely they can survive a few hours without alcohol. Our society is too alcohol dependent and not in a good way.

Shift workers, OP? 5am might be your/our 6pm. Also dutch courage to fly?

Maybe someone that's been clubbing or still in that 'mode' at 5am?

Jet lag - it may be 5am where you/they are at the airport, but say, 7pm or 8pm their part of the world they come from/or are going.

When you think about it, the clock is simply a marker of time. Time is continuous. It's 'wine o'clock'/'beer o'clock' right now somewhere in the world. It's 7:57am Mumsnet UK time. It's 4:57pm where I am in Australia. So basically happy hour here. While you're having breakfast.

The clock is just a manmade mark of time. Life and time marches on no matter what a clockface says.

If it's 5am, they've probably been up since 1/2 am or earlier. It's not like they've opened their eyes and cracked a bottle.

If you've been up for 4 hours, it's no different to getting up at 7 and going for a boozy brunch at 11.

Dinosaurs from the old drinking culture.

This resonates with me. Normally I wouldn't consider a drink until after the sun was 'over the yard arm', but long haul, and Heathrow are a in a different time dimension. I frequently go with my sister to visit our brother in Western Australia which is a 17 hour non-stop flight. I get up at 3am - taxi at 5am down to Heathrow (only airport that does the non-stop). Every time it is tradition that we go to a paticular restaurant and have a lovely breakfast, pulling out all the stops, which always includes a bottle of prosecco. We spend a good hour (or longer if they will let us) whiling away that awful long haul wait time. To us it says 'the holiday starts here'. We are off there again in Oct for a family wedding and will certainly be partaking of a glass of bubbles with our brekkie!

often if I am at the airport at 5 it’s because I have not been to bed yet. This year I didn’t manage to get shut down with work until almost midnight, I had to leave at 1:30am to allow for the long travel to the airport so when I had my g &t with breakfast it really didn’t feel like morning. I hate the whole experience of travelling to the airport, checking in, going through security etc so once I am in the lounge I celebrate with my holiday starts here drink. I tend to travel long haul, I will also have another g &t on the plane and then try and snooze for most of the flight as I am tired from pulling an all nighter. I land feeling a bit more in the new time zone and find I have no issues settling into being 5/6 hours behind. That’s why I do it, I’m not a raging alcoholic and on a normal day wouldn’t touch a drop until evening (or midday if out for a nice lunch)

This is it - you've been up for ages already, airports feel outside time, especially if you're going to be flying a long way. Having a drink just adds to that other-worldly feeling. Which is fun when you're going on holiday!

I love the Justification "it is basically lunchtime "😂

Alcoholism.
Same on a train journey longer than 20 mins, there’s always someone cracking open those wee cans of g&t.

I think somehow the big, bright soulless airport makes time of day sort of disappear.

Maybe not at 5 am but will happily have a bloody mary at the airport before a flight at a time of day when I would never have one in "real life"

It marks the start of the break for us and it seems very carefree and holiday-ish

I would definitely agree with the scared of flying thing! Also, they are on their holidays, and it’s probably just a bit of excitement over that really. Being on holiday is probably the only time I would have a drink before midday, though I honestly can’t imagine having a drink that early. But perhaps if I’ve been up, and waiting in the airport for ages! Who knows!

Have I misunderstood something? Where does the op say they were at Luton?

My nearest airport is a international one so the people drinking could be waiting for the next leg of their flight . Or coming home from holiday, or as pp have said starting their holiday after been up for for or five hrs.

definetly a UK thing... I fly in and out of the UK each year, and I only really see it there. (maybe there are other countries where it is a tradition as well, that I haven't flow in or out of?)

But yeah, any time of the day, no matter how early, the bar/restaurants in UK airports seem full.

I can only put it down to tradition? Families just have it as their holiday/travel tradition, that they go to the airport and have a drink before flying.

I don't buy that it is because of fear, because again, it doesn't happen in many other countries (where people are equally scared of flying). So it must just be a cultural/tradition thing? I can imagine how if that is what my parents did when I was young, I would just associate airport = drink as part of the 'holiday experience' from a young age.

One of my close friends always has a pint of lager at the airport no matter what time she gets there. It's her signal to say that she is on holiday and can loosen up a bit. She is not a big drinker at all. This is just her holiday routine.

Excitement or nerves probably. There's something about the airport that has me feeling like a kid at Christmas!

A mimosa or chamoagne for me if flying from Heathrow at Fortnum and Mason. Also, eggs and soldiers and a pot of tea. Such a treat!

By the time you get through security etc many people will have been up for 2-3 hours. So it doesn’t seem that unusual. If I could wake up at 9am and have a pint at 12, I could wake up at 2am and have a pint at 5am. Doesn’t really make a difference to me tbh. I am not scared of flying at all, but I do hate airports (artificial light, boring, people getting in the way) so it’s just a fun distraction.

Holiday mode I suppose. If I’m at the airport at 5am I’ll usually have arrived there at say 3am, which means I’ve left my home at 1, which means I probably haven’t been to bed yet and it’s still the previous evening for me while you are having your breakfast. Normal time doesn’t apply at airports.

I am always shocked by it. Cup of tea for me at that time!