Germans have got the right idea

2.30am Thursday morning - where were you? I was at Manchester Airport, waiting for my girlfriend to arrive on a flight from Gran Canaria.

Inside the incredibly bright arrivals area were maybe two dozen people. Then the flood of tanned-but-tireds surged through the door from baggage collection.

It was the only flight into Manchester between 1am and 6.30am-ish, which is when the run of flights from capital cities across Europe begins.

I've been there in the summer too, at 2am, waiting for my folks. Flying in from Croatia on one occasion, and Portugal on another. In the summer, you'd think it was daytime if it wasn't for the fact the shops are shut (and W H Smith can work out why they don't make as much money as they used to.)

And it got me thinking: Why do we stand for it? The flights times, that is, not a rank branch of Smith's being shut? People save up for months a week somewhere hot, and just shrug when they realise they've got duff times for flights.

I flew back in from Gran Canaria and landed at 6am in Manchester last summer - it knocked the sleep pattern out so much that I might as well have not gone away.

Inside Las Palmas airport at 1am, you couldn't move for Brits - some trying to get drunk to fall asleep, others trying to stay awake through it, and kids getting exceedingly grotty.

I only noticed this because the resort I'd stayed in had a fair old mix of nationalities. German, Swedish, even some French. But their flights weren't leaving at 1am, 2am or 3am. According to the list, theirs left during the day.

We might mock the Germans for always grabbing the best sunbeds, but when it comes to bagging the best flight slots, we need to fight a bit harder.