President Clinton makes a fleeting appearance, surrounded by a huge retinue; a family trying to fly to Nairobi for a wedding is miserably marooned, and customs officer Garth Powell thinks he has caught a drugs smuggler.
Duty officer Jean-Marie has to deal with a woman stripping off in the toilet, customs staff are busy with revellers returning from a weekend away, and a hundred petrified people are trying to overcome their fear of flying.
The festive season resembles the nightmare before Christmas as Jean-Marie Lavillard deals with a string of emergencies. Meanwhile, an aircraft has been mislaid somewhere between Kiev and London.
It is night-time, but the work is far from over as staff deal with the usual passenger panics and prepare for the arrival of VIPs Michael Jackson and the Sultan of Brunei.