Category: Airlines

  • Wizz Air (London Luton to Tirana)

    Wizz Air (London Luton to Tirana)

    20250722_093158

    The train from St. Pancras to Luton Airport was just £4, which I consider a bargain. That damaged chair has been like that for months, not that it’s something I have spent a great deal of time contemplating and it has become something of a familiar friend now.

    20250722_095805

    The usual Thameslink train, no tables or power outlets, but they just about always have lots of seats available and the services are usually reliable.

    20250722_120045

    My usual order at Big Smoke at Luton Airport, this time they didn’t accidentally overcharge me. The beer is the Electric Eye from Big Smoke themselves, a punchy citrus beer.

    20250722_132418

    A pint of Menabrea and a Limoncello at Nolito. The lager was generic, clean and dull, the Limoncello not the most decadent. But the environment was comfortable and thanks to Priority Pass for funding this visit.

    20250722_142107

    And then ready to board and they had a helpful staff member checking the larger bags for size, but he was letting quite a lot off that were just a little too big in an attempt to be helpful. One lady had a suitcase that would fit a hippo in and he said it was ridiculously large, but the lady said that she was Albanian and wouldn’t be paying. After some discussions and translations from other passengers, it was agreed that she had a bag within her bag, so she just had to leave the larger bag at the gate.

    We all then get the boarding passes scanned and go to a different part of the room, which is barriered off from the previous part, but it’s possible to pass things over. And, back to our lady with the bag, she started to get another passenger who still hadn’t checked-in to have a look through her now discarded bag to see if there was anything she had missed. The team member was now annoyed, it gave the impression that she thought she could get the bag back over the gated area when he wasn’t looking. He went to hide the bag.

    20250722_142143

    It’s the aircraft on the right, which is G-WUKV, an Airbus A321 which took me back from Kaunas a couple of weeks ago.

    20250722_145202

    The boarding starts.

    20250722_145614

    The seating Gods had given me a middle seat which felt sub-optimal, but I’d had a good run of being given aisle or window seats. So, I was surprised and delighted to discover that the seat they had given me was actually an emergency exit row seat.

    20250722_191454

    The crew member quickly discovered that the woman in the window seat couldn’t speak English, so I was swapped with her as I obviously look good in an emergency. And I speak English, so she could explain my responsibilities. The rest of the flight was bloody awful. I’ve never experienced such noise from kids on an aircraft, I was fortunate my headphones meant I could ignore most of that. I had a kid behind kicking the seat, but his father gave me some Pringles, so I tolerated that as I’m easy to bribe. The crew struggled to keep passengers from standing up the second we landed and there was no shortage of eye rolling from the crew about the situation. The crew were impeccable, they had a lot to deal with on this flight and I was thinking about writing to the Pope to see if a couple could be made saints.

    20250722_192443

    I was only mildly traumatised by the time we landed in Tirana. Border control couldn’t have been any faster, it involved going through an e-gate without seeing any border agents and my passport didn’t need stamping.

    20250722_192837

    It wasn’t the most quiet and relaxed airport terminal I’d been through. The flight cost £8.99 which is impressive, but this was not the most relaxing of experiences to say the least.

  • Wizz Air (London Gatwick South to Faro)

    Wizz Air (London Gatwick South to Faro)

    20250719_045905

    Arriving at Gatwick Airport on the early morning bus…. Instead of the cinematic sweep up the driveway to an impressive departures hall, you’re unceremoniously dumped at the back of the building, which looks more like the loading dock of an industrial estate than the gateway to international travel, but as it was 05:00 it was too early to care much about this. There was no queue at security, so I was left pondering slightly why I had left my hotel so early, but better to be early than late.

    20250719_053128

    I haven’t flown from Gatwick Airport for some time and I wasn’t sure if there would be space in one of the lounges using my Priority Card, but it’s fair to say that My Lounge was not packed.

    20250719_051707

    Lounge food and drink which was typical fare for British airport lounges, some dry and uninteresting food alongside a dreadful lager. The sausage, bacon and hash brown were OK, I poured myself just a small amount of Cruzcampo since it was still early morning, took one mouthful and realised just how dreadful it is. The orange juice was out of cheap cartons, but in fairness to the whole arrangement, the coffee, food and orange juice was all filling enough.

    20250719_071145

    Mine was the 08:00 Wizz Air flight to Faro and as usual for the airline, everything was efficient, clearly signed and without delay. There were more bag checks than usual which always adds to the drama, but once again, this didn’t impact me.

    20250719_073551

    It was raining when I walked to the aircraft, it always feels a shame leaving the UK when there’s weather that I like. The aircraft registration was G-WUND, the same one that took me to an icy Tallinn a few months ago. The seating Gods had allocated me a window seat, so that was a rather handy arrangement.

    20250719_105509

    Nearly at Faro and the aircraft toured up and down the coast a bit before landing. We had experienced a delay on departure, the reason for which was never mentioned, but as Wizz Air pad their schedules so much, we still seemed to manage to arrive on time. The pilots were generally decent on the number of announcements, the crew members were all personable and I fell asleep for most of the flight so don’t really know much of what happened.

    20250719_111520

    It was very quickly evident that it was too hot.

    20250719_112249_001

    The border control process felt a little chaotic, but these new machines for UK passports seemed interesting, but I wasn’t called to try them. The whole queueing arrangement was a little chaotic in places and it felt like a long wait, but it was 31 minutes in the end, which isn’t entirely unreasonable given this is a busy time of year for the airport. It does feel though that the airport in general is creaking in places with passenger numbers, so yet another extension to the building seems likely for future years.

    Anyway, this was another very satisfactory experience given that the flight cost £8.99, the flight was comfortable, the boarding process was efficient and the crew were friendly. I am though getting the creeping sense that most airports in Europe are about five million passengers beyond what they were built for.

  • Wizz Air (Bratislava to London Luton)

    Wizz Air (Bratislava to London Luton)

    20250702_062954

    I stayed at a hotel that was, as estate agents would say, “conveniently located” which was only five minutes from Bratislava Airport. This meant I could rise at the decadent hour of 06:00 and still breeze through security by 06:30 for a 09:25 flight. I could’ve slept longer, but I’m a creature of paranoia and prefer to hover near departure gates like a Victorian ghost just in case something happens to go wrong in the 250 metres between the hotel and airport.

    20250702_063022

    The airport terminal.

    20250702_063025

    All good, my flight looked on time.

    20250702_063523

    This is the airside area with plenty of seating. The security process took just three minutes and the staff were helpful and upbeat.

    20250702_064545

    My quick visit to the airport lounge which I wrote about separately.

    20250702_083642

    The gate area was also suitably calm and the Wizz Air staff here were efficient, with the queueing process being made clear. The border control desk had no queue of note and the border guard didn’t sit and count my passport stamps, but he did ask for help finding the Bratislava stamp that the airport had put into the passport last week.

    20250702_085552

    The aircraft was G-WUNA which I went in December last year from Poznan to Luton which happened to be its first anniversary (the aircraft, not Poznan).

    20250702_085630

    Boarding the aircraft and I was pleased that the seating Gods had given me an aisle seat near the front. The flight was yet another one operated with care and precision by Wizz Air, the crew were friendly, the pilots made clear announcements and the aircraft was spotless. There were a couple in the middle and window seat who were quiet and calm, which meant that I didn’t have to be annoyed at anything.

    20250702_104508

    Luton was colder than Bratislava and this pleased me. There was no wait to go through border control, so I was able to leave the terminal within fifteen minutes of landing. Another well spent £9 with the Wizz Air Multipass.

  • Wizz Air (London Luton to Bratislava)

    Wizz Air (London Luton to Bratislava)

    20250626_022010

    My Wizz Air flight was the second of the day to leave London Luton, so I just arrived late the previous evening by train and then waited at Pret landside. The security area opens at 02:00 sort of time, which is really quite early for an international airport.

    20250626_023242

    Not many other people were so keen to get through this early in the day. The security process was though well managed and the staff seemed upbeat, which can’t be easy at that time of the day.

    20250626_023149

    At least it’s easy to get a seat at this time of day.

    20250626_032935

    I’ve written about my visit to Big Smoke separately. As for the food, it was a little bland as that avocado was quite watery, but nonetheless it wasn’t unpleasant. It’s the first time I’ve been here for breakfast and the first time that I didn’t order beer, I instead went for a pineapple juice.

    20250626_034212

    I then popped to Avalon for a chicken and avocado salad, along with a Fanta, that most typical of breakfast drinks. This is expensive, well it would be if I was paying for it, at £12 and it was rather dry but I think there was a healthy element to it.

    20250626_041753

    And then an almond croissant and half a pint of Menabrea. It’s a generic lager, but it was free and although the croissant wasn’t very authentic, it was light and was a satisfactory snack. The service here is always warm and friendly, although I was dreading them making an error with the number of guests as Priority Pass might have found it suspicious if I had phoned up again.

    20250626_042407

    And then a double espresso. My flight was called to board twenty minutes earlier than advertised, so I thought that I might as well wander over.

    20250626_043740

    It’s all happening now at Gate 21.

    20250626_045846

    The joys of the bus gate.

    20250626_045940

    Boarding the aircraft, which is G-WUKT, an A321 which has been in service since April 2022.

    20250626_050101

    The flight was uneventful yet again, although the seating Gods gave me a middle seat. However, the two neighbouring passengers weren’t annoying, so the flight went quickly enough (it’s a one hour fifty minute journey), not least as I was asleep for half of it. One advantage of an early morning flight is that everyone seems to be asleep as they’re so exhausted, and I suspect Wizz Air has a fair number of customers who haven’t had any sleep at all, so it’s an extra peaceful arrangement. The crew were quite bouncy and keen, the airline does recruit some really good people and the pilot announcements were all as expected.

    20250626_091617

    And safely into Bratislava, where it was evidently too hot. There was a queue of twenty minutes for border control, but although she did look at my passport stamps I was saved having to wait whilst she counted as she just stamped the passport. All very easy, and another £8.99 well spent with Wizz Air for my first time to Slovakia.

  • Wizz Air (Warsaw to London Luton)

    Wizz Air (Warsaw to London Luton)

    20250620_100125

    A quick breakfast in the lounge and I’m always delighted to have a Greek salad. I had two as I was so delighted. This is the Etiuda Lounge which is in the non-Schengen one, although I usually go to the Preludium Lounge which is in the Schengen area. My logic is that I’ve been caught at border control for quite some time on a few occasions and I now prefer to clear that bureaucratic gauntlet first, lest I be detained indefinitely while someone scrutinises my passport like a cursed manuscript. I noticed that the border control agent was being very assiduous with the stamps of the passenger in front, indeed, the English traveller said “I’ve got too many stamps” which didn’t bode well for me. Anyway, the border agent looked through my passport and looked like he didn’t have the energy to deal with it, so just stamped it.

    20250620_111019

    After my starter and main course of Greek salad, along with mochas and Fanta, I had a dessert of chocolate and beer. I think there are some healthy elements to that meal.

    20250620_120141

    Anyway, after a peaceful time in the lounge, it was time to board. Yet again, the process was well managed, clearly signed and efficient. They were doing numerous bag checks but they didn’t look very long at mine, the benefit of having a soft bag. It’s the firmer type bags they stop, with a few customers charged £80 or so for having bags that are too big. The moral of this story really is pack like you’re going on a short hike and not moving house.

    20250620_122437

    I had a middle seat, but when I boarded there was someone in my seat and I queried it in my perfect English. The Polish guy pointed at the lady in the window seat and said “wife here, I sit here, you sit there?” pointing at the aisle seat. This to me was a win, I like an aisle seat. He did proceed to spill slightly into my seat space like an enthusiastic houseplant, but I forgave him. The aisle seat was mine, and that was victory enough. The seating Gods work in a mysterious way.

    20250620_122641

    The aircraft was 9H-WDX, an Airbus A321 which has been in the Wizz Air fleet since December 2023 and yet another aircraft that I don’t think I’ve been on (this exact one, I’ve been on rather too many A321s….).

    20250620_142505

    And back at London Luton. The whole process was efficient again, nothing of note to write about as the crew were friendly, the pilots were informative and the aircraft was clean. The border at Luton Airport was busy, but I was through within twenty minutes. That now means I have two hours in McDonald’s by the railway station before my train back home, but I’m sure it’ll speed on by.

  • Wizz Air (London Luton to Gdansk)

    Wizz Air (London Luton to Gdansk)

    20250617_154746

    Luton Airport doesn’t do connecting flights as they’re a point to point airport which meant I went landside after coming off my earlier flight that day and then couldn’t go airside again as it was too long before my flight. I thought about walking into the delights of Luton town centre but it was too hot and I wasn’t brave enough to risk dehydration for cultural enrichment. I instead spent some time at the Pret landside whilst wondering how early I could go through security and I think the answer is six hours. After going through I meandered to Avalon which is included in the Priority Pass card and they are always helpful in offering extras to take it up to the allowed £18 value.

    20250617_162819

    I then popped to Big Smoke which I find consistently decent and they have a range of beers available. I was seated whilst the waiter went to find the Priority Pass machine and then another waiter told me that I wasn’t allowed to seat myself. As a consistent rule follower I was inwardly most put out that I looked like someone that would transgress the obvious rules of a restaurant, but my original waiter came back and shooed away the interloper.

    20250617_175150

    My normal selection at Nolito is pineapple juice and calmari. For the second time over recent months, these calamari were inedible, dripping in grease and the texture was all wrong. It’s annoying from the perspective of when they get it right, they’re really rather good. I declined the offer of them making more as I thought it was time to pop to the lounge. I’ll try something different next time. The state of that laptop as well, it gets quite compressed when in my bag which makes the screen look dirty and seemingly stops four of the keys from working properly,

    20250617_183043

    My Lounge said they were busy but No 1 Lounge had space, so I went there for the first time. It’s a much smaller lounge than I had expected, but it was near empty and the staff were friendly. This is the main meal of pulled chicken with potatoes, it was entirely agreeable. I’ve written before, but the value from these lounges at full-price is questionable unless you drink a lot of alcohol. They’ve over £30 to get in, so most people would be better off just sitting in a restaurant in the airport terminal. If you want a lot of drink, the lounge proposition is better. I had my usual one Birra Moretti as that’s always enough of that.

    20250617_193255

    There weren’t any capacity issues in this lounge and it all feels modern, comfortable and clean. There were also plenty of power points which was handy.

    20250617_202628

    It was then time, finally, to head to the boarding gate. All very efficient again from Wizz Air with the signage being clear.

    20250617_203723

    The aircraft was HA-LXJ, an Airbus A321 they’ve owned since September 2016, so one of the oldest in their fleet and I don’t think I’ve been on it before.

    20250617_203959

    I thought that the seating Gods had given me a middle seat and they sort of had, but there was no aisle seat as it was this crew seat which faces the other way. This was all rather fortunate, it meant that the seat was effectively an aisle seat which meant that I had the space I hoped for. The elderly gentleman in the aisle seat kept busy for the entire flight: up, down, into his bag, back again, rustling, unwrapping, standing, sitting, wandering, repacking. A one-man tribute to the art of perpetual motion. Each to their own, but I was glad that I was able to lean into the crew seat (as the crew weren’t in it other than for take-off and landing) to get some peace.

    20250618_001216

    We landed slightly early and the flight was once again a delight, with the crew being efficient and helpful, with the pilots making announcements that were appropriate and interesting. Wizz Air have an ability to operate flights which are just efficient and not noteworthy, which is really just as an airline would want it.

    20250618_004108

    Unfortunately, there was an issue with my passport again and I was the last person to leave border control. The staff tried to count the stamps in my passport, just hours after this happened in Kaunas, and thought I had spent too long in the EU. Three staff this time came to count the stamps and they were apologetic as they said they had to do it, but the senior staff member did a count and said the matter was fine. I’ve realised the problem here, nearly every airport stamps my passport out next to the corresponding entry stamp. However, the Romanian stamps are slightly less careful and there’s one page which makes it look like I’ve been in the EU for twelve weeks solidly. I’ll definitely be glad when this new IT system is introduced as the current situation is sub-optimal. Luckily I had booked the cheap airport hotel which was only a five minute walk, so only just after 01:00 I arrived there safely….

  • Wizz Air (Kaunas to London Luton)

    Wizz Air (Kaunas to London Luton)

    20250617_081059

    A relatively early morning as I needed to get the bus from central Kaunas to the airport. It’s the rather excellent price of €0.7 by card, but I had a euro coin left over and so decided to splash out with that as that’s the slightly more expensive cash fare. It’s a 40 minute journey, so certainly value for money. Incidentally, I’ve just realised that I didn’t write any of my trip to Kaunas (I visited late last year) up on this blog so that’s another little project that needs resolving.

    20250617_085803

    They’re still busy extending the airport,the work should be completed later this year.

    20250617_085958

    That’s my flight, the 11:10 to London Luton. Incidentally, the reason that I am writing these flights up with some efficiency, whereas other things fall behind, is that they’re so similar I get the details muddled up. Let’s be honest, once you’ve flown Wizz Air four times in a week, it’s all shades of fuchsia (or whatever colour their planes are) and faint diesel.

    20250617_090717

    Spotlessly clean with seats and power points everywhere.

    20250617_102022

    The gate was busy, but that’s because they are short on space, but that problem is resolved soon. As an unexpected highlight, the border control agent decided to count the stamps in my passport. This turned into a rather intense session of EU arithmetic, during which she seemed briefly convinced I’d overstayed. After fifteen minutes of counting, squinting and light diplomacy, we all agreed I was well within my 90-day limit. Thanks to the efficiencies of Brexit, I have 90 EU stamps in my passport so this is not a quick calculation, but the new integrated IT system will be rolling into place soon.

    20250617_102500

    We were sent outside to board the aircraft before the arriving passengers had managed to get off, which did mean we had a wait on the airport apron of around 25 minutes. I’m not too fussed about this, I like the breeze and the seem of diesel fumes, but for those with kids it’s probably sub-optimal. Especially if they run off, although none did that today.

    20250617_102513

    The new extension to the airport is visible on the airside.

    20250617_102756

    And getting ready to board G-WUKV, the usual Wizz Air Airbus A321. I do check, from my partial records, if I’ve been on an aircraft before and this one took me from Belgrade to London Luton last year.

    20250617_120531

    The seating Gods gave me a window seat and I got to see Amsterdam as we flew overhead.

    20250617_120239

    And safely back into London Luton airport, on time and with a very short queue at border control. As ever, this was another well run flight from Wizz Air and cost £8.99 thanks to Multi Pass. All rather lovely.

  • Wizz Air (Dortmund to Vilnius)

    Wizz Air (Dortmund to Vilnius)

    20250615_123434

    Dortmund’s beautiful airport…. I got the train to the nearby railway station and walked twenty minutes to get to the airport as the direct bus to the city centre was €10. That price is a rip-off, the city knows it’s a rip-off, but this is a city that likes cars and treats them with respect. As a comparison, the bus at the other end of this flight cost €0.70 in Vilnius to get from the airport to the city centre. There’s also no way of paying by card on the bus in Dortmund, but of course there is in Vilnius. The reviews of the airport bus service, which is run as a monopoly by the airport, in Dortmund are very poor, I was pleased not to go near it.

    20250615_123504

    The airport was appalling in nearly every way. There is no care here from management, the toilets had no working hand dryers or paper towels, not just one of them, but all of them. The floor was dirty, surfaces were grubby, it’s a dismal airport. The managing director is Ludger van Bebber, who has led this airport for five years, and the Board are so pleased with him that they’ve extended his tenure by another five years. I’ve seen people mock Luton Airport, but at least they keep the place clean. I had a little rummage around on the airport’s website for anything about customer satisfaction and that transpired to be a fool’s errand. The only document I could find was from 2011, congratulating themselves on being above average. That was also the last time they updated their awards page. Possibly because no one has given them one since.

    20250615_123600

    That middle screen does give a reflection on what this airport is like. However, the security staff were very friendly and engaging, although they had to work quickly as there’s so little space for customers given the small size of the airport.

    20250615_124950

    The airport apron and it’s mostly Wizz Air who are using the terminal at the moment.

    20250615_125257

    One oddly charming touch is that the airside area is so close to the pavement that people were waving goodbye to their loved ones through the glass. I don’t think that’s a feature though, more of a planning oversight that they’ve leaned into.

    20250615_125737

    Most airports have a photo of, well, the airport when they have “Welcome to” their city signs. This image is of Messe Dortmund, which is nowhere near the airport, but is an attractive building.

    20250615_150521

    The gate area had a certain mystery to it, since the screen that should have told passengers what flight they were queuing for was broken. As a result, everyone was sort of milling about asking each other what destination they hoped they were off to. It was a communal guessing game with mild existential dread.

    20250615_150437

    The aircraft was 9H-WAF, an Airbus A321 which has been in the Wizz Air fleet which had been loyally trundling passengers around since November 2022. It was the most competent thing I saw all day (well, until I got to Vilnius).

    20250615_151231

    Frankly, I was quite keen to leave Dortmund Airport, not least because I wasn’t entirely convinced it wasn’t held together by hope and old glue. In fairness, it’s a regional airport trying to stay afloat despite airlines abandoning it like a sinking ship. Wizz Air is doing most of the heavy lifting now but it does feel that the airport has gone by the number that they can easily cope with. There is a cafe that doesn’t have enough seats and that’s pretty much it, although I did find a seat to sit at near the gate and there was working wi-fi.

    20250615_151312

    Boarding was efficient and the member of staff at the gate was friendly and engaging.

    20250615_172456

    And off we go, the seat Gods gave me an aisle seat and there was also no-one next to me, so it was a very comfortable flight. I was going to, for the first time, buy a drink from the trolley as it came down the aisle, but I fell asleep so that moment passed. I’ve realised I don’t take many photos on the aircraft, so here’s a little treat. I’m not sure what it adds to this blog post, but there we go, it’s the thought of the content that counts. Once again, the crew were helpful, personably, well presented and worked hard, with the pilots making informative announcements. Nothing went wrong and that’s a very good thing.

    20250615_184047

    A guy with a bag (it’s actually the guy in the photo, but I can’t imagine he’ll ever read this blog) pushed past me and two others on the aircraft to get off, using some force. All three of us walked around him by the time we reached the terminal (which as is visible in the above photo really isn’t very far away), so he made no time up on that little expedition. Every time though, there’s this huge rush from a few passengers and they then meander about like a drunk snail at the bottom of the steps.

    20250615_184705

    My seat on the aircraft was about four rows from the back, so I deplaned (I know, it’s an American term, but I like it) quickly and I was through the airport quickly. To be precise, I got off at 18:40 and was on the bus at 18:45. I’d say that’s pretty good from Vilnius Airport and thanks to the lovely bus driver who saw me rushing to his bus and waved to signal he was waiting. The bus was clean, the contactless payment worked and it was everything that Dortmund wasn’t.

  • Wizz Air (Warsaw Chopin to Dortmund)

    Wizz Air (Warsaw Chopin to Dortmund)

    20250613_031516

    Today’s early morning flight was from Warsaw Chopin to Dortmund and since I was at the airport soon after the security area opened, it was certainly a quiet airside. Although I accept that’s because normal people don’t arrive at airports as early as I do……

    20250613_031618

    20250613_031644

    20250613_032007

    The corridors weren’t yet bustling.

    20250613_031611

    The restaurants not yet packed.

    20250613_044510

    I went to inspect the gate for my flight, which was scheduled to leave at 06:05. I realised that this meant I had time for a flying lounge visit, although it only opened at 05:00 so it wasn’t going to be a lingering one.

    20250613_045113

    A little queue had formed for the lounge.

    20250613_050039

    The excitement of it all….

    20250613_050154

    As usual, I was eyeing up the chocolates (in that basket on the right of the photo).

    20250613_050606

    And a breakfast of a Greek salad, blackcurrant juice, Fanta and a hot chocolate. I soon added chocolate, a banana and two shots of espresso. It transpired that I had twenty minutes in the lounge until they called customers to go to the gate, but that was sufficient time to get enough food and drink. Fortunately, my lounge pass is unlimited as I wouldn’t have paid for such a short visit.

    20250613_054238

    The boarding process was efficient, although it was a bus gate which is never entirely ideal. The seating Gods had given me a middle seat, but it’s only a short flight and I was asleep for nearly all of it anyway. The route from Warsaw to Dortmund (and back again) has only just been launched but it was a nearly full flight. This is the exciting thing for airlines such as Wizz Air and Ryanair, they can open new routes and have a near guarantee that people will want to travel between the two locations.

    20250613_054227

    The aircraft was 9H-WBZ, an Airbus A321 which has been in the fleet since October 2022, which I don’t think that I’ve been on before.

    20250613_075317

    Safely into Dortmund and it was a little warmer than Warsaw.

    20250613_080256

    Dortmund Airport is, if I’m being honest, bloody awful. The terminal was built in 2000 and designed for many fewer passengers, so it’s struggling to cope with the current higher volumes. There aren’t enough toilets, it’s not clean and it didn’t feel very well maintained. There was limited seating, the signage was confused and the on-line reviews are appalling, they desperately need an entirely new terminal. I can’t say that I’m looking forward to flying out of the airport in a couple of days.

    Anyway, it was in my eyes a successful flight as it cost me under £9, it was on time and everything seemed well managed and organised.

  • Wizz Air (London Luton to Warsaw Chopin)

    Wizz Air (London Luton to Warsaw Chopin)

    20250609_121021

    And a flight to Warsaw for my last week of dental work and I’ve been very brave by all accounts. For completeness, I thought I’d include the photos of the lounge visits from my Priority Pass card before the flight, as I’m like that….. I received a notification that the aircraft was running around thirty minutes late, which allowed a little extra time for these visits. This is Big Smoke and the chicken tenders and Electric Eye beer which was hazy, hoppy and a bit tropical.

    20250609_133735

    The Calamari and pineapple juice at Nolito, primarily as they’d run out of orange juice.

    20250609_135429

    And the My Lounge, which was full when I first went but I joined the on-line queue and headed to Nolito instead. Thirty minutes later I received a message saying that I could check-in. The cutlery here was filthy as usual, but everything else felt clean and organised. The staff were friendly and the beer, Birra Moretti, was generic and dull.

    Anyway, I digress.

    20250609_150947

    This is the first Wizz Air flight that I can remember where the boarding process was unclear. The priority (not me) and non-priority (me) queues weren’t very clear and a staff member came down after some time to try and resolve the confusion. The gates are poorly marked here rather than it being a Wizz Air issue, but fortunately I arrived early enough to work the whole arrangement out, but I noticed some stressed customers after me.

    20250609_150952

    There we go, confirmation that I was in the right queue…..

    20250609_153657

    It felt a longer wait than usual to board the aircraft, but nothing unreasonable, and all of the staff seemed helpful if not one that seemed a little frazzled by customers. The aircraft was HA-LVE, which I don’t think that I’ve been on before, an Airbus A321 which has been in the Wizz Air fleet since July 2019.

    20250609_153712

    The seating Gods had given me an aisle seat towards the rear of the aircraft, which I felt was very agreeable. Two other customers had been barging past other customers and I just let them past me, they seemed to have an issue with personal space and numerous other customers just let them go by. It transpired that they were sitting next to me on the aircraft, so it was efficient that they had gone ahead of me given that I had the aisle seat. The flight was without issue once again, with the pilot making regular announcements. I think I was asleep for most of the flight, I get easily tired now that I’m 30.

    20250609_194107

    And safely into a rainy Warsaw around an hour after the original expected arrival time. As the flight had cost me under £9 with Multi Pass, I was happy with the whole arrangement. The border control was efficient and more personable than I’ve experienced recently, some others ahead me in the queue were being asked the purpose of their visit, but I just got “welcome back to Poland” so perhaps they’ve got fed up with asking.