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Category: Stansted

Ryanair (Stansted Airport to Nantes)

The gate was called which meant it was time to traipse off to the furthest part of the airport which is where all my Ryanair flights seem to depart from. I suppose that the airport charges them a cheaper rate per gate for flights that depart from the very boundary of the terminal.

Ryanair aircraft everywhere, waiting patiently to transport people across Europe for less than the cost of buying lunch in the airport.

Gate 34, the same gate as I boarded from a couple of weeks ago and I’m not sure it’s possible to get a gate further away from the main terminal with a shuttle bus and an overnight expedition. Boarding was a little muddled, they didn’t put the “boarding” line on the screen and a confused gate agent came over to ask why people weren’t boarding. She said that she had been shouting, but as she was around 20 metres away, it wasn’t entirely a surprise that no-one heard her. A passenger then had an argument with her about the whole arrangement, just to add a little drama to proceedings.

We were then held up as another passenger was trying to take a backpack that looked like she had somehow fitted a hippo into it. The gate staff, who were letting some quite large bags go through, could hardly turn a blind eye to that and so that was another £60 for the airline in fees.

The walk to the aircraft, during which there was ample opportunity to reflect on whether Nantes was actually closer than the departure gate.

I’d never noticed this on the side of an aircraft before and Wikipedia tells me that “they measure undisturbed ambient atmospheric pressure. It is a vital component of the pitot-static system, supplying static air pressure data to the altimeter, vertical speed indicator (VSI), and airspeed indicator”.

I asked AI to explain this to me as though I were an idiot, which is a setting I have already spent considerable time training it to use. It replied that they were basically measuring altitude, so that was another aviation mystery comprehensively resolved without the inconvenience of obtaining a pilot’s licence.

As always, I like these steps that fold into the aircraft before departure. The aircraft is EI-ESS and I looked at how many flights that completed today and it’s eight, which shows considerable efficiency. By comparison, I had managed to get myself from Luton Airport’s waiting area to Gate 34 and already felt that I had achieved enough.

As I hadn’t had any sleep I was getting a little tired by this point and was slightly pre-annoyed that the seating Gods had given me a middle seat.

Fortunately, there was no-one in the window seat and so I was able to move across. The flight was around 30% empty and so it seems the only reason I had been allocated a middle seat was to encourage me to pay to move to a window or aisle. In fairness to Wizz Air, they don’t seem to try that tactic on me, which is sensible as it doesn’t work on me at least.

I’m sure that there was a reason that I took this photo, although I can’t now remember what it was. So, here are some fields to look at. They appear to be functioning correctly in that role.

And safely landed on time into a very hot Nantes. The fare was more than I’d usually pay at £15, but the whole arrangement was efficient, the crew members were friendly, the aircraft was clean and everything went as I had expected. A smooth flight gives me less material for this blog, but it is probably best for all concerned and I remain entirely satisfied with Ryanair.

July 16, 2026
Norwich to Stansted Airport

Straight after my day out with Roy and Jen to numerous north Norfolk pubs, but more on that later, it was time for Liam to pick me up on his way to work whilst dropping me off at Stansted Airport ready for an early morning flight. I’m not ideally sure that going straight to the airport straight after visiting several pubs was entirely sensible, but Liam made his car nice and cold for me. Richard still hasn’t got a car with seats which cool passengers down, but I suppose he’s not a VIP like Liam. And many thanks to Liam for his assistance, although he gets the excitement of my company for nearly two hours, so I can see why he’s keen to help.

I was the only person on the shuttle bus from Stansted medium-term parking to the main terminal, but that’s not entirely surprising as not many people feel the need to arrive at 01:00.

The main terminal effectively closes now at night, other than for a small section at arrivals, but the bus station terminal seems to always have space.

That there were people who thought feeding birds in the waiting room was a good idea annoys me.

Just before 03:00 I meandered up the main terminal which had just opened. Sleep is something of an optional luxury for me when a cheap air fare is available.

The security area opens at 03:00 and is always well staffed with friendly members of the security team. Despite the number of people queueing here I was able to get through within ten minutes, which was all rather efficient.

The airside’s main seating area where I took the opportunity to charge my phone.

This shows the scale of the Ryanair operation at Stansted Airport.

I get £18 to spend at Camden Bar & Kitchen with my Priority Pass. The Escape Lounge is closed at the moment, so this is the only option without spending my own money.

It’s getting more challenging to decide what to get with the £18 as the menu prices keep edging upwards.

The venue opens at 03:30, so I got there at 03:35 so that I didn’t look overly keen. I got a table with a power point, but I knew from past experience that I couldn’t order with Priority Pass until 04:00. This gave me 25 minutes to sit quietly and pretend I had not planned the entire operation around receiving breakfast at the earliest permissible moment.

I went for this, the poached eggs on avocado toast with an Americano coffee, coming in a few pence under the allowance. It was suitably delicious, with the eggs being lightly runny, and sufficiently filling for that time in the morning. I’m not sure that I’d spend £18 of my own money, but as it was free with my pass, it was a convenient place to get a little rest before departing for my gate. Airport pricing is much easier to tolerate when somebody else’s accounting system is absorbing the emotional impact.

Anyway, with that I was ready for my flight to Nantes with Ryanair having been allocated the middle seat…..

July 15, 2026
National Express Coach and Greater Anglia Train from Luton Airport to Norwich

The late night arrival of my flight meant that I knew I’d have to stay at Luton Airport for a couple of hours and then cross over to Stansted Airport by coach before getting a direct train to Norwich. That was the cheapest option and Pret was clean, warm and had power points. Thanks to the staff member for giving me a decadent coffee for a price of a filter coffee, much appreciated.

I was very tempted to book this, all I would have to do is go through security and then a few hours later I’d be in the great city of Tallinn. I showed enormous restraint not to book this £8.99 flight as it would have been easy to get muddled up.

I went outside to look at the coach station and it was still there.

The Stansted Airport coach pulls in.

It was a slightly odd arrangement, the driver said hello and disappeared into the coach. He seems surprised I was still obediently waiting at the door a few minutes later and he didn’t bother checking tickets. This rather made the whole operation feel less like formal transport and more like a man with a coach had agreed to take us somewhere broadly useful, but I’m easy going (well, generally) and so I didn’t query him.

I have a theory that National Express is going into a permanent decline, this service was a third full and was one of the busiest I’ve been on in a while. I looked at some of their prices, and they’re charging ridiculous amounts in some cases where they have a monopoly. That’s great for a while, but Flixbus is going to steal that trade and I can’t see how they’ll get it back. National Express also have fiercely uncomfortable seats with very limited leg room, it’s fortunate that they do shuttle about nearly empty a lot of the time. Incidentally, I didn’t get my usual emergency exit row seat here, which is likely why I forgot about how poor the leg room was in the other seats. Nothing says ‘premium national transport network’ like quietly folding a passenger into a seating position not found in nature, but we shall see what the future holds…..

Safely at Stansted Airport.

I had a few hours to kill so I went looking for bargains and found some in Boots. Note the number of reduced prawn sandwiches which is either a sign of my impeccable timing or a troubling commentary on airport seafood confidence.

Another breakfast of champions. The quality of Boots Meal Deal has declined a lot over the years, that’s another example of greed and then noticing that rivals have stolen a march on them. Still, it was edible, portable and reduced, which is sometimes the holy trinity of travel catering.

I then went down to Stansted Airport’s railway station to get the direct rail service to Norwich. There were no delays which meant no delay repay, but at least I’d be getting home in a timely manner. Punctuality is good, but it’s also rather lovely to have a little financial gesture when things go slightly wrong.

It was relatively quiet all the way to Norwich.

Cambridge South had opened the previous day and it was rather lovely to see it in operation, even if only from the passing train, which is exactly the sort of niche infrastructure excitement that keeps my two loyal blog readers on edge.

I, and the rest of the train, arrived back into Norwich on time and that’s another journey finished. I may or may not post more random stuff about the trip, I’ll leave that as a surprise because suspense is important in travel writing.

Incidentally, it was too hot in Norwich when I arrived.

July 3, 2026
Ryanair (London Stansted to Lübeck)

The entrance to the security area at Stansted looked a little more glamorous than when I was last here. It was also a quick process with staff members that looked buoyant and not entirely worn down by life. The security process here means that liquids and laptops don’t need to be removed from bags, so it’s a bit quicker.

There’s currently no lounge available at Stansted Airport, other than for certain flights, as Escape has closed (and I don’t know what is opening in its place). However, my Priority Pass card gives me £18 to spend at Camden Bar & Kitchen, so I popped there.

I’ve never been upstairs in here before and it was much busier than I had expected, although that’s true for the entire airport. The team members here were particularly friendly and engaging, despite how busy they all seemed to be.

This cost just under the £18 that I had, which seemed slightly expensive, but the quality was high. The toast was soft, the tomatoes and avocado had a richness of taste and the eggs were runny when I cut into them. The latte had some flavour and it was an enjoyable breakfast all round.

Back in the busy main terminal and there was a shortage of seating. I think they must be adding more as the overflow seating area downstairs is currently closed, so I’m hoping that they have a plan.

Rather handily all of the screens had this error message on the left hand side, a little sub-optimal for those wanting to see what gate to head to.

Michael O’Leary, the boss of Ryanair, said this week that passengers shouldn’t be allowed to drink alcohol in the morning at airports. I have some sympathy for him on this, there were more drunken passengers than I’ve noted before, some being quite raucous before boarding. Unfortunately, much of this seemed to be facilitated by JD Wetherspoon and they lost a set of Stella glasses from one group who just took their beers to the gate.

Anyway, there was some certainly some vibrant behaviour from a couple of groups which continued all the way to the gate. It was about a ten minute walk and I wondered why they had so many drunken passengers wanting to get to Lübeck. All became clear here though, the left hand gate lane is for Ibiza, the right hand gate lane is for Lübeck. None of the raucous passengers were going to Lübeck and this felt like something of a relief.

I was the first one to the gate, which was more because the flight was quiet than because I had managed to become quite athletic.

There was then just a short walk to the aircraft.

It’s aircraft 9H-QDD which I don’t think that I’ve been on before, but it’s been part of the Ryanair fleet since 2016. The seating Gods had given me a middle seat, but this was ridiculous as the flight was relatively empty so I had all three seats to myself. I assume Ryanair did that in the hope that I paid extra in advance to move to the window or aisle seat. The crew were friendly and the boarding process was efficient and it felt mostly clean, despite the number of empty cans and bits of paper left from the previous flight. With the quick turnaround, there’s only so much that can be done though.

Just after taking off and Liam and I walked the Stansted Stagger a few months ago which went around the airport, so we must have walked somewhere there.

We flew over Groningen.

And safely into Lübeck with the sun still shining so it was still too hot. The flight was only just over an hour and we landed 25 minutes ahead of schedule, although Ryanair do pad their schedules.

The border control process with the new EES was time consuming and took just under 30 minutes and I was towards the front of the queue. The EU passport queue was dealt with quickly, so for those of us without an EU passport it is all a bit sub-optimal.

The flight was £14.99, so more than my usual £8.99 that I pay with Wizz Air, but it’s cheaper for me to get to Stansted than Luton Airport, so it worked out pretty similar. The flight was efficient, the crew were friendly, the pilots were calm, so I thought that I received a bargain flight.

May 9, 2026
Norwich to Stansted Airport Rail Journey

This won’t be the most riveting of posts as there wasn’t really any drama. But, I had the opportunity to pop overseas for the weekend and that’s not something that I was going to deny myself. That meant a train journey from Norwich to Stansted Airport which was a very reasonable £14 booked on a complex ticketing arrangement.

Waiting at the platform on a sunny Friday morning. It was already too hot.

Here comes the train sweeping in and it was clear that there weren’t that many commuters waiting to go to Cambridge, which meant for a quiet journey in.

And there’s my meal deal arrangement from the Co-op, very healthy as I’m sure that everyone would agree. Co-op sandwiches are not of the highest quality, the bacon is usually excessively fatty and the chicken has not been lavished with taste, but the prawn sandwich is agreeable enough.

This was my view for most of the journey. Well, specifically I mean the empty seats, I didn’t have my head on the table.

The waiting room at Cambridge railway station where I had a wait for the next train of around thirty minutes. A quick word on my rail ticket which technically required me to get off at Cambridge North and then get onto another operator’s train to take me the short distance to Cambridge. With the guard’s permission, I just stayed on the same train to avoid that change, but it’s that quirky switch to a Great Northern train which is why the ticket was much cheaper than the usual fare even to Cambridge. To be honest, at times it feels that securing agreement for an international treaty would be easier than getting cheap rail fares, the system really is sub-optimal in many ways.

The view over Cambridge railway station from the bridge over the platforms.

The only photo that I have of the second train and it was also relatively quiet. Fortunately, everything was running on time and there were no delays. As a side issue, I note that my bag looks in excellent condition there.

I got muddled up at Stansted Airport railway station and managed to leave the ticket gates at the lift which I’ve never used before. I didn’t expect it to go straight into the terminal, I usually meander around some ramps to get there, so that was some operational efficiency that I hadn’t expected.

With that, I had arrived on time and I could start to think about my flight….

May 9, 2026
Tallinn Trip – Ryanair Flight Home and End of the Trip

I suspect my two loyal blog readers thought that this Tallinn series would never end. Well, whilst I was trying to be decadent in the lounge, Bev was having a lovely time judging by this photo that Steve sent. I didn’t say anything.

We were all reunited once again, at least for a short while. Bev and Susanna, who are quite upmarket, had paid for the posh bit of Ryanair and we were separated via this glass screen. I think Bev rather enjoyed being with the elite, but I’m used to being in the poor section.

And ready to board, aircraft EI-DHX, not an aircraft that I’ve been on before (although as I’ve mentioned before, my records are a little incomplete). The aircraft is 19 years old and is a Boeing 737. Anyway, slightly geekiness aside.

The flight itself was uneventful, I was fortunate that although the flight was busy I had no-one next to me so the whole arrangement was suitably comfortable. I’ve had plenty of trips with Ryanair recently, but although their reputation isn’t always great, I’ve found no issues with them. We got delivered back in the satellite terminal which delayed matters somewhat and because Susanna and Bev dithered we had to wait for them after the border. Ross rushed off to get his train, we didn’t see him again…. I sat at the back of the shuttle and it’s mildly entertaining to watch it go along, like a DLR in reverse.

And to my great delight: luxury of luxury, Susanna had parked her car in the posh part of the airport so we could just walk there. I had tried to take us to the shuttle bus just assuming we were in some cheap car park. I was fortunate that everything went to time as I had only three hours before I got back to work, but Susanna dropped me off with at least a little time remaining. All told, this was another quite marvellous trip and I’m pleased to report that the group is next year going to what is likely Ljubljana and Slovenia, so I’d better start planning that. And thanks to Susanna, Bev, Steve and Ross for their company, I have many happy memories of Tallinn and look forwards to returning. I’m also pleased to report that the whole adventure went very well as Bev managed to catch the plane this time and there were no issues at the end like in Gdansk when Susanna and Bev slept in after their wild night out. Once again, Steve and I were inspirational, but we don’t like to go on about it.

There were numerous things that I still wanted to post about, I might get around to adding them in some sort of special feature, but now it’s time to start another exciting series of posts 🙂

November 28, 2024
Tallinn Trip – Camden Bar and Kitchen

As I get £18 discount on my meal here with Priority Pass, it was where everyone agreed to meet. Well, it’s where I said to meet, but that’s the same thing.

Ross isn’t being anti-social, we had just moved to a bigger table and he was waiting for his food to arrive at the one he had ordered to. Bev was in good form, she didn’t need accessibility assistance on this trip. Steve rather enjoyed pushing her around last time in her wheelchair as it meant he got through everywhere faster in the airport.

Latte. Rich, tasty and only lacking in the JD Wetherspoon option of having free refills. The ordering process here is a little convoluted, Ross ordered on-line and found it easy, I had to order at the bar and found it easy although time-consuming, Susanna ordered at the bar and found it easy, Steve ordered at the bar and had a long wait, whilst Bev ordered on-line and spent five minutes moaning about how difficult it was. It boded well for the week, although when Bev is around the air often hangs thick with the scent of indecision and confusion.

This is the small breakfast and I heard that one customer was annoyed they wouldn’t make substitutions to his breakfast in the way that chains such as JD Wetherspoons might. I feel the pain for the restaurant, I’ve heard swaps from customers in other places such as “no beans, add a couple of sausages” or “no tomato, add two rashers of bacon” which don’t seem entirely in keeping with a smooth stock control system and ease of service. I can’t say that I’m too enthused by mushrooms and I would have rather have the bacon burnt a bit more, but it’s not a bad little arrangement here. The service time was reasonable, the staff were friendly, the venue was clean and Bev didn’t complain too much.

October 15, 2024
Tallinn Trip – Getting to the Airport

I fear that I’ve resigned myself to knowing I’ll never catch up on this blog, as I type slower than I travel. The poor neglected blog languishing in the digital dust as my tapping away is too pedestrian, it’s all a bit sub-optimal. Anyway, let’s see how far we can go on the group trip to Tallinn with Steve, Susanna, Bev, Ross and myself. I’ve skipped my Belfast trip, maybe I’ll one day get back to it.

My expedition started with Liam driving me to Stansted Airport on Sunday evening, he’s very good like that. I’m hoping Liam thinks I just really enjoy his company rather than his chauffeuring services, although both of course are true.

Once more unto the breach…..

I know that standing in Stansted’s mid-stay car park at midnight might not sound appealing, but it means travel beckons, so it becomes just a little ethereal.

I ponder who has tagged this sign. They’ve come all the way to Stansted Airport mid-stay car park to do that. It feels just a little desperate, it’s not exactly Banksy is it?

All aboard the midnight express to Stansted’s terminal building.

And safely in the coach station for three hours. I had crisps, I had water and I was using one of the few power points available, what more could I really want from life? Sleep maybe, but who needs such luxuries really?

On the bright side, my wait wasn’t substantial, the flight was the first of the day.

The security lines opened at 03:00. There was a rather tumultuous rush to get through, although I’m not sure where any of the passengers thought they’d be getting in such a hurry. Airports seem to bring out extremes in people, some remain placid and care-free, others are barging around with an unseemly haste.

This is what happens when you get through in a hurry. Nothing is open and there are around 500 seats available.

The calm before the daily Stansted storm.

Ross arrived soon after and I could see on friend finder that Steve, Susanna and Bev weren’t far away. It was time for the new adventure to begin, a week of gossip, history, craft beer and food. How lovely.

October 15, 2024
Katowice Trip – Ryanair (Stansted Airport to Katowice)

I have yet to grow bored of walking down airport corridors such as this, they’re something of a endless stretch of anticipation and mild anxiety. I think it’s the excitement of people watching.

More time spent on the tarmac.

I always remember now to take a photo of the aircraft registration, just so I know if I’ve flown on it before. Me and my list ticking….. It’s EI-DHG and I don’t think that I’ve been on it before. It’s a Boeing 737 which has been in the Ryanair fleet since 2005 and the age does show compared to Wizz Air aircraft, which just feel more functional in terms of the internal fit-out. As a minor example, Ryanair tray tables are wonky, it’s an endless challenge to try and keep my phone sitting on them.

Safely in Katowice with my professional imagery making it look like the aircraft is defective. I took this from the shuttle bus which takes passengers about 75 metres to the airport terminal. I forgot to mention on my first version of this post that the aircraft had a failed landing, it was all quite exciting to hear the engines roar to get it back up again. It wasn’t ideal that the announcements weren’t audible in the part of the cabin that I was in, as I was hoping for some updates from the pilots, but I thought it added a little something to the experience. I mentioned this to a few friends who apparently wouldn’t consider this to be uplifting to their experience (note the very clever pun there) though.

48 minutes it took me to get through border control now I can’t use the EU lines….. This I consider to be sub-optimal.

October 2, 2024
Katowice Trip – Escape Lounge

Continuing with my run of posts with just one photo, this is because I hadn’t expected to get into the Escape Lounge with Priority Pass as I thought it would be pre-booking only. Anyway, I did, which was very fortunate as it made my three hour period before the flight rather more pleasant. However, I’ll rectify this lack of photographs omission in future posts as otherwise my two loyal blog readers don’t have much to look at. The lounge was probably at around 75% occupancy, so I’m not sure that they had many more seats to play with to allow walk-ins.

The breakfast options are cereals, pastries and some hot options, as visible in the only photo that I evidently bothered to take. As hot options go, they were fine, with the sausages being meaty, the bacon being slightly crispy, the potatoes having a firm exterior with a fluffy interior, whilst the tomato tasted like a tomato. The beer is Cruzcampo, which is generic rubbish if I’m being honest that is about as premium as Netto.

I’ll limit myself to simply noting here that I didn’t have any wait to get into the lounge and so it’s worth checking if there is availability. I always have low expectations of getting in, but I shall no doubt witter on about this several more times over the next year. More on this lounge in future posts.

October 2, 2024