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Tag: Airlines

  • Wizz Air Flight from Katowice to Barcelona

    Wizz Air Flight from Katowice to Barcelona

    I’ll write about my visits to some towns near Katowice in a future instalment of this exciting blog, but for the moment I feel the need to record the flights back home so that I don’t forget more than I already have. Here’s the bus station in Katowice.

    Waiting for the bus to the airport, which is both cheap and runs regularly. It’s possible to buy a ticket on the app, but mine had stopped working for reasons unknown and I just bought a paper ticket which cost the equivalent of just over £1.

    I had the back row of seats to myself on the airport bus, although I was primarily taking a photo of the validating machine in case that was ever useful to anyone. My friend Gareth managed to get fined within ten minutes of arriving in Poland for failing to validate his ticket, although he’s not a very savvy traveller.

    Safely at Katowice Airport around forty minutes after leaving the city centre.

    Katowice Airport is the fourth busiest in Poland and has gone from serving around one million passengers in 2005 to nearly four million in 2017 and 7.3 million last year. The growth, like so much in Poland, is continuing and an entirely new central passenger terminal is planned to accommodate the increasing numbers.

    I was at this airport a few months ago and remembered from then that there’s a lounge for non-Schengen passengers, but the one for Schengen passengers can only be accessed by paying separately. I instead went to the gate area to find a seat and power, which was a successful little quest. I noticed that the airport staff were checking every bag at the gate to see if they fitted into the little cage. There were a fair few extra złoty raised in this little exercise and I was slightly concerned myself as I like to worry about these things.

    I went to the back of the queue whilst merrily rearranging my bag to make it seem even smaller. The passenger in front got their bag into the sizer, but spent some time trying to extract it again. I was moderately annoyed to be the first passenger in my queue to just be waved through without my bag being checked after all my rearranging, but it is fair to say that I do travel light. With that, it was time to wait for the aircraft whilst some passengers were positively grumpy about being charged extra.

    Boarding the aircraft and the seating gods had given me a window seat near to the front which was more than suitable for my needs. The aircraft was 9H-WAG, yet another new one for me, just in case anyone was asking. The flight was, as nearly always, uneventful and the cabin crew were friendly, the service was efficient and the aircraft was clean. For the £9 cost of my flight, it all went smoothly and represented I felt excellent value for money.

    My window seat gave me some impressive views during the flight, this is the Hohe Tauern National Park in Austria.

    Flying over Nice, a city that I haven’t been to before, partly because it sounds a bit expensive.

    Approaching Barcelona, which is one of my favourite cities that I’ve been to a few times before.

    And safely into Barcelona Airport on time and the aircraft is just visible at the end of the jet bridge. My plan was to go into central Barcelona by train and then return to the airport late in the evening, as I had a flight back to the UK in the morning. Staying awake at an airport, yet again, seemed a marvellous idea but more on that soon.

  • Wizz Air Flight from Kutaisi to Katowice

    Wizz Air Flight from Kutaisi to Katowice

    After I discovered how cheap the fixed fare Bolt taxi was between Kutaisi airport and the city centre, I decided to do the same on the reverse trip. This was the only option I had if I wanted to get breakfast at the hotel, as the airport bus only runs once every couple of hours. The journey was therefore an easy one, with the taxi arriving only a couple of minutes after I booked it. This time, the driver didn’t feel the need to interrupt my plans to put my seat belt on and I was also pleased with his driving.

    There are some subtle signs around the airport that this is a country looking towards the European Union and away from Russia. The political process of Georgia joining the EU has stalled at the moment, but opinion polls show that more 70% of residents support joining.

    There is an airport lounge although it’s a paid one which doesn’t allow the various lounge cards access. I was aware of this in advance and so had ensured that my breakfast at the hotel was a substantial one.

    The airport itself was clean, bright, functional and there were plenty of power outlets, but despite what it might look like from the above photo, there wasn’t really enough seating. There were a couple of cafes, a shop and an external smoking area for those who felt the need.

    When the redeveloped airport opened in 2012, it handled fewer than 200,000 passengers during the following year. Wizz Air’s enthusiasm for serving Kutaisi has since helped push that figure towards two million, while expansion plans would eventually enable the airport to handle around five million passengers annually.

    The walk to the aircraft confirmed that Georgia remained substantially warmer than my preferred operating temperature.

    The aircraft was 9H-WDI, another new registration for me and therefore an important addition to records which nobody has yet requested to inspect.

    The seating gods gave me an aisle seat just behind the emergency exit row seats. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, this led to the excitement of watching passengers attempt to upgrade themselves, before the Wizz Air cabin crew told them either to pay €20 or return to their allocated seats.

    The flight itself was, yet again, uneventful which pleased me greatly. It was busy on board, but the service was efficient, the pilots were clear with their announcements and nothing fell off the aircraft.

    And safely into Katowice Airport a little earlier than expected and with no incidents to report. All really rather lovely. Well, until there was a border issue, but more of that in the next post.

  • Wizz Air Flight from Warsaw Chopin Airport to Kutaisi

    Wizz Air Flight from Warsaw Chopin Airport to Kutaisi

    After spending the night at Warsaw Airport, sustained by lounge coffee and an increasingly theoretical sense of alertness, it was time for the 09:10 flight to Kutaisi. I wasn’t entirely excited by leaving from 3N as it’s a bus gate, but I was by this time too tired to be much concerned.

    We arrived at the aircraft and I took a photo of the registration number whilst still on the shuttle bus to save me looking it up later. Anyway, 9H-WNB was lined up to take us to Kutaisi and I was on the second shuttle bus so around half the passengers were already on board. There was some frantic waving from the ground staff, signalling that the shuttle-bus doors should remain closed, and we stayed where we were for around twenty minutes. It gradually became apparent that I probably had time for a little nap.

    It transpired that 9H-WNB had just flown in from Kutaisi, but that was the limit of what it would be doing that day as perhaps there had been a minor technical issue that they wanted to look into. It had a nice day off at Warsaw Airport and was then back in service the following day, so this remains an aircraft that I’ve never been on.

    After some faffing about we were driven to another aircraft, 9H-WNN, which has previously taken me from Warsaw to Genoa. We then had another twenty minute wait, by which point any remaining novelty associated with travelling around Warsaw Airport by bus had largely disappeared. One child felt ill and the doors were opened so he could collapse in an area with some space, although he perked up relatively quickly. No-one explained at any stage, either in English or Polish, what was going on so there was an air of surprise about what was unfolding. I don’t really like surprises when flying so I wasn’t entirely delighted.

    Meanwhile, the passengers who had already been on the other aircraft had been deplaned (this is a word I like, I don’t care if it’s seen as American) and arrived in another shuttle bus. This meant that they still had some hope of boarding the aircraft first as most of them were priority passengers who would have expected to get ahead of the non-priority people. My friend Richard would have been horrified if his priority status had failed to secure the expected seven-second advantage as he is a VIP.

    The flight itself is easy to summarise. I boarded, accepted the middle seat with which the seating gods had sub-optimally given me and fell asleep shortly after take-off. The aircraft was full, but the padded timetable absorbed most of the earlier delay and we landed in Kutaisi not long after the scheduled arrival time. I had therefore reached Georgia with remarkably little awareness of the flight itself, which is perhaps the ideal outcome when occupying a middle seat.

  • Balkans Trip Day 16 – Wizz Air Flight from Zadar to Warsaw Chopin Airport

    Balkans Trip Day 16 – Wizz Air Flight from Zadar to Warsaw Chopin Airport

    After the excitement of getting to Zadar Airport, the rest was something of an anti-climax. The airport is very much lacking in seating, so I found a place to sit and wait outside, but it all felt a little sub-optimal. There were no seats at all in arrivals and just a handful in departures.

    Matters didn’t improve when I tried to go through security, as my boarding pass was rejected and I was told to return in twenty minutes. I did, only for it to be rejected again and for another twenty-minute wait to be imposed. After the third attempt failed, I asked when passengers were actually allowed through. The security officer replied, “We never know,” which didn’t fill me with much confidence about their operations.

    After popping into the lounge I watched the boarding commence and it was, as nearly always with Wizz Air, efficient and well managed.

    The aircraft was HA-LGW, which has previously taken me from London Luton to Wrocław.

    The seating gods had given me an aisle seat so that was most agreeable for the flight, which took around two hours. The flight was busy but once again beautifully uneventful, which is just as I like them. We landed around fifteen minutes early, although this probably owed more to Wizz Air’s generous timetable padding than any unusually enthusiastic flying by the pilot. One person applauded when the flight landed, but I’m pleased to record that they were ignored. There was the usual attempt by several passengers to push past everyone else when disembarking, a process that I’ve never entirely understood.

    Oh good, a bus from the aircraft to the terminal at Warsaw. Unusually for this generally efficient airport, there was a delay of around half an hour before the buses arrived, which isn’t something I’ve experienced at Warsaw Chopin before. However, I was in no rush as I would be staying at the airport for a few hours before my flight to Georgia. Despite the delay, I still reached arrivals more quickly than those who had pushed past me, but I decided not to dwell on that modest victory. Given that this was a Schengen flight, there was no border control to go through, which made matters a little easier.

    And this marks the end of the Balkans series of posts. Well, it does chronologically, although I am now going back to fill in several gaps, meaning that even the conclusion requires further instalments. It had been a rather lovely way to spend a couple of weeks, taking us through Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia without any genuinely serious transport disasters. By the standards of this trip, that represented considerable organisational success by Jonathan and me if I may say so myself.

  • Balkans Trip Day 3 – Wizz Air Flight from London Luton to Belgrade

    Balkans Trip Day 3 – Wizz Air Flight from London Luton to Belgrade

    Staying at the Ibis hotel in Luton meant that it was only a ten minute early morning walk to the main terminal, although it was all quite a bit busier than I expected at that time.

    All was though calm in the airport terminal.

    Mine was the sixteenth departure of the day. I’m not entirely sure why I counted them, but having completed the research it would seem wasteful not to publish the findings.

    The security process was fast, indeed so fast that I was seated inside Big Smoke restaurant within twenty minutes of having left the hotel. All very efficient.

    I had £18 credit to use at Big Smoke with my Priority Pass card so went for the smashed avocado and latte, which handily came to £18.

    Nicely presented and although I know that hot honey is a bit too ubiquitous at the moment, it added to the flavour here and the chilli flakes added to the taste. The eggs were slightly firmer than I would like, but the avocado was vibrant, the pickled pink onions added texture and I thought that this was really rather good.

    The latte tasted of coffee which seemed positive and was brought over by a young waiter who was positively flirting with just about every customer. This worked better for some than others, he got an annoyed look from one older woman but another younger woman seems to be falling for his charms.

    This remains a busy airport and there’s rarely much seating in the main areas, with many of the restaurants looking like they were reaching capacity as well.

    The gate was called and all was efficient as ever, although three lads were spotted by Wizz Air staff with an extra bag and they each found themselves surcharged around £60 each. This seemed to be something of a body blow to them, although in general the staff were letting some slightly larger bags just go through without checking.

    There’s something rather nice about morning flights and the airport waking up.

    Boarding the flight after the usual ten minute wait standing on the stairs inside the terminal.

    The aircraft was G-WUKN which appears to be yet another new one for me. I still diligently record which aircraft I’ve been on, although I’m not always entirely sure why. Future historians may be grateful, assuming they have first exhausted every other available source of information.

    The seating Gods had given me an aisle seat and there was inevitably going to be extra entertainment as there’s the empty emergency exit row seat in front. Passengers can pay £20 to upgrade to sit there and crew members are very alert to those self-upgrading without paying, so I was hoping for drama.

    The flight was relatively busy, at about 80% occupancy and the crew on this flight seemed particularly alert, although I think that the Wizz Air standard is pretty high in this regard anyway. The flight was relaxing enough so I got a little nap and there were no disturbances or random sales of lottery tickets. The crew announcements were clear, the pilot said sensible things and it was all reassuringly undramatic. Incidentally, the cabin crew chased three passengers out of the emergency exit rows seats so I was pleased for that extra entertainment.

    We had arrived into Belgrade 25 minutes earlier than expected, although that’s more due to padded schedules than anything else.

    This was another really rather lovely flight from Wizz Air, in my usual fan boy style of finding little to ever criticise them for, with the cost of the ticket being just £8.99. Reliable, consistent and back in Belgrade so this blog post series has finally now hit the Balkans.

  • Wizz Air (Lyon to London Luton)

    Wizz Air (Lyon to London Luton)

    “To stay is to exist, but to travel is to live”. It is unlikely to surprise anyone that I agree with this sentiment, although I suspect whoever coined it had rather more romantic forms of travel in mind than standing in a corridor waiting to board a Wizz Air flight to Luton.

    I had eaten, courtesy of Priority Pass, at Alpage and I saw the gate was announced relatively early, I meandered off as it’s never clear how long passport control will take.

    The walk to the non-Schengen area of the airport.

    Which was shut.

    Budget air travel consists of a lot of standing around in corridors and this was no exception as after I had gone through the border control process, which took twenty seconds, I spent 45 minutes standing here. Travel can be very exotic.

    Off to board.

    The clouds had made the temperature quite reasonable, which was slightly annoying as I was now leaving France after days of being too hot. I may have mentioned the heat once or twice during these posts, although I feel I have shown considerable restraint.

    The aircraft was G-WUKZ which I’m not sure that I’ve been on before. The seating Gods gave me an aisle seat and the flight was entirely pleasant. As usual the crew were polite, the service was efficient, the aircraft was clean and everyone travelled towards the destination in roughly the manner aviation intended. This is generally my preferred level of excitement when several thousand feet in the air, so all was well.

    However, there was a failed landing and a go-around which was slightly sub-optimal from the point of view I was hoping not to have a delay on this flight. The cabin crew made what sounded like a reassuring scripted announcement before the First Officer followed with something rather more spontaneous. I’m not entirely convinced his additional contribution reduced the anxiety levels of every passenger, but at least nobody began distributing life jackets. And I like a bit of drama anyway.

    After another fifteen minutes of faffing about above southern England we landed safely. Around five passengers applauded, which immediately gave me something new to be irritated about. I appreciate that landing an aircraft is considerably more complicated than parking a bicycle, but I generally assume the pilots regard getting us onto the ground safely as part of the agreed service.

    And back at Luton Airport and I was ready to walk into the town centre, which I’m not sure that I’d call a treat, but at least the weather was moderate. Too hot, but moderate. Anyway, it was a very lovely trip to France, made slightly sad for me as I knew that it was the last trip abroad for a few weeks. Fortunately, I had returned to Luton, which is certainly one way of ensuring that the desire to travel again remains strong.

  • Ryanair (Stansted Airport to Nantes)

    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.

  • Wizz Air (Bilbao to London Luton)

    Wizz Air (Bilbao to London Luton)

    I arrived safely at Bilbao Airport after some faffing about working out the airport bus. The temperature was much cooler than when I had arrived and there were a few brief moments of rain, as might be evident from the grey sky. At least it prepared me for what the weather was likely going to be like in the UK.

    The terminal felt quite busy and there was a limited amount of seating available in the main section.

    There was one of the quickest airport security processes to go through, it took under three minutes from walking into the area to leaving it.

    I noticed that there was a VIP lane into security for decadent passengers such as Richard.

    After a visit to the lounge, which I wrote about separately, I discovered that there was still no gate for my flight so I pottered about exploring the now relatively quiet airport. At least that meant I was able to examine a lot of airport infrastructure, although I did wonder whether I should have just spent another thirty minutes in the lounge eating chorizo.

    This was a bit confusing, it’s the line for border control and there’s one agent dealing with passengers on the left and one agent behind four kiosks on the right. I thought I’d try the kiosk and it scanned my passport before stating “invalid passport”, so I assumed it was just for EU passports despite the number of people using it. I went back to the queue and the agent called over that I could just walk through and he’d open the gate. I wasn’t sure if EES was working and just reporting a failure, or whether they were bypassing it. Either way I haven’t got a stamp in my passport, although that appears to be quite random now at the EU borders, presumably to keep collectors of passport stamps emotionally unsettled.

    As usual for Wizz Air, I found the boarding process to be well managed and it was clear which queue to get in.

    As might be evident, the seating Gods gave me a window seat and I was very comfortable during the flight.

    The outskirts of London somewhere. The flight itself was peaceful, the crew were friendly, no-one annoyed me, nothing fell off the aircraft and I spent two hours playing games on my phone instead of sleeping. This might not have been the most sensible life choice, but it kept me amused. The announcements from the pilots were clear, we landed on time and this was once again excellent value for £9 using my Wizz Air Multipass. For that amount, I require a seat, basic structural integrity and a landing broadly in the advertised country. All were achieved.

    We boarded via an air bridge in Bilbao, so this is back in London Luton. The aircraft is G-WUKR which I’ve been on before when it brought me back to London Luton from Tallinn. I’m not sure why I am pleased to meet an aircraft again as I doubt it remembers me.

    And the aircraft looking very lovely there in the middle.

    There were long queues at London Luton as if they hadn’t expected some planes to land there, but the whole process took just under half an hour which ultimately wasn’t too bad. I then had an exciting few hours in the airport before getting a coach to Stansted and then a train to Norwich, but that riveting commentary can come in the next post as I would not want to overwhelm my two loyal blog readers with too much inter-airport glamour all at once.

  • Wizz Air (Warsaw Chopin to Bilbao)

    Wizz Air (Warsaw Chopin to Bilbao)

    I’m not sure I need to write too much about Warsaw Chopin Airport given that this is not short on content about the building. There are only so many times I can photograph the same airport before it starts to feel less like travel writing and more like a long-term monitoring project. Still, here we are again (as a friend would say), because I am nothing if not thorough about documenting the movement of myself through transport infrastructure.

    It was busy though and my usual security entrance was closed due to the number of passengers, but there’s another entrance further down into the terminal and that was quieter.

    The lounge was busy, but I was able to get a high table next to a power point, which seems to be something of a theme this week. Anyway, the chicken and carrots were rather lovely, alongside beer, Fanta and coffee. I know how to live. Not extravagantly, perhaps, but with a balanced approach to liquids.

    And some salad.

    I gave myself twenty minutes to get from the lounge to the gate. I hadn’t realised that the gate was literally ten metres away, it’s there on the left and the lounge entrance is on the right.

    There was a long queue to get into the lounge, which says quite a lot about how airport lounge access has changed. I’m afraid there are now too many people doing what I’m doing, although possibly with more sensible travel times and fewer self-imposed routing experiments. Lounge usage is more popular than the space allocated for it, and given that there are four airport lounges at Warsaw Chopin, with two reserved more for legacy airlines, it is an indication of their popularity. The modern airport lounge is no longer a tranquil refuge. It is now a competitive seating environment with pastries.

    I don’t normally pay any attention to what the weather will be like in a destination as I neither care nor worry about it. However, it was hard not to note the temperature in Bilbao and so, as ever, I was pre-annoyed. This is one of my more efficient emotional states, allowing me to be irritated before the actual inconvenience has occurred.

    I wasn’t surprised that it was a bus to the aircraft.

    The aircraft was 9H-WBE which was a new one for me and I’d add that I do realise this interests no-one else, but I like to keep a record for me. Some people collect records, some collect art and I apparently have a register of Wizz Air aircraft registrations, but I suppose we all find meaning where we can.

    The seating Gods had allocated me an aisle seat which had pleased me greatly.

    As for the flight, which I often find myself writing less about, it was once again operated professionally by Wizz Air and the crew were friendly, engaging and helpful. I noticed that the elderly guy sitting next to me had his wife on an aisle seat a few rows up and I decided to be pro-active and helpful offering to swap. That pleased them, so that was my good deed done for the day. I like to get these things completed efficiently so I can return to my normal programme of mild judgement and annoyance.

    A decent number of passengers purchased food and drink from the crew and they completed a few pass-throughs of the cabin. One element of people watching is to see how passengers manage when they’re stuck behind the cart. Some are casual and accept their fate. Some try to calculate whether they can edge past without making physical contact with half the cabin. Others simply stand there looking deeply annoyed, as though the trolley has violated a principle of natural justice.

    I suggest the best approach is to be inwardly annoyed but outwardly calm, looking at one’s phone as though entirely unfazed by the matter. This allows a person to maintain dignity while still experiencing a full internal complaint process. It is a very British arrangement, even when not in Britain.

    As this was a Schengen flight there was no border control and so the whole process of getting through the airport was quick and efficient. I then had problems with finding the bus and ended up at the tourist information office to get help, but more of that in the next riveting instalment….. I appreciate that “Julian struggles to locate bus” may not sound like peak travel literature, but I have built entire posts on less. At least the flight had gone well, the aisle seat had been secured and my brief Warsaw visit had ended with chicken, a power point and a new aircraft registration for the personal archive. That feels like a perfectly respectable little arrangement for under £9.

  • Wizz Air (Faro to Warsaw Chopin)

    Wizz Air (Faro to Warsaw Chopin)

    After my little beach walk in the morning, it was time to return to Faro Airport just a few hours after arriving there. And, I will admit that the planning element of all of this was a little sub-optimal. I had flown from Norwich to Faro as the Ryanair flight was very cheap and I noticed I could then fly from Faro to Warsaw with the last minute flight availability from my Wizz Air Multipass. I like Warsaw, as I might have mentioned, so my plan was to spend some time there.

    That was until I saw the hotel prices, which have been becoming consistently high over recent months. Warsaw has clearly worked out that I like it and is now attempting to monetise the emotional relationship. I then noticed that there was a flight from Warsaw to Bilbao, which is where I planned to spend a few days. So the new arrangement became Faro to Warsaw, then Warsaw to Bilbao, which looked perfectly sensible on a screen and slightly less sensible when exposed to time, distance and human comfort. Anyway, travel is about the journey and not the destination.

    So the issue was that I had managed to not really think through the fact that the flight from Faro to Warsaw was four hours in length and then I discovered that the seating Gods had given me a middle seat. This flight was looking a little less appealing, especially as I knew that I was flying back to Spain the next day.

    This is where rail ticketing needs to improve across countries, it’s just too expensive at the moment and I ideally like to use trains. But it was going to cost me £18 to get from Faro to Bilbao (via Warsaw) which also gave me two lounge accesses. Google informed me that to get from Faro to Bilbao by rail required six trains, would take over 28 hours and would cost somewhere around £150.

    Security at Faro was efficient from a staffing perspective, but I was slightly inwardly annoyed that the passenger in front of me didn’t know that liquids needed to go in their own bag. This has been the rule for over a decade so perhaps I should be fair. There then followed five minutes while she located her various liquids spread across three bags, as though she had prepared a small toiletries treasure hunt for the benefit of airport security. I remained outwardly calm, which is one of my lesser-known heroic qualities.

    Anyway, after that, I got to turn right at the above sign for the first time, which means that I was heading from the Schengen area. Last time I went left and was faced with long queues due to border control requirements.

    I could see the non-Schengen area and the queues didn’t actually look too bad, although I still preferred the Schengen option of not needing to show a passport.

    I then popped to the lounge, but I wittered on about that separately.

    There were plenty of seats in the terminal, there were numerous power points and it all felt relaxed.

    We were departing from Gate 220 and the whole process was well managed and it was clear where the priority and non-priority passengers needed to wait. The staff here seemed rather laid-back and I noticed that they weren’t checking bag sizes.

    The boarding process was all well managed and we weren’t in the extreme Portuguese heat for long. Did I mention that it was too hot? The aircraft was 9H-WDX which I’ve been on twice before, although as it’s part of their Polish fleet, that’s perhaps not entirely unsurprising. The crew were Polish and were impeccable in terms of their friendliness during the flight.

    The middle seat arrangement isn’t ideal, but wasn’t problematic and I managed to combine sleeping with watching YouTube videos to make the time go a little quicker. The aircraft was clean, the pilots were professional and we arrived into Warsaw a few minutes ahead of schedule.

    Oh good, a packed bus from the aircraft to the airport. Although I was a little time restricted as I needed to cross Warsaw, I knew that there was no border control and so I would be able to get on the train quickly enough. That transpired to be true, it took eight minutes from getting to the terminal to getting on the train, which included buying a ticket from the machine.

    Overall, this flight cost me £9 and everything went as expected, so I was pleased with the whole arrangement. It’s rare that I get the middle seat allocated and the flight was relatively full, but there are worse things that can happen. Once again, I thought that Wizz Air’s operation was all well managed and I was delighted to be back in Warsaw, even if just for one night. It might not have been the most logical routing, but it was cheap, efficient and let me continue my little adventure.