Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Ryanair

Ryanair (Bournemouth to Wrocław)

I’ve already written about the excitement of Bournemouth Airport, but it was clean and organised so that was all to the good. It’s rare that I get to fly with Ryanair now given my new loyalty to Wizz Air, but this was a convenient departure location. The boarding process was efficiency, clear and the staff members were friendly.

Boarding on time. The aircraft was SP-RSU, a Boeing 737 which has been in use since 2017. It’s technically operated by Buzz, a fully owned subsidiary of Ryanair.

It’s not a very clear photo, but I liked this boarding arrangement which makes it easier for those with accessibility needs.

This Ryanair flight boarded immediately before our flight and was also off to Poland, to the rather lovely city of Krakow.

I hadn’t paid for seat selection and the seating Gods gave me a middle seat, which didn’t feel entirely optimal. However, fortunately, the person in the aisle seat of what was a fairly full flight, didn’t turn up and so I got the aisle seat.

The flight was uneventful and Ryanair didn’t appear on this occasion to try and annoy passengers as much as they used to by selling them all manner of things. It was a comfortable flight and I was rather impressed.

The only area where Ryanair couldn’t match Wizz Air was the cleanliness of their aircraft. The seat trays on the aircraft were sticky (well, mine wasn’t, but I could see three others were), there was litter on the floor and it was evident the crew just hadn’t had time to do what was needed.

Safely in Wrocław.

They put us in a bus to go all of 100 metres to the airport terminal. They’ve had us walk further distances before at this airport and it probably took longer to get there by the bus.

I have a shiny new passport now and didn’t experience the delays that I’ve had before whilst the border control staff have to sit and count the stamps. The airport hasn’t yet introduced the full new EES system for arriving passengers, but I doubt it’s far away.

I nearly never get taxis as they’re too decadent, but on this occasion I decided to get a cheaper Accor hotel (one of my favourite Ibis Budgets) and rather than take two hours to get there by public transport, I was there within thirty minutes. And, fortunately, taxis in Poland are very cheap, although I don’t really like using them as I like the excitement of public transport.

The flight was £15 and I was surprised and delighted by Ryanair, although they perhaps need to clean their aircraft a little more…

October 20, 2025
Berlin Trip : Berlin Brandenburg to London Stansted (Ryanair)

I’ve already mentioned the limited gate size at Berlin Brandenburg, but the Ryanair side of matters was efficient and timely. There was a delay on the aircraft which worried me slightly as I wanted to catch my bus to the bustling rural hotspot of Braintree, with a wait of nearly two hours if I didn’t catch it. However, that 30 minute delay was clearly communicated and the boarding process was efficient.

The aircraft is EI-IJN, I don’t think I’ve been on it before, although it’s relatively new as it was only delivered to Ryanair in January 2024. The flight was, once again, not particularly worthy of note as everything went as it should and the flight caught up a few minutes en route. The random seating Gods had given me a middle seat, but it’s a relatively short journey.

I’ve never been so pleased to see a bus to Braintree. I caught this with just a few minutes to spare, I was fortunate that we weren’t delivered to a gate at a satellite terminal and that the border was relatively quiet.

The fare from Stansted Airport is just £2 thanks to the ticket cap, which is unfortunately rising to £3 in January as the new Government continues its attack on public transport. To be fair, for this journey, that’s still very good value and I mustn’t get political.

We were delayed just slightly as they were putting Christmas lights up, but it livened the journey up a bit.

I seem to have had a run of Travelodge giving me rooms with extra beds. Anyway, safely at Braintree Travelodge and that’s the end of the Berlin trip…… All really rather lovely and my little birthday treat to myself.

December 20, 2024
Berlin Trip : Manchester Airport to Berlin Brandenburg (Ryanair)

Although I had enjoyed the Escape Lounge, I was quite pleased to be leaving Manchester’s Terminal 3 as it was all a little cramped. The same was true waiting for the gate, there was minimal seating and the queue wrapped around the corridor trying not to get in the way of passengers walking by. The Ryanair staff were friendly and the whole boarding process was gloriously uneventful.

It was a wet and windy evening in Manchester.

That’s handy, I was able to note the registration number although I’m not entirely sure why I’m collecting these. Then again, I’m not sure why I do a lot of things, yet here we are. It’s EI-DWE and I don’t think it’s an aircraft that I’ve been on, although Ryanair have had it for 17 years. It’s a Boeing 737 from back in the day when they actually had a good reputation. I was fortunate to randomly be given an aisle seat and the whole flight was comfortable and without any issues. The cabin crew were professional, the aircraft was clean and it arrived on time, so for the £21 I paid for the flight (a little more than usual) I was entirely content.

I could claim that it’s blurry for artistic reasons. But it isn’t, so I won’t.

This was my first visit to Berlin Brandenburg and it’s already the laughing stock of airports across Europe, but I’ll save my moaning about this confused mess of a building in a later post. I miss Berlin Tegel.

There were long queues with poor signage leaving plenty of passengers in the wrong place.

Those who can use the left-hand queue are very fortunate and save a lot of time…. But, I won’t go on about that.

December 9, 2024
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
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
Carcassonne Day One : Ryanair Flight from London Stansted to Carcassonne

Our dining treat whilst waiting for the flight was a £4.99 Boots meal deal and this was rather agreeable…. Anyway, I’m not sure that even my two loyal blog readers are much interested in that, but there we go. My blog, I can bore whoever I like.

We arrived at the gate before the previous flight had even left, this is the departure to Memmingen which it occurred to me that I haven’t visited before. Incidentally, don’t Ryanair have a lot of vans?

There we go, the departure board changed and we’re ready for the off.

We paid £15 each for this flight, so it’d be hard to complain too much, and indeed I didn’t find anything to complain about anyway. Not that I go looking for things to complain about I’d better add there. The efficiency from Ryanair is impressive, they’ve got passengers waiting to board the flight before the passengers from the inbound flight have left the aircraft and it certainly works for them in terms of the timings. It means that passengers have to stand and wait, which is sub-optimal for those who mobility issues, but I’ll give them their mark for their planning proficiency.

I had plenty of time to take photos of the aircraft. Liam was excited that the cockpit had a window that opened. It then emerged that he hadn’t flown overseas since we went to Malta the week before Covid caused so many problems. He needs to get out more as well it seems….

And a photo of the aforementioned window.

I’m too tight to pay for a specific seat on board, but I was surprised and delighted to get 10A, a window seat, without paying. Liam also got fortunate, he got 4A or something similar. After boarding, Liam messaged to say they had a planning issue with a customer with a disability, but they resolved it promptly, meaning that we departed on time. The crew were efficient and from I saw worked hard.

I was in prime position to spot if the engine fell out. I’m pleased to say that it didn’t.

The flight went quickly, not least because I fell asleep for most of it. I’ve visited Carcassonne before, but it was pre-blog (a bit like before cameras, it’s a dark age for me) and I also used my camera to take most of the photos and so Google hasn’t carefully logged them all for me. I do worry slightly when I forget so much about a past trip.

Liam disembarking…. It’s a building which feels more constructed for functionality rather than design appeal.

The aircraft was clean, well maintained and is registration EI-DWV, a 16 year old Boeing 737 which must be one of the older ones in their fleet. My record on recording these things is a bit patchy, but I don’t think I’ve been on this aircraft before.

Back to the flight, this was an pretty impeccable offering from Ryanair at a price that was bordering on the ridiculous. I might have worked for BA in the past and my affinity is with them, but this Ryanair effort was well managed, efficient and respectful to the passengers. The opportunity that they give people to travel at affordable rates really is notable.

As for the airport, other than for the odd situation with insufficient toilets in the arrival area (there’s more in departures) which caused some queues, it was all ordered and logical taking us under 20 minutes to get from the aircraft to the front of the terminal building. We weren’t delayed by not having EU passports, the border control desk was just dealing with this flight which I think was the last of the day, so everyone was in the same queue and it was fast moving. All in all, one of those flights where there’s nothing much of note to write, which is really for the best as it means that everyone went well.

May 1, 2024
Gdansk Group Trip – Day 1 (The Ryanair Flight to Gdansk)

All this telling me to relax is very stressful. I just want to know when and where the aircraft is going from, I like being in a state of heightened tension before a flight and certainly not relaxing. Things have moved about since I was last at Stansted a few years ago and my favourite seating area has gone, but I found a quiet seating area a level below the main terminal which was rather peaceful and delightful. Or as much as these things can be anyway.

Safely at gate 49 and I have to comment positively that Ryanair are incredibly efficient when things go right. The signage is clear, it’s obvious where to stand, the process is managed well and they do this better than British Airways which often is either organised chaos or not organised at all.

The big long queue to board, but the wait was for only five minutes or so.

At least with no airbridge I can take a photo of the aircraft. The aircraft is SP-RNA which was brought into use in 2008 and has a few weeks ago been transferred to Buzz, which are a division of Ryanair. What I find fascinating is that this aircraft will be used for seven flights today, from Stansted to Gdansk to Prague to Gdansk to Oslo to Gdansk to Dublin and back to Gdansk. They get their money’s worth out of these Boeing 737s.

The flight was nearly full and I cannot fault Ryanair for the service today. The cabin crew were pro-active and polite, the pilots made clear announcements, the aircraft was clean and everything was organised and on time. This flight cost £25 and I have to note that I’ve been surprised and delighted by Ryanair. I was asleep for most of the flight, but I received exactly what I paid for which was simply a glorified bus journey and they don’t pretend that it’s anything more than that. I’ve never actually had any problems with Ryanair after over a decade travelling with them, but when things go wrong they do have a poor reputation of fixing the issues.

Safely at Gdansk Airport where three shuttle buses swept passengers away to the main terminal.

Where we had to wait of course because we’re not in Schengen and the border guard, who was very amenable, spent some time adding up the number of days that I’ve been in the European Union. But it’s good to be back in Poland and the weather is warm and frankly too hot. But I don’t complain.

May 10, 2023
Ryanair (Santiago de Compostela Airport to London Stansted)

I don’t often write up my flights on Ryanair, as there’s a limited amount that can be said about the experience. The boarding process is though becoming slightly farcical as the priority queue has now increased to being around 75% of everyone boarding, although I have to say that it is an organised process.

The aircraft was EI-FZL, a Boeing 737-800, which Ryanair had purchased in April 2017. The aircraft set off on time and was also back in Stansted on time.

The seating on board, which was clean and sufficiently spacious given that this is a budget airline. I had been automatically allocated an aisle seat for free (woooo), with the other two passengers on this row arriving soon after I took the photo.

The safety demonstration was appalling and one of the worst that I can recall on any flight. The crew did nothing to try and quieten the cabin down and I’m not sure that many people were able to hear the safety announcements. I’ve been on British Airways and American Airlines flights where the crew have stopped the demonstration if the cabin wasn’t quiet, which does reassure me somewhat that the crew are focused on safety.

I couldn’t hear the announcements from the pilots either due to the cabin noise, which is not a problem, but isn’t ideal. The flight was the usual constant process of trying to sell things to customers, which is fine given the price of the flight, but it’s again not conducive to a peaceful flight. And, on this particular flight, there were two crew members who didn’t seem to be entirely nimble on their feet and managed to keep bumping into passengers on the aisle seats.

I can’t recall how many Ryanair flights I’ve taken, I think it’s something around the eighty sectors mark over the last ten years. I’m now reluctant to book with them again though, primarily because the outbound flight was potentially caught up in the crew strikes. This concerns me because Ryanair’s IRROPS handling is inadequate and although I’ve never had a problem, it’s an additional factor which I’d rather not have to be concerned about. And, frankly, I’ve become too attached to Oneworld airlines (not literally, although British Airways do need to clean their cabins better).

September 15, 2019