Tag: Wizz Air

  • Wizz Air (London Luton to Bratislava)

    Wizz Air (London Luton to Bratislava)

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    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.

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    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.

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

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    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.

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    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.

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    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.

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    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.

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    It’s all happening now at Gate 21.

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    The joys of the bus gate.

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

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    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.

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    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)

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    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.

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    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.

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    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.

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    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.

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    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….).

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    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)

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    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.

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    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.

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    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,

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    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.

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    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.

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

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    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.

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    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.

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    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.

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    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)

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    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.

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

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    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.

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    Spotlessly clean with seats and power points everywhere.

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    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.

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    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.

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

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    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.

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

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    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)

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    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.

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    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.

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    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.

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

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    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.

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    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.

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    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.

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    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).

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    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.

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

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    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.

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    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.

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    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)

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    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……

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    The corridors weren’t yet bustling.

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    The restaurants not yet packed.

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    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.

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    A little queue had formed for the lounge.

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    The excitement of it all….

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

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    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.

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    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.

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    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.

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

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    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)

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    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.

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

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    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.

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    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.

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

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    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.

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    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.

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    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.

  • Wizz Air (Budapest to Glasgow)

    Wizz Air (Budapest to Glasgow)

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    I thought that the tropical heat of Budapest was getting a bit much, so I decided to go somewhere rather more suited to my preferred temperature range, so I opted for Glasgow. The flight was just under £9 with the Wizz Air Multipass that I bought last December and I remain very pleased with.

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    Slightly blurred, well very blurred, but I was zooming in to check that I was at the correct gate. The flight was delayed by an hour, but I was in no rush at the other end so I appreciated the extra time in the airport lounge. The boarding process was efficient and the gate staff were polite and helpful, although a couple of customers being charged for oversized bags might not have agreed with that.

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    Boarding the aircraft 9H-WDR, an A321 which has been in the Wizz Air fleet since June 2023. The seat Gods had unfortunately given me a middle seat and I had decided to accept my fate with my usual heap of downloaded YouTube videos lined up. However, the delight of hearing “boarding complete” with no-one in the aisle seat meant that the seating Gods had looked at me favourably after all. And then I noticed that the woman opposite and forward one row had eyed up the seat and was wildly flapping for her husband (or male companion, I shouldn’t judge) to come back about six rows and sit there to be near her. Anyway, that plan was foiled as I had already moved when she was mid-flap.

    And then another little situation occurred when numerous people applauded the pilots for landing the plane. I don’t know a huge number of pilots (well, two) but both of them I know hate this practice and I’m not sure if it’s from the Hungarians who know more about their national airline than I do (I accept that it might not be the official national airline, but it has far more aircraft than any other Hungarian airline).

    Anyway, that was the first little situation, with the second being the lady in the window seat being determined to barge past me after the aircraft arrived at the gate to get to the aisle. Now, I’m a firm believer in the “where exactly do you think you’re going?” philosophy of post-landing etiquette. I’ve got nowhere to go or stand. Are we suddenly going to a surprise party on the air bridge? No, we’re not, so I wasn’t moving in the period between the aircraft being at the gate and the aircraft door opening. The whole mad dash is truly a marvel and it happens nearly every flight. You’ve got people practically dislocating shoulders trying to yank their bloody carry-ons down, then forming a chaotic queue in the aisle, all while desperately trying to outmanoeuvre each other for a coveted spot only to then shuffle along at the pace of a heavily sedated snail once they hit the terminal.

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    And safely back in Glasgow post rushoffplanegate, around forty minutes later than expected. I have a few hours at the airport but I’ll report back on this riveting exercise a little later on.

  • Wizz Air (London Luton to Budapest)

    Wizz Air (London Luton to Budapest)

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    There’s not a lot for me to write about this flight as Wizz Air are so efficient that matters always seem to go as planned. But I’ll write about it for my own memory, this flight cost me £8.99 as it was booked with the Wizz Air Multipass and it’s the 19:25 flight to Budapest from London Luton Airport. As an aside and despite what the board noted, the gate was shown from 18:25 although at that point the incoming aircraft hadn’t even parked up.

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    The flight was departing from Gate 31 and, as usual, the signage was clear so that customers knew where to go whether they were priority (not me) or non-priority (me). British Airways never really managed this, they ended up with a mass of people (somewhat more commonly and rather unkindly called gate lice) standing in a random pattern near to the boarding gates and thus blocking everyone else.

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    There’s the aircraft arriving and before the customers had deplaned (I know some people hate that word, but I like it). It’s 9H-WNT, an Airbus A321 which only entered service in late January 2025. Given how new it is, I’m fairly sure that I haven’t been on it yet. Customers waited excitedly on the stairs and the gate staff were generally tolerant of some bags that were too large, but they did charge those who were evidently way over the limit. I’m always slightly surprised how many people push this, it’s quite an expensive exercise to be charged extra at the gate and I’m not sure it’s worth the risk.

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    Boarding the aircraft and the seat Gods had given me an aisle seat in what was a nearly full service. The flight was uneventful, we sat on the runway (not literally obviously, we were in a plane) for 20 minutes as they waited for a slot from air traffic control, but there were regular announcements and the crew were endlessly polite. The crew were efficient and helpful, with quite a number of passengers purchasing food and drink as the trolley went up and down the aisle. A group of younger customers, who looked like they were about 16, applauded after the aircraft landed and I did secretly hope that they would be barred for life, but then I thought that might be a little excessive.

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    And landing at Budapest airport pretty much on time. Wizz Air pad their schedules a bit, so the late departure was made up en route and so they could accurately state that there was no delay. In terms of timings, I was impressed as this photo was taken at 23:13 when I was leaving the aircraft and I was at the Ibis Styles hotel reception at 23:20. I think that seven minutes is perhaps the fastest that I’ve gone from the aircraft, through border control, through security and into the hotel.

  • Wizz Air (London Luton to Warsaw Chopin)

    Wizz Air (London Luton to Warsaw Chopin)

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    I usually don’t write anything about the flights I take, but a change is as good as a rest and all that. I’m not sure that Luton Airport has really mastered the art of returning flights efficiently, but the security process is now quite efficient. I have to confess to pure idiocy during security when I managed to leave my belt on during the security scan. I blame the confusion on their policy of leaving liquids and laptops in the bag which throws my system. The member of security staff was though not deterred and, thankfully, my brief masterclass in how not to do security seemed to escape wider notice, preserving my fragile dignity in aviation matters.

    They announced the gate quite early, an hour before the flight, the delights of Gate 32 beckoned. Having endured the boarding methodologies back in my BA days, which often resembled a polite but ultimately confusing game of human Tetris, Wizz Air’s approach felt refreshingly straightforward. Every passenger knows, or should know, where to go from signage and they didn’t take long to board everyone. Admittedly, that leads to a lot of waiting on the stairs in the airport terminal to board, but at least it feels efficient although it’s less ideal for people who prefer to have a little sit down rather than balance themselves and their luggage on steps.

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    The aircraft was ready and for the sake of completion, the registration is 9H-wNE, the same aircraft I went from Gdansk to London Luton on a few months ago. It’s hard not to make that sound quite geekish, but as a reminder, for my two loyal blog readers who can’t remember, it’s an Airbus A321 which was delivered to Wizz Air in March 2024. Feel free to use that aviation nugget of information at your next dinner party, instant social success guaranteed…..

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    I’ve had a long series of good fortune from the seating Gods where I’ve been aisle or window seats, but that luck had run out for this flight when I was randomly given a middle seat. I always vaguely hope that one of the passengers doesn’t turn up, but they both did. Both were Polish, the one by the aisle fell asleep for most of the flight and the other managed to consume several Polish beers and then needed me to wake up the aisle guy from his hibernation for obvious reasons. I’m not sure that they entirely managed to follow my rule of letting the middle seat passenger have the arm rests, but since that’s a rule I’ve created it’s one that’s hard to enforce. Fortunately, this isn’t a long flight and two hours later we were landing into Warsaw.

    The crew on the flight were well presented, engaging and efficient, although that’s the normality for Wizz Air flights I’ve found. Announcements from the pilots were in Polish with a shorter English version following soon after and the safety briefing was completely in a way that the CAA would be pleased by.

    The delights of Warsaw always excite me, so I didn’t even mind that it was a bus that took us to border control. Most passengers on the flight were Polish or had EU passports, so the queue for my passport to be stamped was relatively short. The border agent was friendly and for this visit didn’t require a detailed explanation of my life before letting me into Poland. The flight is with my Multi Pass, which I’m still moderately obsessed with, so it cost just £8.99. Armrest battles aside, Wizz Air delivered the goods once again as far as I was concerned.