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Airline : Ryanair
Departure Airport : London Gatwick
Scheduled Departure Time : 10:10am
Actual Departure Time : 10:12am
Arrival Airport : Madrid
Scheduled Arrival Time : 13:25
Actual Arrival Time : 13:14
Flight Number : FR 5302
Seat : 26A
Aircraft : Boeing 737-800 (EI-ENX)
Ticket Price : £28 incl taxes
I jumped on the Gatwick Express and made the quick trip down to LGW. I arrived at about 9am, and as i already had done the mandatory online check-in, i proceeded straight through to security, which was surprisingly empty. I continued to the departure lounge, and i then headed down to gate 13 where our aircraft was taxiing into.
Soon after it had pulled up, boarding started, and everyone rushed to board. I waited until the queue had gone down, and then boarded as one of the last.
Greeted on board by a flight attendant, who didnt say anything, and i walked down to the rear of the aircraft where there were many spare window seats. They shut the back door followed by the front and we were swiftly away and pushing back from the stand. The automated audio safety demo and the crew trying to keep up with it was quite funny to watch
It was then done in Spanish, and then we taxied straight onto the runway and blasted into the sky.
The crews inaudible and incomprehensible English announcements advertising the in-flight sales started about 20 mins into the flight. It was easier to understand the Spanish announcements than the English!
Then, soon enough they started the in-flight sales, and they whizzed through the cabin, people falling for the ridiculous prices and buying pointless amounts of food and drink. Ryanair pilots, in my experiences, do not make announcements while airborne, only while on the ground at each airport. We flew over Bordeaux and and some beautiful views over the Pyrenees.
About 40 minutes before landing, the crew made another food and drink service, again, people actually buying more stuff!
Our descent started about 30 mins before touchdown, the crew selling duty-free products all the way down almost until final approach!
Touchdown was smooth, and we then taxied quickly into our gate.The annoying trumpet sound that Ryanair play when you land early or on-time sounded
The crew asked us to take all of our rubbish with us, and put it in the bins inside the terminal building
Disembarked through both front and rear doors so i was off almost immediately, and straight into the terminal and first in line at customs. Customs quick, and then i got a taxi to my meeting in Santa Eugenia at 3.
Overall : Ryanair
Punctuality : 10/10
Aircraft : 10/10
Crew : 8/10
Food & Drink : N/A
Entertainment : N/A
Total : 8/10
Airline : Ryanair
Departure Airport : Madrid
Scheduled Departure Time : 09:45am
Actual Departure Time : 09:58am
Arrival Airport : Palma de Mallorca
Scheduled Arrival Time : 11:05
Actual Arrival Time : 11:00
Flight Number : FR 2051
Seat : 4C
Aircraft : Boeing 737-800 (EI-DPZ)
Ticket Prices : £31 incl taxes
After a successful meeting in Madrid, it was time to head to Palma, of all places i wouldnt have expected the holiday island of Palma to come up as one of the most important places for a meeting
I got to Barajas at about 9am, and rushed through the long security queues and got to gate B19 in time to get on the second, and last bus load of people to the plane.
I boarded via the front stairs, and was greeted by a female f/a, who was also on my flight from LGW-MAD yesterday!
I took the nearest available seat, 4C, the flight today seemed full up and nearly every row was fully occupied. The doors shut, and again we were away quickly. The safety announcements again both in English and Spanish, although the announcements by the crew were in Spanish only.
After a short taxi, we were on the runway and airborne right on time.
We were only in the air for about 20 minutes, and the crew started the in-flight sales. I actually purchased something this time, a coffee for 3 euros.
It was alright, better than some of the disgusting stuff ive had on the likes of Jetblue and American.
The flight seemed to pass pretty quickly, and before we knew it, we were descending and on our way down into PMI.
After a quick, steep approach, we made a smooth touchdown onto the runway. We taxied and parked at a remote stand, and disembarked again through both doors onto buses.
They shuttled us to the terminal, and with no bags, and no customs at PMI i was straight through outside and in a cab on my way to the center of the city.
Overall : Ryanair
Punctuality : 10/10
Aircraft : 10/10
Crew : 10/10
Food & Drink : 7/10
Entertainment : N/A
Total : 8.5/10
Airline : BA Cityflyer
Departure Airport : Palma de Mallorca
Scheduled Departure Time : 11:00am
Actual Departure Time : 11:35
Arrival Airport : London City
Scheduled Arrival Time : 12:25
Actual Arrival Time : 12:40
Flight Number : BA 8484
Seat : 15F
Aircraft : Embraer 190 (G-LCYM)
Ticket Price : £104 incl taxes
I arrived at PMI at about 09:50, and i checked in normally and then proceeded through security. The airport was packed, full of alot of flights returning home with holidaymakers.
I headed to gate A20, and then sat and waited for my flight. I watched the masses of Air Berlins, Thomsons, Easyjets, Thomas cooks and other charter flights, all returning to the UK absolutely FULL of people.
The inbound flight from LCY was running late, and pulled up at 10:50. When boarding was finally called for our flight, the flight was nearly empty, about 30/40 people.
We boarded buses, and were taken to our plane. The front door was the only door used, and we were all on in about 5 minutes. The crew were friendly and were helping everybody with their bags.
I took my seat, which was actually very spacious considering the size of the aircraft. We then didnt push back but taxied straight out and glided out of Palma quietly. The take-off was quite turbulent but we quickly climbed above it, and reached our cruising altitude. The crew served us food and drink, which consisted of 2 choices of sandwich, a small mars bar, and a drink.
The choices were Sausage & Mushroom, or Cheese and onion. I chose sausage and mushroom, even though it was only salami with mushroom paste dumped on top, it was alright. I got a coke and a water with ice. The sun blazed through the windows, and the time passed quickly. I would have though a flight like this would be full of rich people from Essex returning from holidays, instead it was actually full of people travelling alone and people on business.
We were well updated on our position and the weather in London, and soon enough we were descending on our way into London.
We took an odd approach, we flew over the isle of wight, over west London, and then made a long right turn over North London, and then another long right turn to line up with the runway.
Approach again was very turbulent, but the touchdown was smooth and a very quick taxi into the gate. We disembarked through front and rear and i was through and out the airport in a matter of minutes. I then jumped on a DLR and a tube back to central London
Overall : BA Cityflyer
Punctuality : 6/10
Aircraft : 10/10
Crew : 10/10
Food & Drink : 10/10
Entertainment : N/A
Total : 8/10
You cannot compare Ryanair and BA. Ryanair offer a cheap service, which gets you to your destination on time and safely, its not like you dont have an option to buy food. BA offer a slightly more expensive service which gets you to your destination, safely, added into the price are food and drink and baggage prices.
Thanks for reading !!
Departure Airport : London Gatwick
Scheduled Departure Time : 10:10am
Actual Departure Time : 10:12am
Arrival Airport : Madrid
Scheduled Arrival Time : 13:25
Actual Arrival Time : 13:14
Flight Number : FR 5302
Seat : 26A
Aircraft : Boeing 737-800 (EI-ENX)
Ticket Price : £28 incl taxes
I jumped on the Gatwick Express and made the quick trip down to LGW. I arrived at about 9am, and as i already had done the mandatory online check-in, i proceeded straight through to security, which was surprisingly empty. I continued to the departure lounge, and i then headed down to gate 13 where our aircraft was taxiing into.
Soon after it had pulled up, boarding started, and everyone rushed to board. I waited until the queue had gone down, and then boarded as one of the last.
Greeted on board by a flight attendant, who didnt say anything, and i walked down to the rear of the aircraft where there were many spare window seats. They shut the back door followed by the front and we were swiftly away and pushing back from the stand. The automated audio safety demo and the crew trying to keep up with it was quite funny to watch
It was then done in Spanish, and then we taxied straight onto the runway and blasted into the sky.
The crews inaudible and incomprehensible English announcements advertising the in-flight sales started about 20 mins into the flight. It was easier to understand the Spanish announcements than the English!
Then, soon enough they started the in-flight sales, and they whizzed through the cabin, people falling for the ridiculous prices and buying pointless amounts of food and drink. Ryanair pilots, in my experiences, do not make announcements while airborne, only while on the ground at each airport. We flew over Bordeaux and and some beautiful views over the Pyrenees.
About 40 minutes before landing, the crew made another food and drink service, again, people actually buying more stuff!
Our descent started about 30 mins before touchdown, the crew selling duty-free products all the way down almost until final approach!
Touchdown was smooth, and we then taxied quickly into our gate.The annoying trumpet sound that Ryanair play when you land early or on-time sounded
The crew asked us to take all of our rubbish with us, and put it in the bins inside the terminal building Disembarked through both front and rear doors so i was off almost immediately, and straight into the terminal and first in line at customs. Customs quick, and then i got a taxi to my meeting in Santa Eugenia at 3.
Overall : Ryanair
Punctuality : 10/10
Aircraft : 10/10
Crew : 8/10
Food & Drink : N/A
Entertainment : N/A
Total : 8/10
Airline : Ryanair
Departure Airport : Madrid
Scheduled Departure Time : 09:45am
Actual Departure Time : 09:58am
Arrival Airport : Palma de Mallorca
Scheduled Arrival Time : 11:05
Actual Arrival Time : 11:00
Flight Number : FR 2051
Seat : 4C
Aircraft : Boeing 737-800 (EI-DPZ)
Ticket Prices : £31 incl taxes
After a successful meeting in Madrid, it was time to head to Palma, of all places i wouldnt have expected the holiday island of Palma to come up as one of the most important places for a meeting
I got to Barajas at about 9am, and rushed through the long security queues and got to gate B19 in time to get on the second, and last bus load of people to the plane.
I boarded via the front stairs, and was greeted by a female f/a, who was also on my flight from LGW-MAD yesterday!
I took the nearest available seat, 4C, the flight today seemed full up and nearly every row was fully occupied. The doors shut, and again we were away quickly. The safety announcements again both in English and Spanish, although the announcements by the crew were in Spanish only.
After a short taxi, we were on the runway and airborne right on time.
We were only in the air for about 20 minutes, and the crew started the in-flight sales. I actually purchased something this time, a coffee for 3 euros.
It was alright, better than some of the disgusting stuff ive had on the likes of Jetblue and American.
The flight seemed to pass pretty quickly, and before we knew it, we were descending and on our way down into PMI.
After a quick, steep approach, we made a smooth touchdown onto the runway. We taxied and parked at a remote stand, and disembarked again through both doors onto buses.
They shuttled us to the terminal, and with no bags, and no customs at PMI i was straight through outside and in a cab on my way to the center of the city.
Overall : Ryanair
Punctuality : 10/10
Aircraft : 10/10
Crew : 10/10
Food & Drink : 7/10
Entertainment : N/A
Total : 8.5/10
Airline : BA Cityflyer
Departure Airport : Palma de Mallorca
Scheduled Departure Time : 11:00am
Actual Departure Time : 11:35
Arrival Airport : London City
Scheduled Arrival Time : 12:25
Actual Arrival Time : 12:40
Flight Number : BA 8484
Seat : 15F
Aircraft : Embraer 190 (G-LCYM)
Ticket Price : £104 incl taxes
I arrived at PMI at about 09:50, and i checked in normally and then proceeded through security. The airport was packed, full of alot of flights returning home with holidaymakers.
I headed to gate A20, and then sat and waited for my flight. I watched the masses of Air Berlins, Thomsons, Easyjets, Thomas cooks and other charter flights, all returning to the UK absolutely FULL of people.
The inbound flight from LCY was running late, and pulled up at 10:50. When boarding was finally called for our flight, the flight was nearly empty, about 30/40 people.
We boarded buses, and were taken to our plane. The front door was the only door used, and we were all on in about 5 minutes. The crew were friendly and were helping everybody with their bags.
I took my seat, which was actually very spacious considering the size of the aircraft. We then didnt push back but taxied straight out and glided out of Palma quietly. The take-off was quite turbulent but we quickly climbed above it, and reached our cruising altitude. The crew served us food and drink, which consisted of 2 choices of sandwich, a small mars bar, and a drink.
The choices were Sausage & Mushroom, or Cheese and onion. I chose sausage and mushroom, even though it was only salami with mushroom paste dumped on top, it was alright. I got a coke and a water with ice. The sun blazed through the windows, and the time passed quickly. I would have though a flight like this would be full of rich people from Essex returning from holidays, instead it was actually full of people travelling alone and people on business.
We were well updated on our position and the weather in London, and soon enough we were descending on our way into London.
We took an odd approach, we flew over the isle of wight, over west London, and then made a long right turn over North London, and then another long right turn to line up with the runway.
Approach again was very turbulent, but the touchdown was smooth and a very quick taxi into the gate. We disembarked through front and rear and i was through and out the airport in a matter of minutes. I then jumped on a DLR and a tube back to central London
Overall : BA Cityflyer
Punctuality : 6/10
Aircraft : 10/10
Crew : 10/10
Food & Drink : 10/10
Entertainment : N/A
Total : 8/10
You cannot compare Ryanair and BA. Ryanair offer a cheap service, which gets you to your destination on time and safely, its not like you dont have an option to buy food. BA offer a slightly more expensive service which gets you to your destination, safely, added into the price are food and drink and baggage prices.
Thanks for reading !!