A review of Ryanair's Short Haul Product

It was the thirty-first of July. Pretty misty, and yet warm. But more importantly, it was D-day. My first Ryanair flight in six years. Given that I was nine at the time of aviation’s last sentence on my name, I was relying on the judgement of others, upon which I could base an expectation. Unfortunately, the industry’s opinion on Ryanair is not a high one, and so therefore, my expectations were not great either.

It was with some trepidation then, that I crossed the less than grand entrance of Terminal 3, expecting a long wait in a security line. I was however, in for a surprise. Not only was the queue length reasonable, but it was shorter than I have ever seen it at Manchester. To be fair though, in the past I have travelled predominantly T2. Either way, five minutes was reasonable, and, contrary to popular belief, you can take a Surface Dock in carry-on.

Thanks to my concern regarding wait times through the airport, I was now more than three hours early for my flight, FR9838 to Copenhagen-Kastrüp, and what better way was there to spend it, than to spot at England’s third-largest Airport...

Following a tip-off I had received from an informant (one Dr John K on twitter), I proceeded directly upstairs to the former BA lounge. This area, henceforth dubbed “the doughnut” is like an observation tower. With excellent views over the apron, you are treated to at least four -800s at a time, and, if 22R is active for departures, you get to see all sorts. For a more in-detail look at MAN spotting, check out my spotting report.

OK. Focus on the flight. Seeing as I would be away for five days, I purchased Ryanair’s Priority & Two Cabin Bags package, which, believe it or not, gives you Priority… and Two Cabin Bags. As far as I am concerned, there is no way anyone can travel Ryanair without it, as basically everyone has it, and it means you can avoid Ryanair Roulette, which can’t be a bad thing, right?

While it should be noted that we at THEAEROSPACEGUYS love hate the 737-800 as an aircraft, it is important to note that for an airline like Ryanair, it is an extremely important piece of equipment. Though none of us enjoy recognising it, the fact is that it is a pretty versatile aircraft, which fits well into the fleet of an ULCA or a charter.

Boarding went as smoothly as can be expected from Ryanair. With the standardised mess of Priority/Non-Priority queues, it went in a pretty hectic fashion. Add to the fact that MAN T3 has gates along a thin corridor, and you've got yourself an efficiency problem. Ryanair, being Ryanair, opted for airstairs over a jetbridge, but sadly no ground staff opened the door onto the apron, leaving us all stranded on the stairs down to the tarmac. 

And, it seems, the theme of handling issues continues. My good friends (sarcasm) over at Swissport also neglected to send any staff to load baggage onto our aircraft, and so after around half an hour, our First Officer decided to do the job themselves, to prevent further delays, and while I am extremely grateful to the aforementioned pilot, I cannot help but feel that it should not be necessary.

Once the aircraft was finally ready for a departure, we began taxi to the active runway, in this case 22L. As an avgeek, I greatly appreciate the use of this orientation, as it provides greater spotting opportunities on the ground, and, when onboard, provides the chance to view aircraft on approach to 22R.

I would like to note, Ryanair, that your use of pre-recorded audio files is a little poor. If it had been done well, I would not have had such a problem, but the quality of the audio is absolutely awful, as though recorded on a webcam in 1993.

I went for a tea, and, rather surprisingly, it is the best tea I have ever had in the air, in short-haul at least. Point on there!

Yet, despite the uncomfortable seats, poor viewing position, and tacky pre-SKY era cabin, time flew, and before I knew it, we were beginning our descent into CPH. The view on approach is stunning - with a brief view of Malmo, and a parallel final alongside the Oresund Bridge - it is certainly one of my favourites.

But here comes the point where we have to discuss the reason that Ryanair gained such notoriety - the infamous Ryanair landing. On this occasion, I feel that it was not too bad. As landings go, there was definitely room for improvement, but as Pilot Flying was a recently trained FO, I can't really complain too much, and, in fairness, the 737-800 is pretty tough to land smoothly anyway. I just about always encounter a bounce.

At the end of the day, they got me from A to B, and they did it to the standard of 3.6 Wings. Pretty good for an ULCA, and especially good when you consider their public reputation.