Ryanair LPA-NCL trip report: cheap but not very cheerful

Travelers flying Ryanair have relatively low expectations. After all, the largest airline in Europe has long based its product on the “you get what you pay for” model. However, in a competitive low-cost sector, with many airlines now vying for bargain-hungry passengers, does Ryanair still cut the mustard? After a recent Ryanair flight from Gran Canaria Airport (LPA) to the UK’s Newcastle International Airport (NCL), I was left to wonder if flying Ryanair is worth the savings.

I arrived at the airport to a truly chaotic ground experience. Ryanair expects all passengers to checkin online and then drop their bags. This system could be easily automated and simplified using bag drop machines and staff to assist. At LPA, however, Ryanair maintains a series of manual desks on a lower level of the airport for all departures.

When I arrived, the queues snaked away from the desks with little order. The scrum was made worse by the fact that people could jump the queue if their flight was boarding. That’s fair enough, but it didn’t make for a relaxing start to the journey.

The bagdrop area at the airport is crowded with people.

The bag drop was just unpleasant. Image: Fintan Horan-Stear

After passing through security quickly and spending some time roaming the calm, airy terminal, I arrived at the gate 30 minutes before our scheduled departure with the plane still 15 minutes from landing.

Whilst I expected a long wait before boarding began, the ground crew called for boarding before the plane had even touched down. I observed that the priority line seemed to have more than half the passengers in it. Another ‘speedy boarding pass‘ moment for Ryanair? The carrier assures that it limits the amount of priority spaces to 100 each flight.

What actually transpired was that the staff scanned passengers only to have them queue in the jet bridge while the plane was still being turned around.

The desire to get the aircraft loaded as quickly as possible just led to overcrowding and stress for all concerned.

I would feel quite annoyed to have paid for priority boarding only to have to queue for upwards of an hour. Image: Fintan Horan-Stear

Boarding the Boeing 737-800, I was greeted by a yellow and blue interior that was striking to look at but felt plasticky. I found my spot in the exit row. The seat itself was smart in a blue leather effect material. But with tray tables built into the armrest in this exit row, the space felt profoundly narrow and gave a feeling of being hemmed in.

A man's knees are showing a good distance away from the seat in front of him.

Okay legroom, but limited seat width. Image: Fintan Horan-Stear

Inflight menus and magazines were handed out during taxi and the crew performed a perfunctory safety demonstration. My magazine was in a shabby condition.

Shortly after our delayed takeoff I moved to a thankfully empty standard row of seats, which felt much more spacious. Paying extra for an exit row or front row seat should deliver a more comfortable experience, but this cabin configuration proved the opposite.

Ryanair aircraft seats are dark blue with yellow plastic around the safety information on the back of each seat.

The seats were otherwise comfortable enough. Image: Fintan Horan-Stear

Leaving the stress of the airport behind and looking forward to the four-hour flight back to the UK, I eagerly awaited the buy-on-board meal service. The crew used the long flight time to execute the meal service in stages, first taking orders from passengers before then proceeding with the drinks and snacks trolley.

I paid EUR 12.99 for the vegan lasagne meal, with included a half-price scratch card. I waited an hour for the meal to be served after ordering it, but it was piping hot when it arrived, and was quite filling (if rather salty).

The vegan meal served in-flight is displayed on the aircraft tray table.

The meal came with a drink and snack and cost EUR 12.99. Image: Fintan Horan-Stear

Halfway through the flight, the duty free service began. Thankfully, the cabin crew didn’t do any hard sells. They ran out of model planes though, much to my disappointment.

Throughout the flight, the crew were polite enough, but seemed disengaged. With no inflight entertainment or wifi on board, I spent my time reflecting on the Ryanair experience. Candidly, I found it to be below average.

The appalling ground experience was not at one of Ryanair’s hubs, I admit, but other airlines like Wizz Air have managed to maintain a quick and effective service even at outstations. Moreover, the aggressively dense Ryanair cabin meant that my exit row seat felt uncomfortable. This was all at a price point that was not significantly cheaper than its rivals.

Ryanair has played a pivotal role in helping to democratize air travel in Europe, and should be congratulated for this feat. But its unique low-cost selling point failed to justify the passenger experience (PaxEx) drawbacks on this particular trip. Indeed, Ryanair’s PaxEx served as a striking contrast to my pleasant Jet2 experience on the outbound. Will its rivals steal a march on Ryanair in time?