Flight-Fight! FR666 Dublin to Birmingham Airport
- Flight-fight? Fight-FIGHT!
- Round 1: Booking and Check in
- Off to Birmingham Airport
- Round 2: Aer Lingus EI263 Birmingham to Dublin Airport
- Interlude: Spotting in Dublin
- Back to Dublin Airport
- Round 3: Ryanair FR666 Dublin to Birmingham Airport
- Quickie ride home
- And the knockout blow goes to…
FR666 Dublin Airport T1 to Birmingham Airport
Ryanair, Single Class, Seat 20A.
200 miles flown.
From above…
Heading down the steps, I headed out to the tarmac where the 737 was waiting to take me home.
And on the ground.
Boarding from the rear.
Boarding the plane from the rear, I was greeted with a typical Boeing 737 NextGen interior… that looked like a Ryanair special.
The interior is classic Ryanair yellow, with blue seats.
Yup. Yellow and blue.
Finding my seat, I was glad I queued up when I did – as there was plenty of overhead bin space.
The seats themselves.. had seen better days. These are the classic Ryanair seats, and as such – had seen more than their fair share of use and abuse.
My seat – not too bad a state…
These get filled up soon enough…
Tears and rips. These seats have seen a lot better days.
And of course, the safety card is not pinchable – ensures that you know where everything is in an emergency.
Boarding continued at speed, with the plane filling up rapidly. What looked like an empty screen when I reserved my seat those weeks ago had turned into a full plane for the short hop to Birmingham.
All loaded an almost ready to go.
With the plane secured, the safety demonstration complete, it was time for the 737 to begin pushback for the short trip around Dublin Airport.
Fellow company traffic.
The plane took a bit more time than normal, as the runways had appeared to be switched to depart from Runway 10.
Nothing major – just a long olde taxi.
Turning onto the active.
Eventually, our plane took its turn, and lined up, waited, and then the CFM engines begun barrelling the plane down the runway, and into the sky.
See you again soon Ireland!
Into the evening sky.
With the plane but a few thousand feet in the sky, the inevitable sales pitch begun – with the crew rolling in food and beverages, duty-free and scratchcard sales all into one speech.
That’s gotta be a first – but on a segment like the with a maximum of 45 minutes in the air (no matter how long the actual timetabled block is) – there’s no room for hanging around.
Cabin in flight. Salesfest preparing to begin.
And thus the salesfest begun.
Tea.. Coffee.. food…SCRATCHCARD?
Meanwhile, mother nature gave her own in flight entertainment from the outside.
Ryanair seemed to do well, with a constant sale of tea, coffee, drinks and snacks as the flight attendants took their time going down the aisle. It was in some respects like a traditional carrier service – expect everyone was paying for items.
Cleardown was completed rather quickly as the flight crossed into the United Kingdom. Which was a good thing too, because as we descended the clouds look rather… ominous.
Ominous.
As we headed into the clouds on our descent, the plane juddered a bit as it went through the cloud, causing a lot of yelps and screams down the back.
Here’s a video as we went through the cloud. I was rather amused by it to say the least.
The shaking went on for a minute or so, until it cleared up and we were flying below the cloud – into the murk of a Birmingham evening.
Descent took us around the East of Birmingham, down to Coventry and then back up to the airport.
Murk.
Turn and line up…
Flaps down… time to land!
With a gentle thud, our 737 completed the short trip to Birmingham.
And was there a Ryanair on-time fanfare? You betchya.
The taxi took a fair bit of time, as the plane had to negotiate its way around the main taxiway, the main terminal, and what was the Europe-hub – home of Ryanair operations in Birmingham.
The parking apron at Birmingham Airport
Air India 787 preparing to depart Birmingham.
Terminal 1… mostly filled with FlyBe planes.
Eventually, the plane turned for gate 1 – and parked – bringing the end to this short hop.
Coming onto the stand.
With the plane at the gate, thus began the great bunfight to leave. I was in no rush – but I was wanting things to move a little quicker than they were.
Eventually, the aisle cleared – and I exited through the front left of the plane. That’s a first this trip.
…. and down the steps to the exit
Overall: The flight was very much an abbreviated version of a Ryanair sales fest. But the flight got me from A to B cheaply, whilst in some sort of comfort. Since the advent of assigned seating on Ryanair, it has become a lot less of a bunfight than it was… and it’s made a difference when flying.
Next: Let’s head home!
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