Europe: Start Voting Now! FR8513 Porto Airport to Birmingham Airport (Ryanair)
In this musical spectacular…
- Who wants to go to Eurovision?
- Where did my wallet go? Off to Birmingham Airport
- SN2038 Birmingham Airport to Brussels National Airport
- Some time at Brussels Airport
- SN3819 Brussels National Airport to Lisbon Airport with the AeroSmurf
- Into Lisbon and The Tuk Tuk Hostel
- Exploring Lisbon with a Canon 100D
- The Eurovision Song Contest
- Off to Porto with Comboios de Portugal
- Time at Porto Airport
- FR8513 Porto Airport to Birmingham Airport
- To the trains!
- Eurovision… Douze points!
FR8513 Porto to Birmingham Airport
Ryanair Boeing 737-800, Seat 28F
840 Miles flown, €51 paid
After finally being allowed aboard (as the ground service team had passengers who needed assistance on the plane, I headed aboard, and to my row.
The blue and yellow Ryanair Cabin.
Whilst the seat costed a measly €2.50, it had one advantage – it was near the back of the plane.
On a Ryanair plane – that is important as they board from both the back and the front of the plane,. The net result would be an easy exit at the other end.
Once I found my row, I popped the rucksack in the overhead bin, and sat down.
And yes. We’re in the land of blue and yellow.
The seat wasn’t as battered up as some Ryanair seats I’ve seen in the past (a welcome sign) with the legroom being the typical 30” Ryanair seat at 17 and a bit inches across. Sadly, this being an old generation seat, my knees were making friends with back of the seat.
And this is important – a well designed seat can be good at 29”, and offer adequate legroom. A badly designed seat just exacerbates the problem – not matter how you pitch it.
The safety card. Good luck taking this thing with you for you safety card enthusiasts.
Boarding was quick as everyone took their place, with no luggage being called forward for gate checking (that was already done in the non-prioirty lane). Our crew today was a Porto based crew managed to get the door closed in quick time.
With the plane buttoned down, we were ready for pushback.. .except it seems the plane was not. We had an extra 20 minutes on the ground before pushback (yet, with the padding they have on a Ryanair schedule – we’d arrive 2 minutes early.)
Eventually, the pushback tug did it’s thing, and the safety demonstration was conducted.
With that done and dusted, it was a quick taxi to the runway for FR8513 as it powered up for the runway.
TAP Express Embraer E190 at the gate. They pay for a jetbridge that docks onto the plane.
Thank you Porto Airport
Transavia Boeing 737-800
An ATR TurboProp and Swiss Airbus.
FR8513 had a rolling start to the runway, and powered up to take us into the skies.
With the 737 climbing effortlessly into the sky, it took time for the plane to reach a suitable altitude for the on-board sales patter to begin.
The quiet before the sales storm
A halo around the plane
Oh… come on. This is Ryanair. What would you expect. With 185 captive customers – it’s a chance to make hay whilst the sun shines.
Cruise.
The sales patter was good – good enough for nearly every row reaching into their pockets for something, with a fair amount of sales for both food and beverages.
Buy, buy, buy!
The route would take over the Bay of Biscay, over the north-western tip of France, crossing South West England, and then up to the Severn towards Birmingham.
North Western France.
Now, whilst I skipped the food and drinks service, the duty-free service got me – in the form of my weakness.
That’s right – another model plane. Although Premier Planes again. No Hogan Wings, No Gemini Jets, No Skymarks…It’s almost as if the industry likes to promote itself with cheap model planes…
Now, I might had been naughty, and snuck aboard my own on-board beverage…
In honour of Jonk.
With the duty-free sales done and dusted, comes the sale we’ve all been dreading waiting for – the scratchcard sales. A recording played the first offer, with the crew offering a double-up offer on the plane.
Surprisingly, I counted a few sales.
With South West England coming into view, the captain made an announce of arrival times. With that, the crew begun the clear-down of the cabin, collecting of in-flight magazines and a final clean-up.
The South West
Bridges over the River Severn.
Countryside patchwork
Wing turn.
Coventry
With the plane lined up for Birmingham Airport, the Boeing 737 was ready to land. With a hard bounce, the Boeing 737-800 landed at Birmingham. And lordy. It was a hard bounce.
Whilst the plane was late off the chocks at Porto, we were a few minutes early – which leads us to the Ryanair arrival anthem. Because this is Ryanair.
The 737 begun taxing back to the terminal area, with a short wait to allow for other aircraft to depart.
Interesting – an Air Austral Boeing 787 being seen to Monarch Engineering.
Another Ryanair Boeing 737 heading off.
Turkmenistan Airlines Boeing 777-200LR
With the Boeing 777 clear, our Boeing 737 swung for the gate area, and a parking point. With the engines powered down, I joined the masses to get off the plane in a rush – least of all, it needed to be turned around to go back to Porto.
Everyone up!
Now, As I said – I sat near the back – and for a good reason – I was only a few rows from the exit
So close, yet so far…
With my chance in plain sight, I grabbed my rucksack and headed to the exit.
Aft bulkhead. Also… a premium set of seats according to Ryanair.
I thanked the crew as I exited, and descended the steps to the ground
And off.
Overall: FR8513 did the expected Ryanair point to point traffic, as I expected it to do. It got me from A to B in some comfort (although those seats need to be ripped out), with the usual sales patter I expect form the airline. Flying Ryanair doesn’t have to be a pain – but you have to play by their rules (or buy the things to make life bearable).
If anything, the Finnish entry by Saara Aalto of Monsters is apt – I’m not scared of this monster any more…
Next: To the trains!
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