Ryanair FR669 – Birmingham Airport to Dublin Airport
Polishing Silver
It’s time to get my backside in the air with the first part of this adventure. Every adventure has to start somewhere… even with a simple Ryanair flight across the Irish Sea. But will they sell me scratchcards?
In this Tier Point-laden adventure
- All I ask is for one decent airfare. Just ONE. Anyone?
- Off to Birmingham Airport
- FR669 Birmingham to Dublin Airport with Ryanair
- Welcome to Dublin, Premier Inn – Dublin Airport
- Early Morning Dublin Airport and US Preclearance, 51st and Green Lounge
- AA723 Dublin to Philadelphia – Flagship Business Class
- A Rocky Interlude – Exploring Philadelphia
- Return to PHL and the Philadelphia American Airlines Admirals Club
- AA2663 Philadelphia to San Francisco – US Domestic First
- A new terminal and The Crowne Plaza, Burlingame
- The Intercontinental San Francisco (and trying the new BART trains)
- Asian Eats around San Francisco
- A challenge unto myself: Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge
- Ferrying around the bay with Golden Gate Ferry
- Of Dragons and Lions – Celebrations in San Francisco Chinatown
- Back to SFO, American Airlines Admirals Club
- AA164 San Francisco to New York JFK – Transcontinental Business Class
- A snow-laden pit stop at JFK and the American Airlines/British Airways Greenwich Lounge
- AA104 New York JFK to London Heathrow – Flagship Business Class
- Transiting across Heathrow Terminals and the British Airways Galleries North
- BA836 London Heathrow to Dublin Airport – Club Europe
- A Two Hour Dublin Turnaround featuring the Dublin Airport Lounge
- BA4469 Dublin to London City Airport – Club Europe by BA CityFlyer
- To the trains… and on the cheap
- Points in the bag
FR669 Birmingham Airport to Dublin Airport
FR669 Birmingham Airport to Dublin Airport
Ryanair
Seat 26F, Economy Class
200 miles flown, Cash price £37.99
Of course, once through the gauntlet of getting your boarding pass scanned, there is the queuing.
On steps naturally, because that’s safe, whilst the aircraft was being unloaded and prepared for us.
Eventually, the access door was opened, and we were allowed out onto the ramp. As I would be boarding from the back of the aircraft, it allowed for an extended walk.
I headed up the stairs and… well, I’d say welcomed by a crew member, but they were trying to keep warm. I can’t say I blamed them for trying to keep warm in one of the oddest winters we’re having in the UK.
Heading down the aisle, I found my seat – it seemed that other people had tried to get their first.
I dumped my bags in the overhead bin and shimmied in.
Sadly, the seats are the classic Webber C100 (as opposed to the Zodiac Z110i’s on newer aircraft). These have the advantage of having a thicker seating pad, but much less legroom.
Considering Ryanair built their fleet for capacity and not comfort – this was going to be a tight flight.
Also, it seemed the seat map lied – as every seat was taken on this aircraft. Good for the revenue numbers, but it felt like the aircraft had the full 188 aboard.
With the aircraft loaded and bags put away, the crew began to close the luggage bins and prepare for an on-time departure.
After last year and the amount of British Airways flights I’ve been delayed on, I filed this under “That’s a novelty”.
With the aircraft starting to push back, the crew conducted their safety briefing. This is a prerecorded affair, with a bunch of addendums at the end.
The aircraft began its taxi around Birmingham Airport – this time of night, it’s quiet, so the aircraft made a beeline for a runway.
With ease, the Boeing 737-800 too to the sky.
As Birmingham to Dublin is a short hop (with a flight of 45 minutes normally) – the crew were out of their seats fast to conduct the one thing Ryanair loves to do – sell you anything.
There were two carts, with four crew members operating them for sales work through the cabin, with them seemingly conducting reasonable trade.
Meanwhile, with their no inflight wifi or entertainment (and I’m pondering, if easyJet can install a solution such as AirFi’s to provide onboard retail and entertainment, Rynair can too) the window view was well… dark.
At least it’s not a middle seat – one reason to book a seat on Ryanair.
The fight went by quickly, as I tried to pick out cities from their lighting – sadly, cloud cover didn’t help
15 minutes before landing, the seatbelt signs were back on and people were called back to their seats, with the crew following rapidly behind to clean up after them
As I said, with a 45-minute flight there’s no time to do anything (and I’m still surprised they can serve a 737’s worth of people in that time and clean up too).
That and no scratchcard sales. Something to be thankful for.
The aircraft made its approach over the Irish Sea, vectoring in for Dublin Airport. As the aircraft approached, things started to clear up with the coast coming into view – with the communities dotted around it.
That sped up to seeing the car parks, with the aircraft planting itself on the ground at Dublin Airport, in the usual thump you get at the back of a Ryanair 737.
The Boeing 737 taxied off the runway and started to make progress to the terminal complex. And that progress came to a halt, when there was an aircraft still parked in the gate we were meant to be assigned to.
And we waited. And waited… and… well, waited. There’s not a lot you can do once on the ground and waiting for the gate.
On-time landing. Long wait to park.
Other aircraft passed us, with at least three others taxing past. It was 20 minutes before our aircraft was on the move again, where we finally made it over to the 200 Gates.
With the aircraft parking up, the engines powered down. As the seatbelt signs went off, everyone went for their bags and the aisle.
I waited a few minutes for things to calm down before I moved. Eventually, a spot opened up – the perfect chance to grab my bags
I thanked the crew and headed off into a cold Dublin evening.
Overall
Ryanair continues to deliver the basics on a short-haul hop – and I’m ok with that. With the cut-down announcements, along with a speedy service, made spending time aboard that 737 passable.
I do wish they stuck the Zodiac seats in. Whilst the Webber C100s are fine, they’re not “space saving” compared to some of the modern slimline seats out there.
Next
Through Dublin Airport and to the Premier Inn. Or “And there goes the bus…. sigh”
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