Getting there is half the fun

There have long been jokes about Europe’s – or more correctly, Ireland’s – deep discount airline, Ryanair, a pioneer in cheap flying. Back in 2012 CEO Michael O’Leary in all seriousness wanted to sell standing-only tickets – until thwarted by a regulator. Some of O’Leary’s other great schemes were charging for restroom use and bunking passengers in the plane’s hull, both of which have never taken flight. So it’s with some mirth whenever I book a Ryanair ticket. This week was my second flight with the airline, and it was a bit of an eye-opener. I’d though I’d got a good deal when I initially booked and was charged $144.28 CAD from London Stansted to Athens Greece. That included one checked bag. Arriving at the airport I put my bag on the conveyor at check-in – typical for any other airline I’ve ever flown with – only to be told that my suitcase was ”too heavy.” Huh? It weighed just over 20 kg; I’d only paid for 20 kg. Sure enough on the website, ”max weight 20 kg.”  Read the small (or unexpected) print, Ron! So, I had to shell out $69.37 more. So much for a bargain flight to the Greek capital. As for the flight itself, it was typical Ryanair. A good aspect of the airline is you board either from front or back, making boarding much more fluid. But the downsides are a shopworn interior with seats that look like they’ve each carried 10,000 bums and their flippy-floppy arm rests. The seats also don’t recline; I’m fine with that. But no seat pockets and airline safety instructions are pasted to the top of the seat ahead (photo), giving the interior an overall tacky look.

But flying on Ryanair was only half the fun. I used to think Toronto’s Pearson was bad but London’s Stansted now outranks it as my least favourite airport. This box of a terminal – obviously assembled in no time – is about as bare bones as you can get. There is hardly any seating for waiting passengers, despite the fact this, being London, is one of the most crowded airports I’ve been in (London has six major airports). I finally found some wooden slatted seating – the same as at London train stations - near the food court, which could have accommodated about 100 people. Other than that – nothing. Well, not quite. Walking a long way towards the gate, there was eventually a bench beside the terminal window. But the bench resembled what you’d find in a bus shelter, perhaps worse (photo). Barely a foot wide and of metal with no back it wasn’t a comfortable design to begin with. But what took the cake is that it was convex in structure, making it very easy for someone to slide off of. A fellow passenger quipped it was designed to look like an airplane wing. Moving along I finally did find regular terminal seating – a nook of about 15 chairs. How they were allowed to be there is a mystery! And, at the passenger gate, at last, regular seating like at most airports, though the seats had seen better days, their fabric peeling off. Alert to terminal management – mass seat replacement needed!

-   Ron Stang, Windsor Ontario Canada, a frequent traveller