Flying: Ryanair B737-800 Basel to London Stansted 2015

Generally 10:25AM would have been an pretty ideal departure timing, allowing time for a normal morning routine before leaving to catch the flight.

However, since the flight leaves from Basel, we departed St Gallen on the 6:11AM Intercity train, changing to a TGV at Zurich and arrived at the Basel SBB at 8:37AM. So that means we had to wake up in the ealy morning. The train to Basel costed CHF28.50, with the half-fare card, which is more expensive than the plane ticket.

We arrived at the Basel airport at 8:55AM, well on time. 

As we had found out earlier, you need to check in for Ryanair flights online, since they place a surcharge for airport check-ins.

Ryanair 7974
Basel (BSL) – London Stansted (STN)
Friday, Feb 6 2015
Depart: 10:25AM
Arrive: 10:55AM
Flight time: 1hr30min
Aircraft: Boeing 738-800
Seat: 28F

Since we had no check-in luggage, we streamed through security and immigration and arrived at gate 25 in about 15 minutes. 

We had a little trouble at the gate since we did not print out the board pass after checking in online. However, the gate agents were very understanding that this is the first time we are flying with them and may not understand the rules clearly. Hence they printed our boarding passes at the gate free of charge, which we really appreciated.

The gate opened at 9.45AM. However, the incoming aircraft arriving from London was behind schedule. We were standing in the cold wind for more than half an hour waiting for the aircraft, with no information on why the aircraft was late and when it will arrive.

Thankfully, we found a Singaporean studying in Freiburg. We had a small chat on the tarmac. It almost felt like an episode of "Find Me A Singaporean".

Boarding was finally called at 10:33AM, and passengers boarded through both the front and back doors. The boarding was completed in about twenty minutes. 

Seat selection comes at a surcharge, so we went without it. The seat was extremely constricted. As we have already known earlier, the seat back does not recline. Since I boarded from the tail of the aircraft, I was surprised to find out that the last row is row 33. I consider myself pretty well acquainted with aircraft and I would say most of the 737-800s I have seen have 30 rows.

The captain gave a welcome address at 10:50AM, informing us the flight time of 1 hr 20 minutes and the ground weather in London. The engines we powered up at 10:58AM and we pushed off from the gate a 11:03AM. It was a slight long taxi of 15 minutes before taking off from runway 33L at 11:18AM.

Apart from a slight turbulence 15 minutes into the flight, the flight was smooth and I quickly dozed off. Perhaps it's just me, but I do have the gift of being able to fall asleep easily, even when flying in economy class.

I woke up about 20 minutes before landing, as we were approaching the English coast.

As the plane descended we approached some really thick clouds and I happened to snap a photo of our plane's shadow being cast on the clouds.

After cutting through the clouds the airport was in sight and we landed at 12:35PM, 45 minutes late. The crew welcomed us to Stansted, and apologised for the delay, wishing "it wasn't too much of an inconvenience". We had a short taxi and arrived at the gate at 12:40PM.

We got off the aircraft and took the transit system to the main terminal, where we cleared British immigration and boarded the Stansted Express to Tottemham Hale. This time round the train ticket costed GBP17.90, again more expensive than the plane ticket.

Conclusion
Ryanair is a budget airline, and we knew that. So we did not expect any onboard service. The flight was a smooth one, and we are satisfied that we are flown from point A to point B safely. The flight departed from Basel, a secondary airport in Switzerland, and landed in Stansted, a secondary airport in London, presumably to cut down on landing and handling fees. Again we understood this. 

The seat is constricted, and despite the fact that I'm tall by Asian standards, I still believe the seat is too small for the market Ryanair operates in, considering that Europeans are generally taller than Asians. Nevertheless, considering the low fare charged by Ryanair (lower than train tickets for a comparable, if not shorter distance), and that most of its flights are short haul, it is not unbearable to the budget traveller.

What I really hated (and hate is a strong word) is the fact that we were left to wait in the cold for nearly 45 minutes at Basel. I understand that London airspace is congested, I also understand that flight delays can be due to many reasons and will certainly not jump to conclusions, blaming the airline for the delay.

However, given the delay and the cold temperature in Basel (2°C), it would be common sense to not leave the passengers in the cold wind for 45 minutes while the plane has not even landed! I mean, yes I understand that one of key points in managing a budget airline is to shorten the turnaround time and maximise aircraft utilisation, so it is in the airline's interest to get the passengers ready to board

Furthermore, the apology was insincere at best and infuriating at worst. I seriously hope it's because I had misunderstood the British sense of humour, however to claim that "we hope it wasn't too much of an inconvenience" after leaving passengers for 45 minutes in the cold wind is plainly inappropriate.

To be fair, this is my first encounter with Ryanair and I will not be too quick to pass judgments. I still have two more flights booked on them and hopefully the remaining two will be better.