Airline review: Ryanair

Ryanair is not my first choice when it comes to airlines. Neither my second one but I am not that anti I would never fly with them and have so done like 15 years ago so when I looked for flights to Marrakech and the best option in regards to travel time was Ryanair I booked it. A direct flights from Stockholm Skavsta to Marrakech with departure at Friday afternoon costed me 249 SEK (25 EUR). I was actually quite curious to check out the airline 15 years later and with an open mind without any expectations I took Flygbussen from Stockholm city terminal to Skavsta a snowy Friday morning.

The bus tour took almost two hours due to heavy snow. It should take 80 minutes but the WiFi was great and I spent the whole journey working.

Skavsta airport

Upon arrival to Skavsta there were no lines to the security check. It took me five minutes from entering the terminal until I was sitting in the Priority pass lounge. The lounge was very quiet and offered cinnamon buns, croissants, fruit and drinks which I enjoyed for yet another two hours while working. Then it was boarding time. In some way I had managed to lose my boarding pass and thought big no! It’s Ryanair and it clearly said it was supposed to be printed out in order to avoid to pay more than twice of what the flight including a 10K carry on costed me. But you know what, the staff was very friendly and without even mention anything they printed out a boarding pass to me.

Ryanair Boeing 737

Then it was boarding time and I got a middle seat. 21B. I had not paid extra for seat selection but the seat wasn’t that bad. Had been sitting in much worse ones. At Ryanair you cannot recline the seats, but if you are in the airline business working with spares you know the extreme cost of recliners and actuators so it is a great way to save money. It didn’t bothered me during the flight at all. When the neighbor in-front of you doesn’t recline you don’t have to recline your seat either to get enough space.

Then that the interior is really ugly is another topic. In this Boeing 737-800 aircraft I didn’t noted any visible defect items like meal trays, armrests or worn carpets. Everything is done to a functional easy maintained minimum and it works. From a safety point of view I also think it is a smart idea (not cosmetic nice though) to have the emergency information right in front of your face.

The onboard entertainment was of course non eco siting but with both iPad, laptop, reading material and snacks I was well prepared. Food and beverages were available for purchase and I have never seen any on-board assortment as wide as this one. No wonder that these ancillary products is a big source of income to low cost carriers if they bring the right items.

Would I recommend Ryanair?

Ryanair takes you from point A to point B and I am truly impressed how big marketshare they have in Europe and how well their business model is working. But with the low price of the flight comes low security in terms of if something happens like a cancelation then you cannot count on any help or compensation. But as long as you know what you are paying for and keep your expectations inline with that I wouldn’t regard Ryanair as an airline not taking into consideration when booking a trip.

Anyone else who have traveled with Ryanair? How was your experience?

/ Pernilla that tried Ryanair