Airline: Ryanair UK
Flight #: RK2367
Route: KSC-STN
Class: Economy
Seat: 12A
Date: Friday 23rd June 2023
Having had a short but enjoyable time exploring Slovakia’s second city (read about that here), I had jumped in a taxi from the outskirts of Košice’s old town to take me back to the airport in time for my flight back to the UK with Ryanair. Or at least Ryanair’s UK subsidiary, conveniently named Ryanair UK.
I arrived back at Košice airport around two hours before my flight and headed straight for security, having already checked in online. Weirdly I was turned away and advised that only passengers for Vienna could head through and, with no reason given I assumed this was owing to Schengen and non-Schengen passengers not being able to be split when airside.
Eventually, around 85 minutes before departure, we were thankfully allowed through security as the queue of passengers for both London and Monastir was causing havoc within the check-in areas. Queues were clashing with queues and all in all chaos reigned. Thankfully, security itself was a breeze and I was through into departures within a few minutes.
Whilst not the smallest airport I’ve used, Košice is certainly on the small side, with just six gates lettered A-H (no C or E for some reason). With passport control separating gates F, G & H from A, B and D, the only logical reason I could come up with for being held landside disappeared and I was once again confused as to why this happened. Getting the exit stamp in my passport, I headed through to the large room that was Gate G, giving the café a miss and settling down in the rear half of the room set aside for non-priority passengers.
Boarding started around 1605, around 20 minutes before departure and was rather chaotic as people learnt that ‘random seat allocation’ means ‘random seat allocation’ and you won’t all get seats together without paying Ryanair some extra money. The positive of all this chopping and changing was that I, sat in my usual seat 12A, ended up with an empty seat next to me!
Our aircraft for the flight back to the UK was G-RUKG, a 15 year old Boeing 737-800 that was initially delivered to Ryanair as EI-DYM. Re-registered as G-RUKG in 2021, the aircraft was transferred to Ryanair UK to allow the airline to continue to operated UK domestic flights following Brexit, with it being primarily based out of London Stansted and fitting European trips around its domestic duties.
Compared to seat 12A on the Boeing 737-8 Max 200 that I flew out on, the window is much better positioned on the Boeing 737-800, meaning I was able to see outside without having to become a contortionist. Whilst this 737-800 also had the modern streamlines seats, the maximum capacity of 189 meant there was a centimetre or so more legroom which made all the difference for my knees.
As we prepared for departure I learnt two things, the first is that aircraft dispatchers at Košice airport use bicycles to reach the aircraft across the tarmac and the second that our captain for the flight back was very jolly. Jolly announcement completed, the engines powered up and a bit of thrust was all that was needed for us to taxi out from our side-on position on the apron.
Taxiing out to runway 19, we were held for a few minutes for an inbound Air Explore flight to land. Whilst holding for inbound aircraft is usual practice, the length of time we were held for would have made air traffic controllers at Heathrow blush! Eventually taking off at 1641, 16 minutes late, we climbed to 4,000feet before taking a right turn to avoid Hungarian airspace.
Following the Slovakian/Hungarian border for a while, 15 minutes into the flight we passed through 30,000feet and began to turn towards the north-east, to take us across Czechia, Germany and the Netherlands before crossing the North Sea. The inflight service began not long after take-off and I bought a meal deal of a chicken and mozzarella panini, a coke and Twix for €10.99. I’ve got to say that Ryanair really do their inflight catering well with plenty of choice and the food actually being tasty.
Part way through the flight the clouds began to break and the seat belt signs came on as we passed over the middle of Germany. I assume the pilots believed some turbulence was imminent, but we seemed to avoid it and the rest of the flight was pretty uneventful with us crossing over the English coast above the Suffolk Coasts and Heath AONB, with the Port of Felixstowe in view out of the window.
Despite the 16 minute delay to departure, we landed at Stansted at 1759, one minute early and we soon taxing past the UPS, Cargoair and pair of FexEx aircraft parked on the cargo stands. Stansted is an important freight hub for the UK, being the third-busiest after Heathrow and East Midlands airports with over a quarter of a million tonnes in 2021.
Whilst an on-time arrival is greatly appreciated it is diminished by arriving at the same time as a load of other flights, meaning I got to experience the hell that is passport control at Stansted. This is genuinely the worst part of any airport experience I have ever experienced and I am definitely going to investigate the priority lane for my next jaunt from the airport.
Arriving back landside at 1832, I had once again had a nondescript and generally ok flight with Ryanair. I have always said that if you know what you are paying for and go into the experience expecting what Ryanair offer then the flights and generally ok. The crews are friendly, the food ok and more often than not on time. Just don’t expect a 5* experience with everything included.
Lounge 0*
Seat/Facilities 3*
Food 4*
Service 5*
Punctuality 5*
Overall Rating 17/25 (read about my rating system here!)
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