LBA-DUB-LBA With Ryanair

LBA-DUB-LBA

Well…The wonders of modern technology (namely my new laptop), allow me to write this trip report in a slightly different way to my last one. For the most part I’m writing this ‘on the move’.

My trip today is for no other purpose than to bring my number of flights this year up to the magical 50 (although today’s flights are 47 and 48. 49 and 50 are on the 29th December on the same route!) Basically, the rough plan is to fly to DUB, take a few photos around the airport, have a good few beers, and fly back. Not a bad way to spend a few hours!

09:15 Departures Leeds Bradford Airport

I’m currently sat in Departures at LBA, stealing some power from a socket near the entrance to the BMI lounge (I pay airport tax, surely that entitles me to free power!) Unfortunately though I’m in an area not covered by wifi. Not impressed!

I arrived at the airport at 8:30-ish and checked in immediately, so I guess the check in desk opened early. It was effortless as usual, and followed by a cup of tea and brief chat with an old lady waiting for her daughter to arrive from Newquay, and a pleasant Australian guy who had done the same Air Southwest flight via Bristol a few months previous.

Airport security seems to be a little hit and miss for me. Sometimes I sail through with no problem whatsoever, and others it seems staff single me out for no other reason than to relieve a moment of boredom. Today wasn’t so bad. I had my coat searched (my keyring looked a little suspicious apparently, and my iPod and phone were in there), but I was on my way soon enough, and the staff were pleasant and polite as is usually the case at LBA.

This is my fifth return trip to DUB, and of course my previous trips have been on the B737-200. Last night was the ‘official’ last flight of the 200 series for Ryanair, so I’m guessing I’ll be on a 738 both ways.

Anyway, there is a bar 30 seconds walk from where I am now, and although it may be 9:54am, I think I’ll have a beer. My report may be a little incoherent from this point on!

14:22 Departures – Dublin Airport

I surprisingly only had the one beer at LBA, and my flight to DUB was a 738. EI-CSO. A good flight, albeit a little cloudy.

I’m starting to wish I’d have had a few more beers as this is turning out to be a slightly disappointing trip, and I’m rapidly falling out with Dublin Airport.

Firstly, as can be expected I guess, for photography purposes the light was very poor, but I can live with that. After all, it is December! The main problem however, was on arriving to check in for my return flight I was greeted by the biggest excuse for a check in system I’ve ever seen. At area 8 there were a total of six queues to three different destinations (one of them being LBA). Well…I say queues. It was difficult to tell what they were. It looked like a random congregation of people gathered for no good reason or purpose. Everything was so impressively disorganised it deserved an award of some kind. I could see the two check in desks for LBA, but it took me 15 minutes to find the corresponding queue, then a further 30 minutes to get to the actual desk. FR staff were trying their best to get things organised, and they clearly had some unexpected problems, but I just felt with a little more general planning this mess could have been avoided. Surely they’ve encountered this situation before. It seems every time I fly out of DUB there’s some kind of problem or delay. Get it sorted people!

Fearing security may be just as busy as the check in desks, I gave my ritual drinks in the Skybar a miss and headed straight through to Departures. We arrived at, and are departing from a different gate to the one used when the 732’s were in operation on this route. There is a very small bar in this part of the airport which was open on my arrival. It’s closed now right when I’m really in the mood for a beer! I am not impressed! Anyway, I have ways to occupy my time, even if it is only adding to this report! We should be boarding in 30 minutes assuming everything goes according to plan, whatever the plan may be.

17:08 LBA

Here I am back at LBA. Boarding was delayed by 10 or so minutes, and after a while spent in another somewhat disorganised queue, we boarded 738 EI-DCG, one of the newer aircraft with fixed seats that don’t recline and an interior designed with advice from a canary. It’s another pleasant flight, and I have a good chat with the guy sat next to me who was heading back to England to see his parents for Christmas. One thing I like about travelling alone is the variety of different people you meet. Random conversations with people you’ve never met before and will probably never meet again can be fun! It has to be said though, the 738’s, while they’re nice aircraft and I like them, feel cold, sterile and lacking energy compared to their older sisters. An era of flight from Leeds Bradford International Airport has ended, but I’m very, very happy I was there to be a part of it.

Anyway, I’m currently sat in Yates’s in the terminal at LBA enjoying a pint of Carling. I’ll be heading home very shortly to finish this report off (and post it).

19:00 Back Home

All in all today has had its annoyances, but it’s been good. Here are a few photos I managed to snap. Not the highest quality, but here they are!

On the way out:

Any day where you have an A330 glide overhead like this can’t be all that bad!

This is a special photo for me. I thought I’d never see an FR 732 in action again, but as I was stood under the approach to runway 28, this old girl made an appearance. I have no idea whether she was on a passenger service or taking her final flight to the airplane graveyard, but my final memory of this beautiful machine couldn’t be more spectacular.

On the way back:

So there we have it. I’m doing this mad little trip again next Friday, I should feel like writing a more in depth report then!

Paul

P.S. Apologies for the photos being different sizes. I have no idea why it’s happened like this and it’s REALLY annoying me!