Flight FR116
Dublin – Gatwick
EI-DLL B737-800W

Sched Time of Dep – 1545
Actual Time of Dep – 1605

Sched Time of Arr – 1705
Actual Time of Arr – 1704

Boarding was through gate A12 and many flights were going, all with 30 minute delays, I guess due to the lack of availability of a plane due to the Paris flight incident. The Leeds/Bradford flight left from A7 30 minutes late I think with 171 people on board (I heard the dispatcher saying the figures on the radio). The 1505 LGW flight left on time, but by 1525 our plane had yet to turn up. Everyone began fearing a long delay, but at around 1535 EI-DLL turned up again and the passengers (another full load) disembarked, along with our crew earlier this morning.

The next crew arrived and one of the less senior members came and did the boarding, which was a bit of a farce as always. We got through soon after and headed to -DLL, in vastly different conditions to Gatwick earlier. It was blowing a gale now, but I managed to take this shot as we climbed the now working front airstairs.

Our ‘Number 1’, as Ryanair call them, for our flight was Manuel who checked the boarding cards and we took 10F, level with the engine as the last remaining passengers boarded and the doors shut. A 20 minute turnaround including a crew change is massively impressive, and ensured we got back on schedule.

Taxi out to rwy 28 was swift and we did a rolling take off after a A320 had vacated. I love that whine that the 737NG engines make on take off and climb, and we climbed into the clouds quickly after a smooth take off and headed for the Irish Sea. The cruise was as per usual with the descent coming very quickly, which included a nice tour of the south coast plus my home town :). The gear was lowered about 3 miles before touchdown and we landed just on time after a TCX 757. Several easyJet A319s landed after us and the Ryanair flight which was at Dublin earlier was ready to depart to Ireland West airport.

Arrival was at Stand 10 again and ended a great days flying with Ryanair. I had a quick peek inside the flight deck before disembarking.

Hope you liked it,

Tom