We have only flown with Ryanair a couple of times and that was quite a few years ago. The reasons for this include their reputation and Michael O’Leary (he’s like the ‘Anti-Branson’) although the main reason was the lack of available routes from nearby airports.
So it was good to see Ryanair introducing a twice-weekly route from Cardiff Airport to Malta. Useful, as Valletta was a city we were looking to visit in 2019.
We booked the Wednesday evening flight on the winter schedule and to be honest, we weren’t expecting much from Ryanair so let’s take a closer look. The trip was not sponsored and we paid for all costs ourselves.
Arrival, Check-In And Boarding At Cardiff
On our last couple of trips, we’ve used the Meet & Greet car park at Cardiff Airport. It’s been one of the cheapest options over 7 days and it is the closest to the terminal.
Inside the terminal, Ryanair check-in is all self-service so make sure you have your boarding pass printed out. Don’t worry if you think the machines are against you there are staff available if you need help.
Ryanair is quite strict on the carry-on bag size so make sure it is within their permitted dimensions, we saw a few people being caught out by this.
Ryanair has very short turnaround times so they like to get you all queuing at the gate before the incoming plane has landed. They have two boarding groups, priority which was included in our extra legroom ticket price and standard boarding.
Priority boarding can be a big group as they can sell up to 100 priority boarding seats on a plane with approximately 180 seats.
Unusually, boarding used the plane’s own steps and not via an airbridge or the ground support boarding steps. These built-in steps can be quite steep and narrow so something to bear in mind if you are not that mobile. It did feel a bit like climbing a step ladder!
Despite the initial appearance of long lines (the flight was full), boarding was completed quite quickly. Most importantly the flight departed on time and there was room in the overhead lockers maybe as a result of their strict enforcement of the carry-on bag size.
As mentioned, we were in the extra legroom seats – row 2 on the right-hand side of the aircraft. These seats do give you plenty of space to stretch out. However, if you do choose to sit here all your belongings must go in the overhead locker for take-off and landing also, as the tray is stored in the armrest the width of the seats are slightly narrower than the standard seats.
Personally, we don’t mind the narrower seats and prefer the extra legroom but if you are Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson it could be a tight fit. But there again, if you are Dwayne Johnson we doubt you’ll be flying Ryanair!
Onboard The Ryanair 737-800
Onboard the facilities were pretty basic which is typical of most European short-haul airlines, no wifi, no entertainment system and no power supply. Most of us now fly prepared with our own gadgets and as the actual flight time is not that long the onboard experience was fine.
We only tried the tea and coffee which again was fine and the prices were comparable with other airlines, the service was efficient but you could tell the staff have had a busy day. Not rude in any way but don’t expect a smile.
Arrival In Malta
The plane landed in Malta on time after a perfectly respectable flight, no-frills but Ryanair did their job. Would we drive all the way up to Stanstead to take a Ryanair flight? Well, that’s probably a no but would we fly with them again from Cardiff? That’s a definite yes.
