Flying experience in these days of Covid

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Wicksey
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Flying experience in these days of Covid

Postby Wicksey » Thu Oct 22, 2020 12:53 pm

We booked a last minute trip to the Canaries and were slightly apprehensive about flying since Covid arrived. I have to say it was a very good experience. Malaga airport was near empty and so it was straight through security, and departures area was also very quiet (departures were for internal or Schengen destinations only so no passport control). We only saw 3 other planes on the tarmac and we boarded early and took off right on time.

When we arrived we were told to remain seated and then exit row by row. Considering the usual scramble to get off we were amazed that everyone abided by the rules and it was all very orderly. The return journey was equally civilised, so we are now looking forward to our next trip away later this year as it was so hassle free.

We also tried out our new TIE cards for boarding and car hire and didn't need our passports at all. When we changed to Spanish driving licences the car hire company were usually use said our ID and driving licences should be from the same country (not sure why as companies in the UK don't mind, perhaps it's a Canarian thing), but having the TIE means that it was all accepted without any question.

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costakid
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Re: Flying experience in these days of Covid

Postby costakid » Thu Oct 22, 2020 6:07 pm

i have 3 returns uk to malaga since 7th of July. All in all not a bad experience. Ryanair are more stricter on walking in the cabin than easyJet.

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Re: Flying experience in these days of Covid

Postby maureenscot » Fri Oct 23, 2020 12:17 am

Same here. Had trip on Ryanair to and from Malaga. On both trips the journey was 45 minutes shorter than usual

katy
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Re: Flying experience in these days of Covid

Postby katy » Fri Oct 23, 2020 5:36 am

costakid wrote: Thu Oct 22, 2020 6:07 pm i have 3 returns uk to malaga since 7th of July. All in all not a bad experience. Ryanair are more stricter on walking in the cabin than easyJet.
You must be spending a lot of time in quarantine :mrgreen:

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Re: Flying experience in these days of Covid

Postby ashtondav » Fri Oct 23, 2020 8:51 am

But don’t Ryanair still pen everyone in on the stairs between the gate and the plane?

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Wicksey
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Re: Flying experience in these days of Covid

Postby Wicksey » Fri Oct 23, 2020 9:53 am

When we arrived back to Malaga we had to get on a bus which was pretty crowded! The plane was obviously not due to go anywhere else that day so it was parked up some distance away from the terminal.

On our Vueling flight they did a trolley service although we always find that the Spanish rarely buy anything from it, so it just whizzed along down the aisle and was gone again. There weren't any restrictions about using the toilets, but then it was less than a two hour flight and even I didn't need to go. It's just a much nicer experience as the airport is generally really quiet, so far less crowded.

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costakid
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Re: Flying experience in these days of Covid

Postby costakid » Fri Oct 23, 2020 10:11 am

ashtondav wrote: Fri Oct 23, 2020 8:51 am But don’t Ryanair still pen everyone in on the stairs between the gate and the plane?
They filter you on a bit quicker than normal and obviously not as many are flying. On 1 flight there was only 22 people. The most was 79 on easy jet last week.

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costakid
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Re: Flying experience in these days of Covid

Postby costakid » Fri Oct 23, 2020 10:21 am

katy wrote: Fri Oct 23, 2020 5:36 am
costakid wrote: Thu Oct 22, 2020 6:07 pm i have 3 returns uk to malaga since 7th of July. All in all not a bad experience. Ryanair are more stricter on walking in the cabin than easyJet.
You must be spending a lot of time in quarantine :mrgreen:
well only twice as early july there was no quarantine.

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Re: Flying experience in these days of Covid

Postby Lavanda » Sat Oct 24, 2020 9:04 pm

I posted my experiences with EasyJet, flying in July and then September. Both flights were stress-free and quite nice, really.

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Re: Flying experience in these days of Covid

Postby katy » Sat Oct 24, 2020 11:00 pm


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Wicksey
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Re: Flying experience in these days of Covid

Postby Wicksey » Sun Oct 25, 2020 1:49 pm

Looks like no-one had gone through passport control until their flight had been called in Rhodes. That's another reason why we are sticking to internal flights as there's no passport control hassle.

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Re: Flying experience in these days of Covid

Postby Jolly » Thu Oct 29, 2020 4:45 pm

We flew Ryanair from Stansted - Malaga on 19th October and the return route on 22nd October. Both airports were very quiet, Malaga had little or no hot food outlets in the airport. Security was lightening quick. There were 27 passengers on our flight back and a slightly higher amount from Stansted. My advice is to not pay extra for being seated together because when you get on the plane you sit pretty much anywhere you liked. (i Chose the extra legroom seats by the emergency exits) for both flights without any problem. My other half sat behind me stretched out over 3 empty seats having a kip. They were still selling drinks/food/perfumes on board. As someone has already mentioned both flights were quicker than usual. Masks on board and in the airports yes, but on the bus from Malaga terminal to the plane there was no such thing as social distancing. Be aware that on arrival at Malaga there were temperature checks etc and anyone who hadn't got the QR code for the Passenger Location App (SPTH) had to fill in a paper form (which was handed out at Stansted before boarding. Typically arriving back in Stansted there was nothing.
All in all it was quite a pleasant experience, only soured by us now having to self isolate for 14 days. Strange Times indeed.
Take care everyone.


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