Spazio extra per le gambe e prosecco servito in flutes, decolla il primo jet di lusso low cost
by Zoe Wood, The Guardian, April 12, 2016
There is no scrum at the boarding gate and enough legroom to tap dance in. This is Ryanair, but not as we know it.
With the tap of plastic champagne flutes, the Irish airline’s new corporate jet service embarked on its maiden voyage on Tuesday, with a short hop from London Gatwick to its spiritual home in Dublin. And for € 5,000 (£4,000) an hour you too can live like a Ryanair VIP.
There’s no shower or Austin Powers-style gyrating bed but you and 59 of your best mates can swap the overpriced paninis, Pringles and soft drinks of cattle class to party on your personal Ryanair plane.
For a price the budget airline will even lay on “fine dining”, which for its first outing was a smorgasbord of fruit salad – complete with 1970s-style melon balls – smoked salmon and pastries and copious amounts of fizz, albeit prosecco rather than champagne.
The 737-700 has been refurbished with 15 rows of plush leather seats. With two seats where there would normally be three, there is plenty of elbow room. And the 48in seat pitch – airline speak for extra legroom – means even the most enthusiastic “manspreader” can relax without invading his travelling companion’s personal space.
With an army of stewardesses clad in the airline’s smart blue tailored uniforms, complete with orange cravats and tight hair buns, if you half close your eyes you might think for a minute you were in business class on British Airways. There is limited Ryanair branding on board and the migraine-inducing yellow has been replaced with chic navy.