61–70 of 110 posts
Worth noting the incident in 2013 where the US and EU collaborated to ground a plane to target a whistleblower: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident
Not the time for what-about. Why is it worth noting?
It exposes the hypocrisy in the statements coming from our governments right now.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is an interview with the First Deputy Commander of the Air Force and Air Defense Forces of Belarus where he confirms that Mig-29 escorted the Boeing https://youtu.be/dsyfJ_HqjtQ Additionally there is an alleged video of the Mig landing after escort with 6 air-to-air missiles visible https://youtu.be/AV8Im44ZtoI
Non of those sources shows MiG-29's side-by-side with Ryanair's plane in flight.
Worth noting the incident in 2013 where the US and EU collaborated to ground a plane to target a whistleblower: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident
Not the time for what-about. Why is it worth noting?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because you'll often be faced with a 500 euro+ fare for a short flight on the national airlines, with either one of WizzAir/RyanAir offering the same flight for 20-80 euro. 9/10 times the service is near-identical to a flagship. 1/10 times, the sub-par exception handling reveals itself. That's a trade-off I make regularly to save 400 euros.
There is a major difference: space. I cannot sit in a ryanair/transavia/whizzair seat for more than takeoff before the person in front has destroyed my knees. Most "premium" airlines have 1-2 inches more space and the option for more spacious seats.
I fly a lot with RyanAir, WizzAir and the other discount-airlines, because what they offer is great value - and when you upgrade a bit, it is not terrible.
A ticket listed for 50EUR, I usually end up paying around 100EUR with extras (legroom, luggage allowance).
Good to know that if Ryanair says "passengers" they mean "some of the passengers".
Edit: Also, as Flightradar24 states, Minsk was not the nearest airport at the time the plane was diverted, and it likely was never the fastest-to-reach airport while the plane was over Belarus, because the pilots would be prepared for a landing in Vilnius.
The plane crossed the border into Belarus at ~9:30 around (51.929851, 25.369313), 280 km from Minsk airport, 300 km from Vilnius airport, with the Vilnius runway at a favorable angle and the Minsk runways perpendicular to the shortest path from their position to Minsk. So Ryanair's statement that it was the nearest airport sounds like bullshit too. At the time the plane made the turn (starting at ~9:45), it was about 2 minutes away from leaving Belarus airspace.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I do not know why anyone uses them still. I find them awful in every way. Will stay-cation if I cannot afford the ticket with another airline.
Let's see, will fly with them tomorrow. Faro->Porto (550km). 9.95 euros. 50 minutes flight Train-> 6 hours, which is usually 7+ due to delays (last one I did in December was 7.20 making me late for a training) and costs 39 euros (20 if I buy 1 month in advance) National airline -> No direct flight, need to fly to Lisbon and then Porto, total around 4-5 hours (two flights + layover), 80+ euros last time I checked. Ser…
"Ooh I'm so cramped, and I didn't even get a free meal" so either deal with the hassle, time and cost of any other form of transit, or fork over 300 more euros for a big seat on a different airline!
I live in the US, and we almost never get Ryanair prices. I think I've paid 12 euros to fly Ryanair between two countries. That's insane.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, EU skies are no longer safe. If a journalist can be picked up, anyone can be. Ryann air is at fault, pilot really is - he could have kept his course. It would be a game of chicken and risky. So hard to say what is right wrong here. Most importantly, its the fact that EU is weak and Belarus did the math and concluded they would get away with it. Simple As that.
Pilot was told their flight was being diverted due to a suspected bomb on board. What "game of chicken" would make a pilot doubt that instruction and chose to keep flying, given what the information they were being presented at the time? It's not like they called to the plane and said "we'd like to kidnap a passenger, please land" and the pilot went along with it.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I do not know why anyone uses them still. I find them awful in every way. Will stay-cation if I cannot afford the ticket with another airline.
Let's see, will fly with them tomorrow. Faro->Porto (550km). 9.95 euros. 50 minutes flight Train-> 6 hours, which is usually 7+ due to delays (last one I did in December was 7.20 making me late for a training) and costs 39 euros (20 if I buy 1 month in advance) National airline -> No direct flight, need to fly to Lisbon and then Porto, total around 4-5 hours (two flights + layover), 80+ euros last time I checked. Ser…
> Train-> 6 hours, which is usually 7+ due to delays (last one I did in December was 7.20 making me late for a training) and costs 39 euros (20 if I buy 1 month in advance)
Look, I do not strictly disagree with your comparison and I have often taken low cost airlines for the same reasons here and in asia (though airasia is a whole other class above ryanair so i'm not sure it's fair to compare them).
But you're missing four important things:
1. those 50 minutes are actually at least 90 in reality, from entering the starting airport to leaving the destination airport, when taking into account check in and baggage, depending on the crowd.
2. the airport they use is off the city by a fair bit, adding at least 20 minutes of car or rail travel + costs, often both side (in and out)
3. if you need to add any kind of baggage + the link to the city, you end up costing the same as train
4. depends on rail link but here in france for such travel it's common to have a tgv or similar, which gives you ample room for your legs and a proper table for your laptop, along with power, so you can work
Low cost airlines have their advantages, but it's not that clear cut over train: 2h/2h30 where you can't do anything and unpleasant vs 6h where you are not cramped and can reliably work and / or relax. At least for intra-national travel at eu-scale train should be majorly pushed, and I personally agree with my country's plan to do so.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Non of those sources shows MiG-29's side-by-side with Ryanair's plane in flight.
How many cameras do you think exist capable of capturing a MIG-29 at 50k altitude in low population density areas? I doubt there are pictures of most military interceptions of passenger flights, which is no reason to doubt they happened.
(Based on the passenger numbers, assuming 3+3 seating, and assuming everyone has, on average, one smartphone with a camera).
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I do not know why anyone uses them still. I find them awful in every way. Will stay-cation if I cannot afford the ticket with another airline.
Let's see, will fly with them tomorrow. Faro->Porto (550km). 9.95 euros. 50 minutes flight Train-> 6 hours, which is usually 7+ due to delays (last one I did in December was 7.20 making me late for a training) and costs 39 euros (20 if I buy 1 month in advance) National airline -> No direct flight, need to fly to Lisbon and then Porto, total around 4-5 hours (two flights + layover), 80+ euros last time I checked. Ser…
