My next stop was Lisbon, Portugal. As this was going to be a bit of a longer sector, my initial plan was to fly on a legacy carrier. But once again I ended up flying low-cost... not for the price, but out of sheer convenience.
From Budapest to Lisbon there are only two airlines flying direct. But with the TAP flight's departure time of 4am, I didn't even consider it. The other direct option was Wizz Air, a Hungarian low-cost airline. I hadn't flown them before so thought I might as well give them a go. (I did also consider indirect options but there were no reasonably-priced options with good connections that day.)
W6 2393 Budapest - Lisbon
Airbus A320
Departure time: 16:30
Arrival time: 19:25
Before I start talking about the flight, one interesting thing that I noticed with Budapest Airport... at the security checkpoint there was a "fast track/priority" lane for elite frequent flyers. Outside this lane was a vending machine where you could actually pay 1500 HUF (about $7.50) to use the fast track lane.
Boarding for the flight was definitely a LCC experience. We didn't board from the main terminal, rather a shed used by certain low-cost airlines. And when I say shed, I mean it...
After having our boarding passes scanned, passengers were kept standing in a waiting area for ages until boarding actually commenced.
Once on board, things improved greatly. The A320 aircraft was immaculately clean and seemed brand new. There was no in-flight entertainment but that was to be expected. The leather seats were sufficiently comfortable. I paid extra to sit in 1A and found the legroom adequate. I can't comment on the other rows but would imagine it would be the same as on any other low-cost airline.
The flight attendants were all young, but professional and friendly. All cabin announcements were made in English first and then Hungarian.
After take-off the first of two meal services commenced. The second was completed an hour before landing. I purchased dinner, and was satisfied with a chicken baguette, beer and nuts for €8 (by airline food standards, anyway).
The flight was absolutely fine, and exceeded expectations. My only criticism was that there was a group of obviously first-time flyers in the rows behind me that made a lot of noise throughout the flight. But that's hardly the airline's fault and nothing that my noise-cancelling headphones couldn't fix.
Just one other tiny thing: when we landed, the flight attendant announced that the local time was 8.25pm. It was actually an hour earlier than that due to the time zone change. But let's be honest, I'm nitpicking here.
Overall the flight was absolutely fine and I'd be happy to fly Wizz Air again. And considering their growing presence in eastern Europe and very low fares, it's quite likely that I will at some point.
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