Boarding same plane back, after 25 min. possible, realistic.

Last Monday I flew from Madrid to Verona and back in the same plane. The reason for my trip was handing a child to her mother in Verona, Ryanair does not take unaccompanied minors. The crew were very helpful and kind, I appreciate their support. Not that I had a lot of time left, but it was not nearly as tight as I feared. The only problem was a lady at the security in Verona tried to block me because she thought the plane had already left, but the screen showed it was still boarding. I would encourage Ryanair to offer this option in small airports were it certainly is feasible.

flying back in the same plane??? How is it possible? Gate is closing 30minutes before flight, isn´t it?

Yes, gates close 30 minutes before flight, in theory. Actually, Ryanair refuels planes for efficiency, and that takes some time, and because Ryanair does not assign seats, they are able to load the plane with passengers faster. I would bet most of their planes take off less than 30 minutes before the last passenger walks through the boarding gate. In reality, boarding starts 30 minutes before departure, so that a long queue will provide 10 minutes worth of time to exit the plane, reach the terminal and proceed through security. Not very much, but enough for a small airport!

It depends on the arrival/departure airport(size and departure procedures) it obviously worked at verona but for such a tight departure time(a risk in my opinion) - if the boarding staff are not feeling so generous then things could take a turn for the worst.

My fear was I might have to take a bus through the runway to reach the plane. In Verona that happened, even if the distance from the plane to the terminal building is quite small. But even so, the buses did not cross on the runway, it was possible to reach the gate, jump on the bus and board the plane. I think Ryanair should make this available in small airports, like Bergamo, Charleroi, Verona, Santander... where the risk is very small, after all if the plane is delayed upon arrival, the delay will be carried to the departing flight. The critical detail is that the plane must be the same. I took my child and returned at a price that was better than what other airlines charge for solo flights by children as unaccompanied minors, the flights took just 4 hours and the child felt better.

But usually departing passengers are kept completely separate from arriving passengers. How on earth would you get in the departure area to board the same plane back? The gate would be long closed and security shouldn't let you through.
Don't see how this is possible at all.

I have not been into verona but - I landed at faro and palma de mallorca and each time we arrived we actually walked through the departing gate passed the passengers waiting to board our flight... back to its original destination .. if i wanted on both occasions i could simply join the line of passengers and board the same plane( at palma i would have time to buy duty free lol..... maybe the same at other airports im unsure.

Joining the line of pax who are embarking the plane, without you being boarded by the gate agent: big no-no! Two words: head count!!!

There are a few airports where this could work. Not only the size that matters, but also the number of flights at the time and the speed of security screening. There are airports where disembarking pax mix with boarding pax, there is a better chance, since you do not have to go through security again. In the Hungarian low-cost forum we actually categorize airports by whether arriving and departing pax are separated or not. For example RIX and MMX are airports where they mix, with a good chance of taking the same plane back (or somewhere else if it flies a W pattern). I think the key point is if you want to try this is to have a backup plan, like a ticket for the next flight, place to stay etc.

szikor wrote:Joining the line of pax who are embarking the plane, without you being boarded by the gate agent: big no-no! Two words: head count!!!

I do mean join the line of pax hand in the boarding pass then board the plane....

In many airports, the bar code of your boarding pass is first electronically checked before the security - and again at the boarding gate.
At the gate, they know if somebody has registered at the first check but is missing at the boarding.
What happens if you don't pass the first check and go straight to the gate ?

Well at airports where inbound and outbound pax mix you could easily be a transfer passenger, so I don't think they would monitor any discrepancy between the two checkpoints.
Anyways in my experience there are a very few low-cost airports where arriving and departing passengers "meet": AGP, BCN, BIO, (EIN?), (MAD?), MST, OPO, PMI and RIX all that I know of.

Incoming and outgoing passenger queues are sometimes close, however, in Verona I had sufficient time to go through security. My real problem was finding my way (not completely easy when you do not know the airport well) and arguing with a lady at security who thought it was too late to board, until she looked at "boarding" flashing in the departure screen. I believe Ryanair should allow / encourage this because it is a good option to take minors back from holidays. You know, Ryanair does not allow unaccompanied minors, but competitive prices and consistent on time records make it attractive to accompany them, rather than pay other airlines for the service and let the child fly solo. In Verona I got help from the crew but I am positive I did not cause delay for departure, I was not the last person at the boarding gate, just among the last.