Hi, we are in the planning stages for a trip to Cyprus and Malta for early Jan or late December. We were looking at flight options from Cyprus to Malta and it seems there are only two non stop options: Emirates (Larnaca airport to Malta) for $240, and Ryanair (Paphos airport to Malta).



Ryanair being an Ultra LCC, has pricing that reminds me of a Build A Bear workshop I attended with my nieces a couple of years back - keep adding ingredients till you get it right. Thing is though, that even after adding in literally everything we could think of, it still comes out super cheap. We are getting pricing of around $115 per head, for 20 kg checked luggage, 2 cabin pieces, priority boarding and front row seats, plus a meal. This is less than half the Emirates fare, which would give us the same amenities except priority boarding.



So my question is, how is Ryanair as far as reliability and flight delays go? We'd love to save some $, but not at the cost of taking a chance that the airline might cancel on us last minute or else long delays that would eat into our vacation time. What have your recent experiences have been?



Thanks! As Americans, we personally are not familiar with European LCC's. I've flown both on Air Asia in Indonesia and Indigo in India, both of which were fine. Have heard some horror stories about American LCC's like Spirit, so was wondering if the European ones were better.

Ryanair are generally reliable and have performed well through the pandemic. Last minute cancellations are always possible but Ryanair is no worse than any other carrier in that respect, perhaps much better than some other European carriers.

EK would be a more comfortable option, but I suspect your FR flight will go without issue if you stick to FR’s rules.