A YouTuber who took on a whirlwind European adventure has declared that one specific time of day for flying is essentially "cursed", after cramming eight Ryanair flights into a gruelling 50-hour period.

Scott Manson, who chronicles his travels on his YouTube channel Planes, Trains, Everything, jetted from Glasgow to Dublin, then Edinburgh, Palma, Barcelona, Venice, Naples, Bergamo and ultimately back to Edinburgh — putting budget airline endurance to the test while offering candid insights about airports, seats and hold-ups.

Looking back on his frantic schedule, Scott revealed: "Out of all the airports I went through - Glasgow, Dublin, Edinburgh, Palma, Barcelona, Venice, Naples and Bergamo - Bergamo was the most disorganised and crowded. Venice was the most disappointing because it was so crowded, with a limited number of food and drink options and an acute lack of seating. Too many people, not enough seats."

• Two UK attractions set to introduce phone ban for families over half term


• Brits face 'horrendous' 3-hour queues on tarmac at Tenerife after huge changes in airport

The jam-packed timetable resulted in lengthy waits in terminals and even more prolonged periods aboard planes, which he confessed left him physically drained.

Scott continued: "Regarding random seat selection, which I did on all eight flights, I was allocated four middle seats, two aisles and two windows. It's not a very scientific experiment, but that's what happened. I have a sore back because of the number of hours I've spent on Ryanair seats, and I have dry lips because of the amount of time I've spent in airports." Reports the Manchester Evening News.

Despite bracing himself for chaos, Scott revealed that the majority of his flights went off without a hitch. "Of the eight flights, six were on time or early. Two were delayed by only between 20 and 30 minutes, and that was the 3pm curse."

He theorised that budget airlines might be particularly susceptible to cascading delays due to their tight timetables, noting: "I think low-cost airlines are probably more prone to delays than legacy airlines because they have a sharp turnaround of only 20 or 25 minutes, so there's no wiggle room if they are running a little bit late."

While Scott attributed his hold-ups to a "3pm curse", aviation industry insiders confirm there's genuine evidence indicating afternoon take-offs are more susceptible to running behind schedule. Data from travel platform Going.com shows that in 2022, 2.8 per cent of flights were scrapped and 19 per cent experienced delays.

Industry professionals advise opting for earlier departures to minimise disruption risks. Research by ZipDo discovered that 70 per cent of flights set to leave before 8am boast superior punctuality records compared to those departing post-10am.

The study further highlighted that morning flights between 7am and 10am achieve an 88 per cent on-time performance, whereas afternoon departures between 10am and 1pm manage only 76 per cent. A specialist from Going.com shed light on why this trend occurs: "More importantly, the plane has been parked at the airport overnight; it's ready to go. Afternoon flights almost always use a plane that has to fly in from elsewhere, and if that flight gets disrupted, well, then your flight is at risk."

Weather conditions also factor in, with typically calmer mornings helping to minimise disruptions from storms or air-traffic bottlenecks.

Despite operating with notoriously tight turnaround schedules, Ryanair's punctuality statistics paint a fairly positive picture. The budget airline clocked 88 per cent on-time performance across 73,000 flights in January 2026.

During the latter months of 2025, punctuality hovered between 89 and 90 per cent over tens of thousands of monthly departures, highlighting the sheer volume at which the no-frills carrier functions.