Air Berlin - Germany's largest low fare airline 
Air Berlin is a popular and efficient German budget carrier. In 2006, the airline carried early 17 million passengers from 21 German airports, making it Germany's 2nd largest airline after Lufthansa. From Germany, they fly low cost to many destinations around Europe and North Africa.
AirBerlin may be no-frills but they are definitely not low on service: On board meals, non-alcoholic drinks and newspapers are included in the fare, seats are allocated and can be reserved, aircraft are clean and on time.
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Air Berlin Routes and Destinations
From the UK, Air Berlin offers direct scheduled flights from 3 UK airports to 8 German airports: from London Stansted (Berlin Tegel, Dusseldorf, Hanover, Leipzig, Muenster, Nuremberg, Paderborn & Palma); from Manchester (Hamburg, Paderborn); from Bournemouth (Paderborn). In addition, they are one of the few budget airlines to offer proper connecting flights to many cities, via German airports. Domestic routes from Belfast City, Glasgow & Manchester to London Stansted also connect up with onward flights to Germany.
A major Air Berlin flight hub is Palma de Mallorca airport, one of their busiest routes. Passengers are redistributed here and flown onwards to other popular destinations in Spain and Portugal. Some 18 Spanish and Portuguese destinations can be chosen from the UK, with flights going via Palma Majorca.
For fares from £20 return including taxes see...
Flights to Paderborn from London, Bournemouth and Manchester.
Flights to Berlin from London Stansted and Manchester.
Flights to Hamburg from Manchester.
Flights to Zurich from London Stansted and Manchester.
Direct flights from London to Hannover, Munster, Nuremburg and Majorca.
Air Berlin flies on other routes from London to Lisbon, Seville, Valencia and Vienna.
Passenger Opinions, Comments and Reviews
An excellent 4-star rating for Air Berlin has recently come from Skytrax airline surveys, and they've won several top awards in 2005 and 2006. Passenger comments include "best value for money" and "treats you like a human being". Free "tasty" sandwiches or meal, soft drinks and newspapers are popular, as are the allocated seats and amount of legroom. Service is classed as "friendly and competent", arrivals "always on time". Aircraft are considered "clean, tidy and comfortable".
Other Useful Information
| Booking Tips |
Booking well in advance is usually the cheapest, however last-minute bookings can often compete with full-service airlines. The usual booking confirmation number is needed for check-in instead of a paper ticket. There's a credit card payment charge of 6 Euros per booking. Babies under 2 years get 90% discount, children under 12 get 33% discount off the fare before tax. There is even a group discount.
Frequent flyers should check out the Top Bonus Card Silver, this entitles you to lots of free benefits such as best seats, extra luggage allowances and check-in priority. |
| Seat Reservation |
Particular seats can be reserved at booking time for a small fee, free for severely disabled and families with small infants. Seat pitch (legroom) is about 30 inches. Extra legroom seats can be booked by telephone for 20 Euros pp. per flight. |
| Food |
Free sandwiches or a meal and non-alcoholic drinks included on all flights. |
| Baggage |
Up to 20 kg hold baggage is free, hand luggage up to 6 kg (55x40x20cm) or 8 kg for laptops. Excess baggage costs only 5 EUR/kg per flight. Babies under 12 months get free full baggage allowance.
Sports equipment such as skis, fishing rods, golf clubs are carried FREE, bicycles cost 40 EUR return. Top Bonus Card Silver holders can also take a a hang-glider, bicycle or surfboard without extra cost. |
| Check-In |
Check-in desks open at least 1.5 hours before flight, deadline is 30, 45 or 60 minutes before, depending on the departure airport, see check-in times. |
| Flight Changes |
Flights can be rebooked for a fee of 25 Euros pp. plus any fare increase. Flexi fare tickets can be cancelled in writing and are refunded in full. Saver fare tickets and missed flights are not refundable. |
| Aircraft |
AirBerlin mainly uses a new fleet of Boeing 737-800s (186 seats). They also use Airbus A320 (180 seats) and a few Fokker F100 (100 seats). |
Latest News
April 2007 Air Berlin PLC agrees to buy Dusseldorf-based airline LTU, placing Air Berlin in 4th place for European flight traffic.
January 2007 Air Berlin is awarded 'Best Short Haul Business Airline' by Business Travel World. Online German travel agent Travelchannel rates Air Berlin top in the "Low-Cost Carrier" category.
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