Home > Air Berlin > Review

Taken 4 April 2008 from Manchester, England (Ringway International Airport) - MAN to Paderborn/Lippstadt - PAD

INTRO: I visit Germany quite often to see family and Paderborn or Hannover airports are the nearest to my destination. This was my first flight into to Paderborn and my first trip with Air Berlin! The last time I flew into Hannover with Hapag-LLoyd Express/HLX (now called TUIfly). (SEE REVIEW)

BOOKING: Although Paderborn was less accesible, in terms of transfers. I chose Air Berlin because it was slightly cheaper than TUIfly. I got a very good price of £138 for 3 return. I was sort of expecting a TUIfly exprerience, which was good.

CHECK-IN: I was greeted by a rather large queue at check in, however; this was handled quickly after the check-in desk had actually opened!

BOARDING: I proceeded to the gate where I now realized that this was going to be a busy flight. Boarding was swiftly undertaken, with no scrum like TUIfly for seats, as it appeared seats were pre-assigned at Air Berlin (like it should be!).

On entering the aircraft, the friendly German crew met us and offered us sweets and newspapers (albeit in German!). The crew was all smiles and it was a great start to the flight. I sat down while music was playing creating a nice mood. It didn't feel 'Low-cost'

AIRCRAFT: The plane a BOEING 737-800, had been retro-fitted with some nice blue leather seats. However, the aircraft was probably only around 5 years old. Legroom was adequate and the seat was quite comfortable.

FLIGHT: The crew introduced themselves, three females and one male; they were all friendly professional and dressed immaculately. Additionally their language skills were good. The Captain introduced himself and provided us with very detailed information in both English and German. The safety video followed in German and here is my only complaint of Air Berlin, the English subtitles on the screens were small and difficult to see on coloured backgrounds. Take-off was great and then the stunning 3D Air show played. It was brilliant and much better than the TUIfly Air show!

SERVICE: This is where Air Berlin really excels within the Low-Cost Sector! I was very pleased to be offered a drink. They had a wide variety of soft drinks plus tea or coffee of course. It was also a very nice touch to be offered a choice of two Sandwiches, which were actually quite tasty!

Again the crew delivered this service with professionalism and much effort went into the presentation. This was a major plus over TUIfly and something that Ryanair/Easyjet/Jet2 e.t.c. would never dream of doing!

ARRIVAL: Due to our arrival late at night in Germany, passport control took a while. However, this is certainly not Air Berlin’s fault. Our bags arrived swiftly and I was soon catching a Taxi. Paderborn airport is modern but rather small. Be aware that it lacks that many facilities but it’s quiet and pleasant to fly through.

RETURN: Much the same except for that the aircraft didn’t have leather seats (not a big deal!) however the sandwich on the return flight on pita bread was lovely. This made up the lack of leather seats!!

OVERALL: For the price it was brilliant! They knocked TUIfly of my top low-cost airline spot. Air Berlin deservers all the awards they receive, they should thrive and it’s just a shame that they don’t fly to more than two destinations from Manchester. Also it’s unfortunate that they did not succeed in the UK domestic market. But I give Air Berlin top marks 10/10 for a brilliant crew and exceptional service for a low cost airline.