Air Berlin - Germany's largest low fare airline 
Air Berlin is a popular and efficient German budget carrier. In 2008, the airline carried over 28.5 million passengers from 21 German airports, making it Germany's second 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: Free check-in baggage, allocated seats, refreshments and newspapers included in the fare, aircraft are clean and on time.
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Air Berlin Routes and Destinations
From the UK, Air Berlin offers direct and indirect flights from London Stansted and Manchester airports to 11 German destinations. They are one of the few budget airlines to offer proper connecting flights to many cities, often via German airports.
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. For example, Spanish and Portuguese holiday 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.
Reviews
An excellent 4-star rating for Air Berlin has come from Skytrax airline surveys, and they've won many top awards. Passengers like the good service, free meals, soft drinks and newspapers are popular, as are the allocated seats and amount of legroom. Aircraft are considered clean, comfortable and on time.
Other Useful Information
| Booking Tips |
Booking well in advance is usually the cheapest, but even last-minute bookings can 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 15 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. |
| Baggage |
Free checked-in baggage up to 20 kg, 1 piece of hand luggage up to 6 kg (maximum 55x40x20cm). Excess baggage costs 8 EUR/kg for short haul flights, 20 EUR/kg long haul. Babies under 12 months get free full baggage allowance, including pushchairs. Wheelchairs travel for free.
The carriage of sports equipment such as skis, fishing rods, golf clubs and bicycles cost 50 EUR per return flight, but is free for business class and bonus card holders. |
| Seat Reservation |
Particular seats can be reserved at booking time for a small fee, but is free for 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 snacks and non-alcoholic drinks are provided on all flights. |
| Check-In |
Seats are allocated at check-in for easy boarding. 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. Online check-in is also possible. |
| Flight Changes |
Flights can be rebooked online up to 2 days before take off for a fee of 30 Euros pp. plus any fare increase. For last-minute rebooking call the Service Centre on 0871 5000 737. 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 Bombardier Q400. |
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