View media item 8854Yesterday i used Cardiff to do a day trip to Berlin to do some plane spotting at Tegel airport. My flight from Cardiff was at 10.10 with Flybe on an E175. I got to the airport about 08.45 which was a bit later than i thought i would be arriving as i got stuck in traffic on the A4232 on the way to the airport. I'd already checked in online and i was hand luggage only so i was able to head straight to security but i did notice how busy in general the check in area was.
Security was pretty quick with the new machines better than the old ones and i believe making the whole thing quicker and 2 lanes being open also helped though i did notice they have now moved the redress area over to the left.
Once through security i headed straight through duty free to WH Smith to get a quick bite to eat and drink for the day ahead. I didn't use Costa or the Beer House this time. The departure area was pretty busy and i noticed a steady stream of people in and out of the lounge.
View media item 8855My flight boarded via Gate 1 and at least 2 people had to pay the Flybe excess baggage fee for over sized bags. We then had to wait in the corridor for 10 to 15 mins before we boarded which was slightly frustrating but boarding was quick via the front steps. Load wise the aircraft was only half full which did give me a row to myself. The flight took off on time and the flight was largely uneventful though i was able to get a good photo from the air of Bristol airport but for most of the way it was cloudy. Inflight snack was a BLT sandwich and diet coke which cost £5.60. After just under 2 hours we arrived on time at a gloomy Berlin Tegel after a good flight with a nice and friendly crew.
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View media item 8857After about 2 and half hours of plane spotting on Tegel's observation deck (which is accessible by the entrance to Terminal D and cost 3 Euros to enter and 2 for a child) i headed to my gate A11 but had to wait for it to open for my flight. Once the gate opened i went through the security lane into the gate area, which was quite small and only had a small coffee shop style outlet. There was shops and other eateries landside but from what i saw most were coffee shop style outlets and newsagent style outlets. Tegel looks an old airport with a unique pentagon style design for the main part and the observation deck is the roof of the terminal giving brilliant views of the apron and runway.
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View media item 8859My flight from Berlin to Amsterdam with KLM arrived about 20 minutes late and boarding did take a while as it was a full flight on the 737 800 that took us to Amsterdam with the gate area pretty crowded by then. We departed about just before 7 pm but the flight only took an hour and was a nice comfortable flight with some good sunset views and complimentary snacks and drink which is one of the things i like about flying KLM. The cabin of the aircraft also had a nice ambience to it compared to my last 737 flight with them, i'm guessing it was the Boeing sky interior.
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View media item 8863So we eventually arrived at Amsterdam about 10 mins later than planned so i headed straight through immigration (which has the new e-gates now) to D6 which is the gate where most of the UK KLM Cityhopper flights depart from to the UK regional airports and in the non-Schengen part of D concourse. It has a coffee shop type outlet where i was able to get a quick bite to eat and by the time i finished that it was time to queue for the bus to the E175 that was taking me to Cardiff and after a 5 minute ride through the airport which i always enjoy we made it to the remote stand. After boarding and taking my seat there was a 15 minute wait for ATC clearance but luckily our taxi was short as we were departing from the closest runway and our full flight to Cardiff was able to depart. The flight was only about 55 minutes and pretty uneventful but did get a good view in parts of the lighted up cities below along our route. After the complimentary snack and drink it wasn't before long that we were landing at Cardiff Airport on runway 30 and parked on stand 9.
After disembarking via the front steps it was a quick walk to immigration which was much faster this time thanks to the 5 new e-gates and straight through to the car park which in all took about 10 minutes.
View media item 8864View media item 8866View media item 8865In conclusion i had a good trip, Cardiff Airport was an unstressful experience in both departing and arriving, Berlin was a bit confusing and busy but it wouldn't stop me using it again if i needed too and Amsterdam was a good experience once again.
Both Flybe and KLM on all 3 flights were good with good service and friendly staff and comfortable aircraft. Using both of them for the trip also gave me good options flight wise and meant i could start and finish at my local airport and i'd consider using the combination either way again in the future.
Price wise the Flybe flight Cardiff to Berlin cost me £29.99 with an extra £6.00 for seat selection. The return from Berlin to Cardiff via Amsterdam cost £107 with an extra £17 for seat selection.
Security was pretty quick with the new machines better than the old ones and i believe making the whole thing quicker and 2 lanes being open also helped though i did notice they have now moved the redress area over to the left.
Once through security i headed straight through duty free to WH Smith to get a quick bite to eat and drink for the day ahead. I didn't use Costa or the Beer House this time. The departure area was pretty busy and i noticed a steady stream of people in and out of the lounge.
View media item 8855My flight boarded via Gate 1 and at least 2 people had to pay the Flybe excess baggage fee for over sized bags. We then had to wait in the corridor for 10 to 15 mins before we boarded which was slightly frustrating but boarding was quick via the front steps. Load wise the aircraft was only half full which did give me a row to myself. The flight took off on time and the flight was largely uneventful though i was able to get a good photo from the air of Bristol airport but for most of the way it was cloudy. Inflight snack was a BLT sandwich and diet coke which cost £5.60. After just under 2 hours we arrived on time at a gloomy Berlin Tegel after a good flight with a nice and friendly crew.
View media item 8856
View media item 8857After about 2 and half hours of plane spotting on Tegel's observation deck (which is accessible by the entrance to Terminal D and cost 3 Euros to enter and 2 for a child) i headed to my gate A11 but had to wait for it to open for my flight. Once the gate opened i went through the security lane into the gate area, which was quite small and only had a small coffee shop style outlet. There was shops and other eateries landside but from what i saw most were coffee shop style outlets and newsagent style outlets. Tegel looks an old airport with a unique pentagon style design for the main part and the observation deck is the roof of the terminal giving brilliant views of the apron and runway.
View media item 8858
View media item 8859My flight from Berlin to Amsterdam with KLM arrived about 20 minutes late and boarding did take a while as it was a full flight on the 737 800 that took us to Amsterdam with the gate area pretty crowded by then. We departed about just before 7 pm but the flight only took an hour and was a nice comfortable flight with some good sunset views and complimentary snacks and drink which is one of the things i like about flying KLM. The cabin of the aircraft also had a nice ambience to it compared to my last 737 flight with them, i'm guessing it was the Boeing sky interior.
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View media item 8863So we eventually arrived at Amsterdam about 10 mins later than planned so i headed straight through immigration (which has the new e-gates now) to D6 which is the gate where most of the UK KLM Cityhopper flights depart from to the UK regional airports and in the non-Schengen part of D concourse. It has a coffee shop type outlet where i was able to get a quick bite to eat and by the time i finished that it was time to queue for the bus to the E175 that was taking me to Cardiff and after a 5 minute ride through the airport which i always enjoy we made it to the remote stand. After boarding and taking my seat there was a 15 minute wait for ATC clearance but luckily our taxi was short as we were departing from the closest runway and our full flight to Cardiff was able to depart. The flight was only about 55 minutes and pretty uneventful but did get a good view in parts of the lighted up cities below along our route. After the complimentary snack and drink it wasn't before long that we were landing at Cardiff Airport on runway 30 and parked on stand 9.
After disembarking via the front steps it was a quick walk to immigration which was much faster this time thanks to the 5 new e-gates and straight through to the car park which in all took about 10 minutes.
View media item 8864View media item 8866View media item 8865In conclusion i had a good trip, Cardiff Airport was an unstressful experience in both departing and arriving, Berlin was a bit confusing and busy but it wouldn't stop me using it again if i needed too and Amsterdam was a good experience once again.
Both Flybe and KLM on all 3 flights were good with good service and friendly staff and comfortable aircraft. Using both of them for the trip also gave me good options flight wise and meant i could start and finish at my local airport and i'd consider using the combination either way again in the future.
Price wise the Flybe flight Cardiff to Berlin cost me £29.99 with an extra £6.00 for seat selection. The return from Berlin to Cardiff via Amsterdam cost £107 with an extra £17 for seat selection.