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Old Feb 7, 2010, 10:50 am
  #3  
stut
Moderator: UK and Ireland & Europe
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Biggleswade
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Air Berlin AB8893 London Stansted (STN) - Duesseldorf (DUS) A320, Single Class

Air Berlin have a lot to live up to. Every report I've read of them is close to glowing, and the price was certainly right. We shall see! My experience of Stansted has primarily been on Ryanair (mostly on their old 732s - I have an involuntary shudder just typing that), and not entirely positive. The challenge begins.

Check-in is a breeze. I OLCI'd the night before, and proudly held in my hand a BP for seat 1A. Yes, yes, it's a one-class not-quite-LCC, but there's still something rather nice about that seat. But, despite all the AB flights leaving within a short space of each other, there's no queue at any of the fast bag drop counters, and the whole transaction takes a few seconds, the latter undoubtedly helping the former.

As for Stansted? Ah, Stansted. The railway station yesterday was a clue. An airport, designed to a high architectural standard, with compromise piled on compromise (with a pinch of incompetence) in the name of cost saving. Unsurprising, perhaps, given the distance from London and the airlines that decided to settle here, giving the airport an actual reason to exist, but it still gives a slight air of disappointment. It looks like a Chek Lap Kok, it feels like a Roissy.

Well, a Roissy with more shops. On the positive side, security is significantly better than it used to be, with almost every scanner open at this early morning peak, and so takes less than 5 minutes, despite the whole liquid & shoe kerfuffle. The liquids barkers ("yellow-jacketed mouth breathers", as they've been described elsewhere) are nowhere in sight, and either the security staff have improved their act, or it's still too early for them to get a good grump on. Either way, I'm stunned to be deposited airside as quickly as I am.

And this is where the Stansted frustration continues. The concept of the airport was that you didn't have to walk long distances - everything was there, in front of you, and you could divert if needed. This, naturally, didn't fit BAA's hard sell ethos, so instead you're herded through duty free and a whole load of shops, with sparse seating, and no gates announced until almost boarding time. I browse Currys for a new CF card for my camera, but the price is a sorry joke - £45 for a 4GB 80x card. Thanks, but no.

The 'Go To Gate' is announced en masse, meaning a rush to the transit, which shortly resembles the Northern Line at the same time of day. Thankfully, it's a lot faster, and you're at the gate in no time, albeit to the announcement of a 15-minute delay. We appear to have an airbridge - a novelty at Stansted, for me at least.

Boarding seems very quick, and the reason for this is soon clear - the flight is very lightly loaded. Seat 1A... Well, it quickly becomes clear why it was so easily gettable. This plane, an A320, seems to be used for AB's longer flights too, and so has IFE. Good stuff? Yes. And no. The audio boxes take up a fair amount of space on the fixed armrests of the front row (and presumably emergency exits), making it rather uncomfortable when you're 6'1", and your legs don't really fit. But I have the row to myself, so can angle myself well enough.

Food and drink? Well, I expected nothing, and so was pleasantly surprised to get a decent cup of coffee, some apple juice, a small bretzel-type roll and a muffin. You'd be hard pressed to get that on the full-service brigade these days.

We soon catch up our 15 minute delay on this short flight, and are in DUS before we know it. It's a remote stand, but given the light loads, this isn't really a hassle, as the bus takes you straight to immigration, anyway. It's a smart little airport, DUS, and stereotypically efficient at that - the bags are on the belt impressively quickly, and I'm out before I know it. And we're early. So, rather than getting the direct S-Bahn to Duesseldorf HBf, I try to catch the ICE direct to Cologne from the mainline airport station, a short transit ride away.

The transit ride turns out to be a Schwebebahn - a hanging railway. The carriages hang down from the trackway above, giving an interesting ride. Great fun! Sadly, I just miss the ICE, so end up on the S-Bahn anyway, which isn't a major hassle.

Last edited by stut; Feb 7, 2010 at 11:23 am
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