31 Mar 2013 SX 206 17.25 - 19.15 BRN-HAM DO328-110 Economy Class Seat 6A

My Swiss home base is Geneva, so most of my flights are either from GVA or sometimes from ZRH. On Easter Sunday this year, I was planning to travel to Hamburg to see my German family. Ordinarily, I would travel on the direct LH service, but LH only offered connecting services via FRA, MUC or ZRH, which were quite expensive (300€+) and time consuming (4,5 hours+). So I was looking into alternatives and came across a good fare (144€) on SkyWork Airlines (SX) from Berne to Hamburg. SkyWork operates a small fleet of turboprop aircraft (one Dash-8 and five DO-328) to 29 airports, a mix of major European cities (LCY, MUC, BCN etc.) and seasonal holiday destinations across the Mediteranean. While the airlines has recently returned two Dash-8 to the lessors and cut frequencies across the network (see here for more information), it still presents an interesting alternative to LX and Easyjet, which dominate the Swiss aviation market. Plus, one gets to fly from the tiny and user-friendly airport in Berne-Belp, which boasts a minimum check-in time of just 20 minutes

The booking procedure on the airline's website was straightforward. Online check-in was possible for flights from Berne and I picked seat 6A (the DO-328 operates in a 1-2 configuration) and was able to print my boarding pass a couple of hours before departure. The journey from Geneva to BRN took about 2.5 hours, including a trip on the S-Bahn from Berne Central Station to Belp and a short ride on the shuttle bus. The latter stopped directly in front of the terminal building. Until the end of March 2013, there used to be a public bus from Berne Central station but this has been replaced with a connection to Belp station every 30 minutes. The official reason given on the airport website is that the bus was prone to delays due to traffic in the city. In any case, as long as one travels without heavy luggage, changing at Belp from the S-Bahn to the bus is straightforward.


Check-in was very easy - even though the airline advises you to be at the airport sixty minutes before departure when checking luggage, 45 minutes were clearly sufficient in my case. Check-in for all flights from BRN is done by the airport company and four counters were open when I arrived. Even though a number of SkyWorks flights (to TXL, LCY, VIE and HAM) were leaving within a 30 minutes window, there was no line at all. Following a brief ID check, my luggage was checked to HAM, leaving me with a few minutes to explore the small terminal before heading to the gate. (It should be noted that SX only allows 15 kilograms for checked luggage, which is better than some of the LCCs but obviously worse than on the 'legacy' carriers).


The terminal building is very small and offers a café bar and a kiosk (selling newspapers etc.), as well as an ATM. However, it does have a nice elevated viewing area and on this sunny Sunday afternoon was quite popular with local families. There are two dedicated gate areas - one for Schengen and one for non-Schengen destinations. SkyWorks is by far the largest operator at BRN. Air France is the only other airline offering scheduled flights (twice daily to Paris), while two other small Swiss airlines (Helvetic and Darwin) operate a number of holiday charter flights during the season. While the airport has hosted the A320 in the past, the vast majority of movements are by turboprop equipment. BRN also hosts a detachment of the Swiss Air Force (flying mostly VIP flights on behalf of the Swiss government) and a number of General Aviation companies.


I cleared security at 16.55 - five minutes before boarding was scheduled to begin. Again, there was nobody else in line, so even though the check was very thorough, it did not take too long. The Schengen area has three gates (1-3) and offers ample seating, a small café bar and duty free shop, as well as a good view of the apron. I later learned that free WiFi was also available, but I did not try it myself.


Boarding started at 17.10 and we were able to walk across the apron to our plane. While this would not be a great idea in rain or snow (even though the airport does provide umbrellas), it is always a highlight for me to be able to do so.


It has been a while since my last flight on a DO328-110 and I found the cabin fairly spacious. Having said this, there was not a lot of storage space in the overhead bins and I had trouble fitting my bag. I counted a total of 14 passengers (out of a possible 31) on today's service to HAM. As a result, there were plenty free seats on board and I move across to 6C to have an empty seat next to me for newspapers etc.


I settled into my seat and after a short safety demonstration by the lone flight attendant, we taxied to the runway and left on time. One of the advantages of a small airport of BRN is the absolute absence of line ups for departure. Once airborne, the flight attendant offered a number of iPads with pre-loaded games and magazines to the passengers. I declined as I had bought a newspaper earlier on. In terms of service, SX offers free snacks (such as sandwiches) and water for all passengers, while additional drinks (both alcoholic and soft, even coffee and tea) have to be paid for. The menu and price list can be found here. The more expensive fare categories include those drinks as well. The snack this afternoon was a choice of pastries and I settled on the apple pie, which I thought was perfectly adequate for the duration of the flight. In addition to the free water I also decided to treat myself to two cups of decent coffee (at 2.5 CHF each).


The flying time was announced as 1 hour and 50 minutes due to strong head winds. Following the snack and beverage service, the flight attendant also offered duty free sales and then retired to her jump seat at the rear of the cabin. The flight itself was very pleasant with nice weather outside and a few good views of Northern Germany and Hamburg to be had during approach.


Following touch down and a quick taxi (our DO328 seemed tiny compared even to the B737s and A320s populating the apron), it was a short bus ride to Hamburg's terminal two. Luggage delivery took about five minutes and I was out of the terminal to meet my waiting relatives.

Conclusion:
I was very impressed both with SX and with the Berne airport experience. While I'm a bit concerned about the financial viability of the carrier, I would certainly not hesitate to fly with them again. The business model is a mix of LCC (fairly low one way fares, if booked ahead of time; having to pay for drinks on-board) and quality regional airline (iPads; short check-in times; operating from main airports), which works perfectly for me. Flying from Berne was brilliant, I wish it was closer to Geneva and I would fly from there whenever possible. What is lacking is a frequent flier program and some sort of code-share relationship with a mainline carrier. It would be great, for example, if SX would operate a LH-codeshare to Munich allowing passengers from BRN to connect to a greater number of destinations.