CGN-KEL-CGN with EA
 

This is a brief domestic trip report from Cologne (CGN) to Kiel (KEL) with European Air Express (EA). Usually I would not bother to write about it, however it does feature an airline and an airport about which one sees very little on FT.

11 Aug 03 17:15-18:35 EA 117 CGN-KEL ATR 42

European Air Express (EA) is a small, independent German regional carrier, serving niche routes from secondary and tertiary airports with a fleet of five ATR 42s. Since late 2002 they have been operating two daily rotations from CGN to GVA and on 11 Aug 03 they took over the LH route from CGN to KEL, which used to be operated by Cimber Air as part of Team Lufthansa. From 15 Sep 03 they plan to add a daily flight from CGN to Wroclaw as well.

Check-in in CGN was undertaken by LH staff, using the normal LH check-in positions, allowing my partner and me to make use of the priority check-in in Terminal A, courtesy of my FTL card. Travelling with our one-year old, we had a lot of luggage, including a pram, but things went very smoothly and there was no line whatsoever. To my surprise we were allowed to use the FTL lounge with our EA boarding passes - EA is not a LH partner and a months ago I was turned back at FRA's lounge when showing Cirrus Air (C9) boarding pass, despite the fact that both airlines were handled by LH and C9 is in fact a member of Team Lufthansa. This policy seems to be a bit inconsistent...

Boarding via the A bus gates was very smooth, passenger load was something like 8 on this afternoon flight, raising some doubts about the financial sustainability of this route. EAE which bills itself "the business airline" offers a one class cabin product with all amneties that one can reasonably expect on short sectors with ATR aircraft. This includes free newspapers, a meal service featuring decent small sandwitches, a muffin, plus coffee and cold beverages. Before landing they offered hot towels and farewell chocolate. The lone f/a did a good job in keeping us happy on this short flight over sunny Germany.

KEL is a very small airport, which currently sees ATR services with Cimber Air operating for LH to FRA a couple of times a day, plus two EA flights to CGN. We parked right outside of the small terminal, walked some ten metres and were in the arrivals "hall" where we waited less than 5 minutes for our luggage.

14 Aug 03 EA 112 08:10-09:30 KEL-CGN ATR 42

Our return flight was a similar pleasant experience. KEL has two check-in counters staffed by Cimber Air personnel and it took them a few minutes to check-in our luggage, as everything was done manually for this flight (LH/QI flights are computerized). Passenger load on this morning flight was 9, including the three of us. The service was virtually identical to the outbound trip. The flight arrived on time and by the time we got to the belt in CGN, our luggage was already coming in.

General observations:
EA seems to be a nice little airline, the service was definitively way better than on LH in coach. Food was decent and so were the little touches like the hot towel service and the chocolate. It is possible to earn LH miles on EA flights, despite the fact that there is no cooperation between those airlines, as the German trust office forced LH to open it's FFP to German competitors. Offering LH miles certainly helps, but one worries about the future of the KEL route given the loads.. I'll definitively use EA again if they continue to offer decent fares on routes I'm using.

What I found surprising about KEL is the total lack of scheduled services beyond FRA and CGN - I believe that there used to be flights to MUC and TXL as well, but they are gone now. With the airport due for a major facelift, one would hope that it attracts more airlines.

In contrast, CGN is booming - in addition to the usual HLX and Germanwings planes, I spotted the twice-weekly Iran Air plane upon my return. However, LH has substantially scaled back it's European and German operation, so that Terminal A was almost deserted. Since I travel mostly to obscure destinations beyond the reach of the low cost airlines, the reduction of services to European hubs is a pity for me...

hi arnur,

thank you for your report.
i am surprised there are intra-german flights with hot towel service --- this is really great.
unfortunately it really seems there is no profit on a route like this, at least not every day. May I ask what you paid for the tickets?

Jeez...you almost got my heart goin' there, since "EA" always stood for "Eastern Airlines". Here I thought that they either raised from the dead or someone was writing a fantasy trip report!
Enjoyed your post anyway...

Uli - we paid less than 200 Euro for the three of us (granted, the baby was free), using an introductory offer. However, most of the other passengers were clearly on non-restricted fares as there was virtually no luggage beyond our stuff and people did look like business travellers on a day trip, which offers some hope in terms of revenue for EA. The hot towels were kind of small, economy-class stuff, but for a domestic flight that was great service.