Normally, I would not bother to post a trip report for a short domestic flight on a LCC, however I feel the fact that dba (the former German subsidiary of British Airways, now re-invented as a LCC) now serves Berlin's historic downtown airport Tempelhof (THF) merits one. This is all the more exciting because the city of Berlin is actively discouraging airlines to serve THF in an attempt to boost utilization at Berlin-Schonefeld (SXF), the former East German capital airport and had even attempted to shut THF down last year. While this move was stopped by a local court, it has convinced most of the remaining regional operators at THF, including Swiss and Luxair, to move their operations to overcrowded West Berlin airport of Tegel (TXL). So chances of ever flying into THF seemed slim enough, when dba announced to my surprise that it would move all their daily flights from TXL to THF in early May 2005. This move follows dba's merger with former LCC rival GEXX (Germania Express) and the acquisition of GEXX's fleet of Fokker 100 planes, which unlike dba's B737 can serve THF.

10 May 05 DI 7068 CGN - THF 1245 - 1350

Check-in at CGN is at the modern Terminal 2 - with no one in line ahead of me, it takes a grand total of 2 minutes. Security is equally fast during the mid-day lull at CGN - following the boom in LCC activity at CGN, it can now take up to 15 minutes, a situation unheard off at CGN only two years ago. The CGN - Berlin route is one of the most competetive ones in Germany with LH, HLX (both to TXL), Germanwings (SXF) and dba (THF) competing for passengers. However, HLX and dba are sharing a lucrative contract to transport government employees between Bonn and Berlin, so at least a certain load factor is gueranteed. On this Tuesday, there were about 45 people waiting at the bus gate.

Boarding was on-time and we are bussed to the former AA Fokker 100 still in the colors of GEXX. While the plane was refurbished, it still does show it's age inside. However, the pitch was more generous than onboard of dba's mainline Boing fleet. I was also impressed about the newspapers and magazines being handed out upon boarding, a service not available on other LCCs. Departure was also on-time and the Fokker 100 did not seem to more noisy than other small jets, particularly when compared with a recent trip on a B717.

The service on-board was equally impressive - dba serves a free drink (hot/cold, including beer and wine) as well as a snack (small roll, cake or peanuts) on all its sectors, something unheard of with the other LCCs. After a quick 50 minutes trip across Germany, the plane touched down at THF.

THF airport is Berlin's first truly commercial airport established in the 1920s. The comparatively short runway can only accommodate smaller planes with the likes of the F100 and the ERJ-170 (operated by Cirrus Airways to Saarbrucken) representing the high end of the spectrum. The airport is dominated by an enormous terminal building dating back to the 1930s, of which only a small part is currently being used. Besides numerous private planes, I saw the ERJ-170 and D328 operated by Cirrus, a sole Saab 340B operated by dauair (to Dortmund and Poznan) as well as an ATR 42 operating for Intersky to Friedrichshafen. Another 'major' operator at THF is SN Brussels operating several daily flights with an ARJ. The terminal has an integrated hangar like roof, allowing the planes to taxi so close to the terminal that one could walk to the arrivals gate without having to brave the rain, a feature which I found most appealing given the experience when disembarking from the bus at CGN.

On the inside, THF looks a bit like a railway station from the 1960s, there is a single luggage belt in the middle of the main hall, but since I had no checked luggage, it was a quick exit and a five minute walk to the nearest U-Bahn stop and from there less than 10 minutes to the center of Berlin. This was so much more convenient than the 25 minutes bus ride from TXL after which one finds himself in Berlin's West End rather than in the new downtown area.

... To be continued!

First of all: Thanks for this report. As a fan of THF, I am quite happy about DBAs decision to move their flights to Munich and Cologne "downtown"...

But here you are wrong:
During the weekends the flights from Cologne are going to be operated with a
B 737, as the Fokkers are only leased from Germania. On weekdays they are flying for DBA, during the weekends they are used for charter-flights and operating under the old ST-Code of GEXX. Saturdays they are operating THF-Pristina, on Sundays they are flying THF-Lamezia Terme according to www.berliner-flughaefen.de

I stand corrected. I was under the impression that the short runway at THF was too short to handle the B737, but obviously I was wrong on that issue. I did notice the flight to Pristina though. I'm just hoping that more airlines decide to move back to THF.

I've always wanted to fly into THF as it looks so much closer and more convenient than that 60s nightmare of TXL. But, as you mentioned, LX no longer flies there... ;(
Thanks for the report!

THF's runway can handle almost any size aircraft. The problem is noise regulations to save the people living around the airport from the noise an aircraft makes during approach and takeoff. I remember the huge transport aircraft the USAF used to fly into THF in the 80s when it served as their base in West-Berlin.

Some info on noise at THF:
http://www.boeing.com/commercial/noise/tempelhof.html