Kacee

PRG and BER may have made sense when UA had excess widebodies and the bulk of demand was leisure, but the fact is that neither PRG nor BER sees anywhere near the business demand of LHR or even FRA.

WineCountryUA

We can use Service Suspensions for new Spring / Summer 2022 Routes to track this

WineCountryUA

Not IAD, but BER-EWR United Airlines Operates Berlin Brandenburg's 1st Ever US Flight (simpleflying.com)

kirkwoodj

Finally! I'm on it next week.

AndyPatterson

Berlin is one of my favorite German cities (even before reunification) but I never thought of it as being a "business center" that would justify flights from multiple USA gateways. Don't forget that the German Aviation Authority (Luftfahrt Bundesamt-LBA?) has a large office at IAD itself -- in the warehouse area where Fed Ex etc. is located. If you want to do that kind of business, you don't even need to go to Germany. Unless they closed that office recently.

kirkwoodj

Greetings,
As UA has just commenced the first USA-bound flight from BER, wondering if anyone has done this and any tips. There is a LH lounge near gate B20, which is Schengen level, definitely curious as to how much time needed to access non-Schengen level for departure/how convenient passport control to it. Will be doing this flight in a few days. TIA.

tcdtcd

I can’t answer, but please report back on your experience when you’re back!👍

zappa42m

I remember the TXL-situation were the lounge was even before security. I left the lounge 1 houre before the flight to EWR.

kirkwoodj

yeah, but this new airport is a totally different situation.

chleonard

Being IAD-based, I was thrilled (and a bit surprised) when they announced IAD-BER but I have to agree. The only other major driver for demand on that route could be government, but even then I wouldn't see it as significant (not to mention that the GSA city pair contract for IAD-BER is currently with Delta through the end of FY22, so most of those folks would've been flying KLM or AF even with the new route).

kirkwoodj

Flew BER-EWR on Sunday. Received multiple message from UA to arrive early, which is understandable. Security is still a mess, but fortunately there's a Priority lane which put me right through. Stopped by UA checkin desk first to see if I needed a pass to use priority lane or the contract lounge. They said no, and advised using the Tegel or Lufthansa lounges. Went through security, took a left toward A gates, which is where Tempelhof lounge is at the far end of terminal. UA is no longer included on the sign with included airlines, so I just turned around and headed toward the B gates. Tegel lounge is about 3/4 of the way to the end, went upstairs, and guess what? Tegel lounge doesn't exist yet except on signage. Went back down, continued to Lufthansa lounge, which was lovely. No separate Senator part yet, but not a big deal. Relaxed there, had some breakfast. Unlike Tempelhof lounge on the opposite far end of the terminal, there is no dedicated passport control attached to the LH lounge, so about 30 minutes before departure, I traipsed back to the central part of the terminal, up the escalator, and did passport control to exit Schengen. Was quick, but later in the day when there are many more non-Schengen flight, looks like it would take a while. Headed BACK toward the D gates (just a floor above the B gates, went through secondary screening for the group of gates at the end. On the non-Schengen floor there are F&B outlets, including after the secondary screening by the UA gate. No lounges on non-Schengen floor yet.

My advice is to give yourself lots of time, and you will definitely rack up some steps!

DELee

That sounds like Sunday was a few miles of walking!

David

flyme2

Many Germans are embarrassed by the delays, cost overruns, corruption, dated design and criticism of the runway layout. They worry that the general perception of superior German engineering has taken a hit. Others wonder how the new(ish) IST airport went from blueprint to completion so much faster and with fewer flaws. I, personally, haven't yet flown through BER, but TXL was one of my least favourite airports, primarily due to security being at each gate, which resulted in being forced to wait within the cramped gate confines as well as the rather abyssal Senator Lounge, which naturally had to be located pre-security. Why couldn't they simply have replicated MUC?

kirkwoodj

BER did remind me of MUC

flyme2

Let's hope the road to get there becomes a distant memory if BER manages to operate in the same manner as MUC, notwithstanding its rather questionable 5* airport rating.