What the hell can you do at Berlin’s Tegel Airport?

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Despite its capital status Berlin has no representative airport so far – which leads to the hassle of few direct flights to international destinations and the question of how to spend your time at Tegel or Schönefeld when your flight is delayed since both airports are very small.

When you have several hours, go back home or to the city center as both airports are close to the city. If you have less time try this:

1. Find out that “Tegel” is only one label – which man is honored by giving his name to the airport as well? (No internet research allowed!) One tip: He died in a plane crash.
2. Find the Starbucks in the airport (This is a tricky one! I once thought I was at the wrong airport when somebody told me to meet at the Starbucks.)
3. Walk around the circle of Tegel and count your steps. Add some entertainment for the other passengers by a) counting loudly b) running c) running trailing your luggage behind you! I assume that should take less than 3 minutes when you shout out loud enough so people jump out of your way (“Bahn frei, Osterei!”).

Please write down your records and I will try to beat them next time I fly from Tegel!

Christiane

Facts
Airport name: Berlin Tegel Airport.
IATA code: TXL
Website: http://www.berlin-airport.de/EN/
Design factor: 1/5
Shopping factor: 1/5
Toilets factor: 2/5
Overall factor: 3/5 (because it’s just 10 minutes from my home and easy to reach!)

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Surprise: Heathrow worst performing airport in Europe

What a surprise! According to a study published by the Association of European Airlines (AEA), London’s Heathrow airport is the worst performing airport in Europe:

AEA’s survey of its members’ punctuality at 27 major airports identifies London Heathrow as the most affected, with 44.1% of European departures subject to delays of 15 minutes or more – substantially higher than second-place Dublin with 33.0%, followed by Helsinki, Geneva and Frankfurt – all three of which are customarily to be found in the lower half of the delay table.

This surely comes as a huge surprise to all of us. Not really. Heathrow has long been troubled by lengthy delays many caused by its limited number of runways and overall capacity problems. According to the report 15.3 per cent of outgoing flights delays were caused by problems with airport and air traffic control, while a further 11.1 per cent was blamed on loading and handling issues.

This news couldn’t have come at a worse time for BAA, the owner of Heathrow airport as the Daily Mail writes

The latest figures will add further pressure on the Government to end BAA’s much-criticised monopoly on London’s major airports.

The least affected airport, according to the report, was Munich airport which we already featured in the top 10 most punctual airports worldwide.

(Picture by Flickr - some rights reserved)

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BA anger after 40,000 disrupted by Bush visit

British Airways has criticised Heathrow owner BAA for allowing George Bush to fly into the UK’s biggest airport, forcing the cancellation of at least 69 flights and disrupting the travel plans of 40,000 passengers.

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Girl’s heaven at London’s Terminal 5

15 minutes delay for my flight to Berlin? GREAT! Because - LADIES - that’s all you need! Head downstairs to the A departure level and check out my Top 3 which are just next to each other:

• Go to the comfy ladies bathroom and realize by checking your make-up that you look just gorgeous! This wonderful body needs to be treated well with…
• … chocolate! Stop at the chocolate waterfall of “Chocolate Box” next door and spend your money on your favourite bar.
• … gems! Your desire for eye candies can be satisfied at “Accessorize”. One can never have too much jewellery!

After all that, head happily to your gate with the nice thought of enjoying your chocolate while looking at London from the sky).

Christiane

Facts
Airport name: London Heathrow (Terminal 5) Short code: LHR
Website: http://www.heathrowairport.com
Design factor: 4/5
Shopping factor: 3/5
Toilets factor: 4/5
Overall factor: 4/5

P.S. I am curious what the guys have to say about Terminal 5! I saw them handing out free shots of Whisky at the Worldofdutyfree, that should make it on to the list. As well as the comfy sofas in the waiting area. But  don’t forget to check out Gucci and Tiffany’s and buy some small souvenir for your lefthome girlfriend!

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Reliable Zurich

Well, I think you saw it coming, didn’t you? Of course, there was no delay at Zurich airport on my Swiss flight back to London last night. But don’t be disappointed just yet! As Zurich is kind of home turf to me, I’m still able to give you the lowdown about this airport:

After the major rehaul of the entire airport in 2003, Switzerland’s main hub is now back on the radar of decent airports. Particulary nice is the so called “Airside Centre”, the main area for shopping, restaurants and the starting point to all gates. It offers an attractive high roof and a nice wooden floor. However, the main problem with the airport overall is that other than at most airports, the security checks in Zurich are located close to the actual gates, so after the main shopping area, and not after the passport checks, which means you need to plan ahead and be very contious of your remaining time. Also, if you depart from the E gates you need to take the shuttle train to the midfield terminal which adds another 10 to 15 minutes to your journey. This terminal contains some shops as well but the selection is far smaller than in tha Airside Centre.

But without further adu, here are my top 5 things you can do while waiting at Zurich airport (if that ever happens…):

1. Choose your favourite “Luxemburgerli” flavour from the Lindt & Sprüngli shop
2. Hop on the “Gates E”-train and experience the Heidi and alpine scene animations from Swiss Tourism (there’s a different one each way)
3. Count how many times the friendly Swiss greet you with a “Grüezi“
4. Press your nose against the Rolex glass cabinets in the Swiss watch store and dream of your lottery win on Saturday
5. Try to find someone who actually can speak the 4th official Swiss language Romansh

Facts
Airport name: Zurich Airport / Zurich Kloten
Short code: ZRH
Website: http://www.zurich-airport.com
Design factor: 4/5
Shopping factor: 3/5
Toilets factor: 2/5
Overall factor: 3/5

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Top 5 things to do while waiting in…. Copenhagen

Thanks a lot for all your feedback on my first blog entry. One of many comments was that you would like to see a top X list of things to do. Fair enough, so here’s the one for Copenhagen’s Kastrup airport:

1. Visit the tiny but iconic Lego store - DKK 0
2. Decide between the brown and the black leather jacket in the Puma store - DKK 2,000
3. Drink a large beer at the Sportsbar while watching the Euro Soccer - DKK 67
4. Make room for the next beer downstairs in the roomy toilets - DKK 0
5. Watch the gorgeous blond across the hallway - priceless

Again, comments are of course more than welcome

(Image from Flickr - some rights reserved)

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Lengthy wait at Copenhagen’s Kustrup airport

Copenhagen is a beautiful city, especially when you visit it in June where the daylight hours are the longest of the year and even more so if you are lucky and find warm and sunny weather. All of these parameters were true for me when I visited Denmark’s capital last weekend. And for the size of the city there is a lot to do and see. My favourites were the alternative area Christiania or simply a trip with the water taxi around the harbour.

But let’s fast-forward to Sunday evening: So, here I was back at Copenhagen’s Kastrup airport on Sunday evening with a big smile on my face from the past 2 days. I’ve just said goodbye to my friend who flew back to Berlin with a slightly earlier flight than mine. And then it happens: Before I could blink twice, the departure screen changed my EasyJet flight from being on time to delayed for an hour. In the end it was delayed for 3 hours and I was lucky to get the very last train back to Central London.

The big question is, what can you do for 3 hours at Copenhagen airport? The answer is, actually quite a lot. The airport offers a nice design which features a calming wooden floor throughout all the terminals. It also contains of a fairly large sized shopping area in both gates areas A/B area and also C/D with the usual duty free shops but also some very nice clothing stores, sports outlets (I particular liked the Puma store), delicacy shops for your supply of Danish salmon and the like. And not to forget the Lego store in the A/B area which, however, is disappointedly small.

Kastrup also features Copenhagen’s only Starbucks outlet and a few other refreshment bars and restaurants. It also has a good sized Sportsbar which came in handy as I was able to watch the Germany v Poland Euro Soccer match and the start of the Canadian Formula One grandprix. A special note here goes to the very friendly and super efficient bar staff. The prices however were more on the steep side as you would expect from a monopolistic setup like this. And finally, I was fairly impressed by the spacious Gent’s toilets in the A/B area (only a short walk downstairs from the Sportsbar) which were very clean.

Overall, I really enjoyed the airport and it certainly shortened my lengthy wait and (more importantly) lifted my mood. The only big drawback was that the shops closed already around 10 pm. But I guess, there’s always the Sportsbar to retreat to…

Facts
Airport name: Copenhagen Kastrup
Short code: CPH
Website: http://www.cph.dk
Design factor: 4/5
Shopping factor: 4/5
Toilets factor: 4/5
Overall factor: 4/5

(Image from Flickr)

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