Berlin Schonefeld Airport

✅ Trip Verified | For Germany, I was highly disappointed. The train was standing room only. Terminal was grubby and dirty with a lack of seating. Staff was rude. I know, I was flying to Russia, but I was highly disappointed in the airport staffs lack of courtesy and politeness. I felt I was breaking rules all the time.

✅ Trip Verified | One of the worst airports in Germany. I departed from Terminal D (low cost carrier terminal). Check in was quite fast. First problem occurred because I needed to go to customs, but even though there had been 3 flights out of EU the office was closed and I had to go to Terminal A to do what I needed to do. Then walking back to Terminal D for security. More or less ok, waiting time was not too long. In departure area there is just one restaurant, one duty free and one kiosk. Restaurant (Marche) is very expensive and the choice was small. Food was not edible, but expensive nevertheless. There aren't enough seats for all the passengers. Smoking area not available. During my 2 hours there I did not see one of the staff smiling.

❎ Not Verified | This poor facility is struggling under the weight of passengers it has to handle daily. Although well connected via S-bahn and Regional Train to central Berlin, albeit with a bit of a long walk from the station, the first impression one gets when approaching the terminal buildings is the sheer amount of people walking everywhere. The airport authorities have cleverly opened "Terminal C", for passengers with hand luggage only, which is basically nothing but a building with additional security checkpoints, but it seemed on my visit that some passengers were going to their allocated terminal, checking their luggage in, and then being sent outside and to Terminal C to pass through security. This is surely not what this system was designed for. After security the airport deteriorates into a maze of small corridors, stairs, prefabricated extensions, and surprises behind every door. Passengers were sitting all over the floor as the gate areas are too small, you had to literally pass through the Burger King and a bar to get to the gate. Toilet facilities are overstretched and hard to find, plus, upon walking down a quiet corridor full of doors, suddenly it appears that behind one door may be a cleaner's store, and the next a departure gate full of 150 people waiting for a flight! On my return I waited for 50 minutes in the Immigration line, but then had to walk for ages through more corrugated iron prefabs that were basically outside on the ramp, down more sets of stairs and then I found baggage reclaim and a welcome bathroom. The place must have been adequate in its day, but it is just far too small now and really just needs replaced by the shiny new BBI airport sitting on the other side of the runway.

❎ Not Verified | Disgusting behaviour of security and clueless check-in staff. Travelling with an infant I was treated with no respect, I needed guidance and help and was dismissed by all security. There is no information available and staff are so rude, it's beyond belief! It looked to me that the staff were not trained as they were clueless to give me any answer to any question I had. I travel around 3-4 times a year from that airport, and my experience was never as bad. It was the first time I've travelled with an infant on my own, and I've experience the worst possible behaviour. Customer service does not exist in this airport!

❎ Not Verified | I’ve been travelling quite a bit for the last 10 years and visited a few airports. Schoenefeld, however, must be said to be the worst airport by far! I could not have imagined it was possible to make it less user friendly and ineffetive. First of all there it is hard to even find the check-in, then you’d spend an hour in security checks as the staff are not even considering speeding up one bit. Next is to find the gates, or even a flight information table. If it was possible I’d give a negative rating..

❎ Not Verified | Possibly the worst airport I’ve ever used - no seating (people eating on the floor, lying next to shops) terrible selection of food and drinks outlets. It was truly something that you have to see to believe. This airport is not fit for purpose and I feel with the crowding issues is not acceptable - avoid at all cost!

❎ Not Verified | Very bad security check experience. The staff lectured passengers despite a large queue amassing. Not a friendly word or any kindness shown on christmas day, but angry staff. They don't provide plastic bags for toiletries anymore, arguing 'you cannot expect us to have them' which is followed by 'law's need to be abided'. Like that helps in the setting of the airport security check-in when you are right at the assembly line. Constructiveness and problem solving skills are absent entirely. English language skills are lacking. Never again am I flying from this airport. If it was possible, I'd give negative stars in this review.

❎ Not Verified | Airport extremely unpleasant : few places to sit, dirty toilets, buildings of another time. You must really appreciate the nostalgia to find a positive point. Provided that the German capital will soon have an airport worthy of the name. | Aéroport extrêmement désagréable : peu de places pour s asseoir, toilettes sales, bâtiments d un autre temps. Il faut vraiment apprécier l ostalgie pour lui trouver un point positif. Pourvu que la capitale allemande se dote bientôt d un aéroport digne de ce nom.

❎ Not Verified | Be aware that this is one of the slowest airports in Europe and there are a lot of people, so this means that you may need more than 2 hours to pass all the check points and check-in. Staff are extremely rude and useless, there are not many people working at the security checkpoint so that makes the process extremely slow. Without doubt the worst airport in Germany and maybe the worst in central Europe.

✅ Trip Verified | We visited Berlin on a weekend break - arrival was ok, apart from the unsafe stairs put up to the plane front door (no stairs sent to back) which were wobbling to an extent where the crew had to get the ground staff to stabilise them. Hand luggage only so not much that can go wrong. Couldn't see signs for railway but managed to find it ourselves by going out of the building and seeing the really long (and cold) walkway to the station. Departure was truly awful. There was a hand luggage only terminal, good idea but it was closed. We went to terminal B where the check in desks were located, tried to go through security but was directed (along with other passengers) to Terminal A to do this. Once we got to the other terminal there was a long queue, one miserable woman scanning boarding cards and only two security lanes open. When we eventually got through it just got worse, rather than an airport for modern forward looking capital city it was more like some third world refugee centre. The few seats there had already been occupied, there was not even enough floor space to sit on as this was already full of people. Eventually we sat on the floor of one of the few small (overpriced) shops. When called to the gate we had to walk through Burger King and through a bar with people overflowing into the footways, then were herded into a chaotic holding area not set up for the budget experience. When we were just about to board the plane the set of stairs at the back let out loads of smoke (filling the plane with smoke) so had to be towed away and attended to by a fire engine. I never thought I'd say it but I was looking forward to getting back to Luton. There is a shiny new airport next to this dump that can't open among other reasons for fire safety issues - I can't believe that anyone would consider Schonefeld safe with the dangerous overcrowding. Berlin is a wonderful place but totally let down by this awful airport (worst I have experienced in the world).