Berlin Schonefeld Airport

I've used this Airport a number of times in recent years. My main complaint is the lack of seating on the 1st floor level in fact apart from the cafe there is nowhere to sit. As for public transport I think the service in excellent. You can buy a 1/2/3/4 day Welcome card at the newsagents on the ground floor as soon as you enter land-side you can then either take the free shuttle to the rail station from just outside the terminal building or walk along the covered walkway which is only a 3/4 minute walk. The AirportExpress service runs every 30mins to the heart of Berlin. Overall all services at this small Airport are acceptable bearing in mind that a new Terminal building and car parks and an additional run-way are being built along side the existing Airport complex and will replace the other 2 Berlin Airports in 2011.

The only good thing about SXF that I can think about is it's train station which is serviced by regional trains a few national trains and the S-Bahn. So you can get to the city centre quite fast and quite comfortably (approx 30 min) and thus avoid high taxi fares. In order to get to the train station you will have to walk a couple of minutes. However I can't understand people complaining about the distance from the terminal to the train station. Compared to other international airports the station is actually quite close. Now the pitfalls. Immigration officers at SXF work at an amazingly slow pace when checking (EU) passports upon arrival and seem to enjoy working even slower in the late evening hours when all the budget airlines come in at once. Baggage reclaim is absolutely overcrowded when two or more planes arrive at the same time. This is true for the whole airport which is small and cramped and has been extended without any sense for functionality. Especially the lack of seating at the gates and queing in narrow corridors is annoying. Overall this does not feel like an airport.

The good points about this airport are the cheap and frequent train link to central Berlin (once you negotiate the ticket machines!) and the way it is split up into different screening/checkin areas and has passport control at the gates so there are no huge queues at central checkpoints supposed to serve all passengers. The bad points having departed again from the A area on the 22nd are a hopeless lack of airside seating and spartan 'lounges' at the gates themselves - it's worth going as soon as the gate is (eventually) announced in order to get a seat and avoid a queue at the passport desk but the downside of that is being left in the lounge area to wait with absolutely no information about delays and no access to something as simple as a toilet while hanging about. These two gripes go for every time I have used this airport. New this time were the obnoxious security staff at the screening point - like the man who was having a conversation with his colleagues while screening me and shouting 'hello' as if I was a moron when I didn't put my foot where expected for checking. Also there used to be a free shuttle bus between the train station and terminal saving a ten-minute walk in the freezing cold but it wasn't signposted this time - does that mean it has stopped? As an airport experience at a major city this could be really very good but let down by the lack of information and seating and security staff. The good points (accessibility speed of passenger processing) are very very good; the bad (dreadful waiting areas and lack of information and on this instance some of the staff) were very bad - so it gets a 3 from me.

No queue at immigration less than a 5 minute wait for luggage at the carousel and straight out of the main doors. Previous comments about it been a long walk to the train station iIts a brisk 3 min walk or slow 6 min. Once at the station all of the machines have an English button and when I was there gave change. If I remember it was less than 3 Euros for the 25 minute journey - a bargain when compared with the £15 for Stansted Express! There are machines in the underpass plus some on the platforms. All in all from the door of the plane opening to me been sat down on a train to the city centre was less than 20 minutes.

I expected better at a German airport. What an inefficient and uncomfortable place to fly through. Arrival was fine but departure was a different story. First there was a huge and disorganised queue before check-in to scan hold luggage. This meant crowds of peope were often blocking the tops of the escalators potentially dangeorous I thought. Then followed another long wait to actually check-in then another to get through the security at the departure gate. All told we spent about 1 hour queuing from arrival at the airport to clearing security. Just as well we arrived with plenty of time but not too much because after security there is nothing to do. Unless I missed something all there was was a smallish duty free shop cafe and bookshop (no books/mags in English). There were hardly any seats either. Disappointing experience. I like Berlin but not this airport.

Have flown through SXF a few times in the past years and found it unremarkable. The facilities are limited but it's easy to get through. As others have noted the main shortcomIng is the train station. It's a long walk from the terminal and on my last trip there were long queues for the 3 ticket machines in the station underpass. After 20 minutes queuing we found that the machine would not give change or take coins and refused our Visa MC or Maestro. It appeared that the only way to get it to print a ticket was if the total was equal to a round number of banknotes! Having already missed 2 Regional trains and not wishing to spend the entire day in grim underpass negotiating the other machines we decided to ake our chances and pay on the train and made our way to the S-Bahn platform to find 2 machines without any queues... So much for Germany efficiency: it was like being back at home in Ireland!

Recently used SXF for flights from MAN/back to GLA. I echo the comments by Janne Petersson below - there is very little to do once you pass through security and there are also NO smoking areas after security so if you are a smoker go outside for a cigarette before passing through security. Interestingly we were delayed for more than an hour when it started to rain just prior to boarding - as the airport authorities refused to let anyone embark/disembark while it rained! At one point there were five easyJet aircraft parked in a row waiting for the rain to stop so they could disgorge their passenger loads.

I can´t understand the negative comments about problems obtaining railway tickets at Schönefeld: In the arrivals hall there are ticket machines for both DB (German Railways) and BVG (city transit authority) tickets and passes and there are also ATMs so you can obtain Euro banknotes for buying your tickets (remember Germany does not seem to be just as extremely "creditcardified" as the UK or Scandinavia so you may wish to carry a few Euro banknotes also for making other small purchases e.g. a beer or a soda.) Some other advice: Be prepared to wait in line but don´t check-in earlier than you have to: Once you have passed security there is absolutely nothing to do. There are not many seats either so if your aircraft goes tech you may have to stand for a long time while waiting. Well there are a two shops and a Burger King restaurant airside but that´s almost all. If you want something else to eat there is just one small café. The staff there were not very friendly and there was a big fly walking around on the sandwiches. It seems that SXF is nowadays mostly used by LCCs like EasyJet Germanwings et al and that may explain the lack of facilities. SXF somehow reminded me of M.R. Stefanik Airport in Bratislava Slovakia but BTS is much nicer and usually also much less crowded than SXF.

The problem with this airport is not the airport itself but getting tickets into the centre in the evening when the station is basically closed. The 'Tickets' signs are irrelevant when the ticket hall is closed and the only visible ticket machine doesn't take international cards. Go straight to the platform and get tickets there. Arrival was ridiculously slow because of the passport scrutiny. Of course they've got to be checked but how slow? This is the EU! Once through there was no luggage delay. Departure check-in was the fastest anywhere. Food at 'Cindy's' was reasonably priced and a super-fresh salad was available late in the evening. The airport was spotless and being continuously cleaned while we were there. Security was quick but the real downer was the queue for passport checks. I couldn't believe this could be so slow but it became clear that any non-white had to have their passports scrutinised much more carefully and slowly. This looked like overt discrimination. When there's been no check-in delay this queue came as a surprise. Overall this is a modern and efficient airport. Just sort out passport control!

I dont understand the (moans and groans) regarding this compact friendly easy airport. Its got everything you really need before departing especially now that they have a restaurant that sell nice snacks at a fair price and coffee etc. Getting from airport to the centre of Berlin is easy2 00yd walk to the railway station a nice beer in one of the stalls before boarding the train for the centre - all for 2.10 euros and took 20min.