airberlin A320-200 Economy Class, Berlin to Stockholm

With a snow-white Hyundai Tucson, rented from Europcar, I drove to Tegel Airport in the early morning hours. Thanks to the active lane keeping assist, the drive was easily possible even in my somewhat tired state.

From the rental car return, which is rather hidden away at Tegel Airport, I embarked on the long walk towards Terminal C. I had originally planned to have breakfast in the Air France Lounge, or, to use a more French term, in the Salon. However, since I only had an hour before boarding began, that wasn't possible. So, after checking my luggage, I headed to the exclusive waiting area in Terminal C.

Exclusive waiting area of airberlin at Tegel Airport

Entry is possible via an automatic boarding pass check, although the reader wasn't working, or with a frequent flyer card. However, don't expect too much after going up the stairs. There are only cold and hot drinks and a newspaper display. So I got myself a coffee and a small bottle of water for the flight and headed back to Gate C83. When I arrived at the gate after a five-minute walk, boarding had just begun.

Airberlin flight AB8002 to Stockholm

The last few meters to the Airbus A320-200 (registration D-ABZK) were on foot across the tarmac. I took my seat, 1A, in the still-empty first row. Thanks to a load factor of around 70% and seat blocking, my neighboring seat, and indeed the entire left side of row 1, remained empty. I had peace and quiet and could relax while reading the day's news in the newspaper. I hoped that something light to eat would be available soon. The legroom is less than in the row with the emergency exit, but still sufficient for comfortable seating.

Right on schedule at 8:20 a.m., the passenger stairs were retracted and our A320 was pushed in the direction of departure. The pilot briefly announced the planned flight path and its duration of 1 hour and 20 minutes. We immediately aborted the go-around after reaching runway 26L and were airborne within 5 minutes of pushback. After takeoff, at a speed of 280 km/h (thanks to the captain for the information), we made a long, sweeping right turn to the north.

After reaching cruising altitude of 35,000 feet and flying over the Baltic Sea, the very friendly flight attendants arrived with the service cart. They offered hot and cold drinks, and I could choose between a raisin roll or a pretzel stick. Finally, breakfast!

The cloud cover on approach to Stockholm Arlanda was several kilometers thick. This made the approach quite bumpy. Eventually, the fields and meadows of Sweden appeared below us, and the pilot continued the turbulent approach.

Arrival at Stockholm Airport

Stockholm Airport seems very sprawling. The taxi to Terminal 2 took almost 10 minutes. Upon arrival at Gate 67, it was hard to believe you were at the airport of the Swedish capital. It was practically deserted. Apart from a British Airways plane, the jet bridges were empty. After collecting my luggage, I had a 15-minute walk to Terminal 5 ahead of me.