Review of easyJet flight from Manchester to Berlin in Economy

Airline: EasyJet
Aircraft: A320-214 G-EZWX (1.7 years old)
Flight: U21897 Manchester Airport (MAN/EGCC) to Berlin Schönefeld (SXF/EDDB)
Date: 13/03/16
Flight time: 1hr 55mins
Departed: 16:35 (5 minutes late)
Arrival: 19:30 (On Time)
Arriving at Terminal 1 at Manchester Airport it was a lovely warm Sunday, one of the first this year for myself. I took my luggage and headed for check-in A upstairs. On my arrival at the check-in desks I was guided to an automated bag drop machine (a first for me). The whole process was pretty smooth. I then made my way through to security where I queued for about 10 minutes before going through. I made my way through the departure lounge to the main foyer. The departure lounge is well equipped and features a food court upstairs and another one downstairs. I had 2 hours to spare and so made my way down one of the piers to do some planespotting.

Qatar Airways B787-8 A7-BCZ taxiing out. Operating QR46 to Doha

Jet2.com B737-330 G-CELH being loaded on a remote stand

An empty concourse on a Sunday afternoon

Aer Lingus A320-214 EI-DVM (Retro livery) manoeuvring onto its stand
Boarding was delayed by 15 minutes due to the a/c arriving late from Copenhagen. The flight was nearly full (180 pax capacity), but the crew were very good and the aircraft turnaround was soon finished. We pushed back at 16:30 and after the usual checks we began our taxi to runway 05. We were cleared for takeoff and took off into a light headwind from the North East. We continued straight out before turning right heading east. Our journey over the United Kingdom took us over Sheffield, the Pennines and then North Lincolnshire before passing over the North sea. Our cruising altitude was 37,000ft. We reached the Dutch Coast around 17:00 (GMT). Our journey over Europe took us over the Zuider Zee and then just North of Hannover. By this time the last light had disappeared and we began our approach under the night sky.

Walking out to A320-214 G-EZWX

Boarding A320-214 G-EZWX

Passing over the Pennines.

A British Airways B787 passing alongside

Window view from seat 25A of North West Germany.
The interior of aircraft was light and spacious. The seats were pretty comfortable and leg room was not bad - seat pitch on EasyJet A320s is 29 inch. There was a simple drinks and snacks service. I opted for a beer - cost £4 (€5.50). The bistro is not exactly value for money but prices aren't horrendous and there are some offers to be found. Unfortunately there wasn't a duty free service due to the turnaround being quite tight and the crew seemed eager to land and get on with their return journey.

The bistro menu on the left and EasyJet's flight magazine on the right

View of the cabin

Leg room was alright
We began our approach over Northern Germany. Our approach was straight in. Our route took us over Potsdam and Southern Berlin. We lined up to land on Runway 07. Our approach was pretty smooth and apart from a thud on landing was very enjoyable. Exiting the runway we taxied past several remote stands continuing round to a stand over by the relatively new lost cost pier. Disembarkation was a bit sluggish. Passport control was not great and took about 15 minutes to get through. Baggage reclaim was also not great with it being very congested. I eventually made my way out of the airport and continued on my way to my hotel in Berlin.

Arriving on stand at Berlin Schönefeld

View of the terminal building landside at night.
Below is the video of the flight