Review of easyJet flight from Warsaw to Berlin in Economy

hello from matthevv

Hello travellers,

As we are all pretty much grounded nowadays due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic (and because I've only joined Flight-Report very recently), I decided to post a few reports from my old trips. I am going to do that over several subsequent weeks. I hope you'll enjoy them even though some of the reports will be from a good few years ago. Apologies in advance if you feel the FR is too outdated or it is missing a few details. I'll try to make it best as I can!

Today I am starting with my flight from Warsaw Chopin to Berlin Tegel with easyJet last winter. I flew there with a bunch of friends for a short 3-day city break, and Berlin didn't let us down. Unfortunately, this route, operated by U2, doesn't exist anymore (I'll give some ideas why this might be the case later on) and you can only fly from WAW to TXL by LOT Polish Airlines.

As a background to this trip report, I should perhaps mention, how much I actually paid for this flight. The return WAW-TXL-WAW was 115 PLN / 27 EUR / 24 GBP, an absolutely bargain price. We also added an extra service, hands free to be able to take a second piece of hand luggage. This cost us an additional 23 PLN / 5 EUR / 4.5 GBP (return, per person).

Thanks for joining me on this trip and…
Let's begin. 

flight details

Flight number: U25742
Route: Warsaw Chopin - Berlin Tegel (Terminal C)
Flight date: 28th January 2019 (0755-0905)
Scheduled flight time: 1:10
Aircraft model: Airbus A320
Aircraft registration: G-EZWA
Seating configuration: Y180 at the time of flight, (now Y186)
Aircraft age (at the time of flight): 6.5 years
Seat number: 19A
Departure gate: 26 
Arrival gate: bus gate at TXL 

At the airport

Packed on the previous day to be ready for the morning departure. Btw. I love this cabin bag from American Tourister. I find it a very good value for money.

We decided to meet each other at 0650 for this early morning departure at WAW, precisely next to the piano (yes!) which is located in the new part of terminal A (and not terminal 2, as easyJet puts it - see photo below). We decided to buy the "Hands free", a relatively new service from easyJet. It's not very expensive yet proved helpful to us: you can take 2 hand luggage items (wheelie bag + backpack/bigger handbag) instead of 1 item and you can put liquids of more than 100 mL into the bag that you send to the hold.

There was no queue for easyJet check in this morning, literally there was no one there, so we swiftly left our bags and took a group photo! Then we proceeded through security, bought some water (really expensive in WAW!) and soon the boarding commenced. Our gate was very centrally and conveniently located. 

Dear easyJet… there's NO terminal 2 in Warszawa (Warsaw)! There is only one terminal - A.

That's us, in between easyJet check-in and the south security at WAW.

Warsaw Chopin Airport gives you some good spotting opportunities with those huge windows overviewing the tarmac. Here you can see a LOT Polish Airlines 737 MAX 8 (SP-LVD) in a special livery for the 100th Anniversary of Poland's Independence. Personally, I don't like this livery but I know there are different attitudes to it. 

Boarding

Boarding for this EZY flight was really quick, as there were only a few people to board (LF approx. 50%). So hardly have they started to board us, when they already had to finish :) Now a big surprise - easyJet uses (or rather "used" - see later) jet bridges at WAW! I really didn't expect that from a low cost carrier. Even some legacy airlines (like LOT) don't use air bridges in Warsaw, let alone Norwegian (which is deemed a better LCC than U2). So thumbs up for easyJet!

Our gate, 26. easyJet's colours match WAW colours well, don't they.

As you see, we use the jest bridge to board at WAW. I really like those air bridges with glass walls in Warsaw. This was also a chance to cool down a bit… as it was really hot in the terminal.

Me at seat 19A. Good window alignment (at least in the older aircraft configuration - this A320 now has new seats and more densified configuration of Y186).

At our gate in Warsaw. In the background Air China A330 heading to PEK & Qatar Airways A330 to DOH.

inflight

This flight to Berlin was a really short, 50 min hop, so I won't really be able to review a lot in terms of the inflight experience. I didn't use the Buy on Board menu but it looked extensive. I actually think, no one used the service at all on this short flight with not too many passengers. One thing perhaps worth mentioning are the food vouchers. Before the flight you can buy a voucher worth 5 GBP for 4 GBP which seems to be a good option for people who know they're going to buy either food or anything from duty free (especially on longer routes).

easyJet's inflight magazine was the only type of entertainment on this flight (well, except for the views from the window). The magazine was of rather poor quality and was a bit worn-out. It included lots of ads which is usual for low cost airlines. At least I had a good window view :)

The multinational crew didn't really have much to do on this short flight. Nevertheless, they seemed helpful, friendly and satisfied with their job. They had smiles on their faces throughout the flight.

Pretty snowy Poland underneath the wing.

Old easyJet interior in this quite an empty Airbus A320. In my honest opinion, the old seats look dirty and outdated. However, I appreciate the orange-coloured details throughout the aircraft.

Very quick flight so we're already descending into Tegel.

Landing & tegel airport

After only a few minutes inflight, we started our descent into Berlin-Tegel. We landed smoothly, "from the east" and then deplaned by bus. We managed to get a group photo taken by a friendly crew member. Tegel airport is not the best one I have been to… it's actually on the bottom side of this list… amongst the worst airports I visited. Seemed small, quite dirty and very old-fashioned. At least our bags arrived quickly.

Good landing from easyJet.

A quick group photo of an empty cabin. We had to leave fast, however, because the bus to the terminal, full of other passengers was already waiting for us.

Buying bus tickets in front of Tegel entrance. We took "TXL bus line" to the centre. The journey took us as long as the flight itself!

Why no easyjet on WAW-txl anymore?

This flight from Warsaw to Berlin was a nice alternative to taking a train, bus or a car journey. Moreover it was very reasonably priced (unlike a similar service from LOT). Unfortunately, U2 doesn't operate this route anymore (I think they actually left Warsaw utterly). A few reasons for that might be:
- lack of good marketing of easyJet in Warsaw, lots of people didn't know that such airline exists
- uncomfortable times of flights… well, the 0755 departure from WAW was ok but the flight back at 6 am is very bad for tourists from Poland
- the flight price was too cheap to earn money on it (with this low number of passengers)

One thing is undoubtedly true - we won't see easyJet in Warsaw now… neither on routes to Berlin and Gatwick, nor to Geneva and Basel :(

Thanks for joining me on this report! I have a few photos from Berlin in the "tourism bonus" section for you.

Matthevv