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Berlin Schönefeld chosen as the worst airport in the world

Jörg Luyken
Jörg Luyken - [email protected]
Berlin Schönefeld chosen as the worst airport in the world
Berlin Schönefeld Airport. Photo: DPA

It is no secret that when it comes to air travel, Berlin isn't exactly known for quality. Now a survey has named both of its air hubs among the world's worst.

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If what the average traveller looked for in an airport was a time warp which transported you back to some point between 1980 and 2004, Berlin’s Schönefeld airport would win hands down every year.

With walls still decorated with adverts showing George W. Bush as President of the US and Josef Ratzinger as the Pope, Berlin’s ex-East German air shack has a distinctly retro feel.

It's also very practical. The canny traveller can take a shortcut through Terminal C, meaning you can arrive well under an hour before take-off and still make your flight.

But according to a survey released this week by travel website eDreams, the average traveller is much happier wallowing in the horror that is the airport experience of 2017.

They prefer the endless array of designer shops at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion to Schönefeld’s two newsagents. They’d rather have the fine dining and cushy chairs of Dallas airport than the choice between Burger King and an Irish pub offered in southern Berlin.

For these reasons, respondents rated Schönefeld the worst airport in the world in the survey, giving it a score of 3.17 out of 5.

The survey was a review of more than 65,000 opinions submitted during 2016, taking into account the categories of waiting areas, shopping and restaurants.

For those jet-set Berliners who are partial to a bit of luxury as they take to the air, the survey made for grim reading. The capital's other air hub, Tegel Airport, was rated eighth worst in the world.

Given that the capital's spanking new international airport project has been riddled by trouble for years, most recently firing its boss, the situation isn't going to change until spring 2018 at the earliest.

Proof though that there are parts of Germany that can offer all the modern trimmings was found in the fact that Munich and Frankfurt airports both made the top ten in the survey.

The Bavarian air hub was rated fourth best in the world, scoring 4.19 out of 5. Frankfurt came just behind in fifth place.

Respondents rated Helsinki-Vantaa the very best airport on the planet.

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