Flying from Berlin to Salzburg with Air Berlin

Grant Bradley queuing for an Air Berlin flight. Photo / Grant Bradley

Grant Bradley flies AB8514 from Germany to Austria

The plane: A 70-seater Bombardier Dash-8 Q400. Like the ones Jetstar flies on regional routes in New Zealand.

The airline: Four days before our flight, Air Berlin filed for administration after major shareholder Etihad ran out of tolerance for injecting cash. A €150 million bailout by the German government assured the airline's future for three months at least, avoiding a collapse during the critical summer holiday period, but the omens for us were not good.

The airport experience: Tegel used to be almost charmingly small with great gate access.

No longer. It now handles 33 million passengers a year and is creaking. The Air Berlin terminal C is a bit like a large woolshed with queues of people rather than sheep. It took an hour and a quarter to reach the counter and when there the perfectly nice but harried staffer with head in hands told it as it was: "Every day it's the same shit — Nothing is working; we have no people." We were travelling on a Saturday in the midst of the European high season so the staffer had our sympathies but I can't remember a worse check-in.

One bright spot — I got to listen to the first half of the first Bledisloe test while waiting in line. (Thanks iHeart Radio).

My seat: 4A of the all-Economy cabin which had a 2-2 configuration. The window provided a great view of the countryside. It was leather and roomy enough.

On time: There was an aircraft change "for operational reasons" so push back from the most remote stand at Tegel was one hour 15 mins late. Enough to endure the disappointing last 30 minutes of the Bledisloe in a packed departure area. The flight took one hour 15 mins.

The price: Just on €60 for the seat plus an extra €50 each for a bag up to 23kg and to guarantee two seats together.

The food: A reasonable choice off the cart for a price — €7 Currywurst is available on longer flights, beer is €3. Nothing offered for nix.

The toilets: Two at the front.

Entertainment: An excellent magazine with a chunk of it in English. Otherwise, the very good view.

The crew: Two in the cabin, efficient and friendly enough.

The bottom line: While the airline's financial position is parlous the crew are doing their best. The flight was fine, once we got going. Ancillary charges are steep but in keeping with industry norm.