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Air Berlin's Very Own 'Deltalina'

True to our promise, we've gone and jetted off to Berlin for a week with thoughts of currywurst and cycling over cobblestones dancing in our head.

We safely arrived early this morning to Berlin's Tegel airport via Delta's non-stop flight 78 from New York-JFK, an experience we'd rather not repeat due to a decrepit terminal, mass confusion at the gate, and the horribly cramped seats of an older plane. And remember that jazz about Delta being tops in terms of tarmac waits? They aren't kidding; we had read through our guidebook before even hitting the skies.

Beyond the terminal's hot pretzel stand and the vending machine stocked with Ritter Sport chocolate and Haribo Gummi-Bären, we spotted this carry-on luggage measuring rack and its image of a perky Air Berlin representative.

Is this frisky-looking lass the German version of Deltalina? Sadly we didn't book the Air Berlin direct from JFK, but next time we just might have to if she promises to help us latch the overhead bins.

Related Stories:
· Delta Takes the Cake for Ridiculous Tarmac Waits [Jaunted]
· Berlin Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

Tags: Where Is / TXL / Airports / → All Tags

The Site Of The Berlin-Tegel Fire

A fire engulfed an wooden office building at Berlin-Tegel Airport overnight, interrupting air traffic for about 30 minutes while more than 100 firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze.

The hexagonal passenger terminal building at the city's busiest airport was undamaged, and two Lufthansa and two Austrian Airlines flights were diverted because of thick smoke rising over the runways. Passengers on those planes touched down at Schoenefeld, in the south of Berlin, which will be converted into Berlin-Brandenburg International in 2011. Berlin's third airport, Tempelhof, wouldn't have been an alternative; it was shuttered on October 31.

Until last night, the burned building was occasionally used by the military and visiting VIPs; it was also set up as a quarantine office but never saw any action in that capacity.

Related Stories:
· Berlin Airport Blaze Brought Under Control [Reuters]
· Fire Breaks out at Berlin Airport [BBC]
· Airports coverage [Jaunted]