Hapag Lloyd > Reviews > A highly recommended budget airline.

Author's product rating:   

Food Quality	Good
Customer Service	Friendly and attentive
Punctuality	Good
Space	Comfortable
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Excellent Value for Money .  Good Service .  In - flight route map .  Flight information screens .
Disadvantages:	A shame they don't fly to more destinations from Manchester

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Hapag Lloyd express (HLX) are a German budget airline division of the holiday company, Hapag Lloyd (owned by TUI).
It appears that the main base of HLX is Cologne / Bonn airport as the majority of destinations that HLX fly to fly from there.
On Monday the 14th of June 2004, I flew HLX from Manchester to Cologne / Bonn Airport for an afternoon in thsi splendid German city.
I booked online well in advance on the 19th of May and got a special one-way fare of £13.99p including all taxes and duties!
They also don't charge a credit card processing fee like some other airlines do!
The way to get the cheap air fares with HLX online booking is when you find a flight you would like to book with a Special One Way price, don't hesitate in booking as if I had have waited one more day to book, I would have paid double the price and a few more days later saw my flight escalate to £41.99p!
My flight was flight HLX3527 scheduled to depart at 11:05 and arrive Cologne at 13:35 (Cologne local time).
I arrived at Manchester airport (Terminal 1) at 09:20 and checked-in straight away.
HLX as an open seating policy so you can sit where you wish.
I passed through security control and sat in the Lounge watching the Big Screen TV underneath the departure monitors.
At 10:40, the departure montiors said to go to gate 25.
The airline (a Boeing 737) was a little late arriving from an incoming flight and when it arrived at the gate, it had to allow passengers to leave the aircraft first.
Boarding started late at around 11:10.
The aircraft itself was in no way overbooked as I got a seat ear the front of the plane and a row to myself.
The seats appear to be grey leather which is a shock for a budget airline!
The TV screens were then bougth down from the ceiling and show lots of infromation throughout the flight including a route map of your location, local time at origin, local time at present location, ground speed, mach and altitude.
The crew were extremely friendly and spoke German and English.
They came around selling food and drink but I chose not to purchase anything as I had eaten (I was forced to rate the food quality with Ciao so I have rated it good from what I saw other people eating).
The plane flew straight over central London showing some spectacular views.
It also flew over Dover and Brussels.
The plane arrived at Cologne / Bonn Airport at a slightly later time of 13:50.
Overall, it was an excellent value for money journey and I would recommend them to all.