About me:Just back from my honeymoon so look out for my Hawaiian reviews!!!
Member since:14.10.2005
Reviews:64
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Review rated by 12 Ciao members on average: very helpful
Stuttgart Echterdingen is situated approximately 10 miles outside of the centre of Stuttgart and is the first and last point of call for many travellers visiting this city of industry.
Although not the largest of airports, Stuttgart still sees approximately 400 landings and taking offs daily and last year saw nearly 9.5million people use the airport, flying on approximately 60 different carriers.
THE TERMINAL
If you are flying from Stuttgart, you will see that your flight will arrive/depart from one of four terminals at the airport. However, do not be fooled as, unlike many other airports, the four terminals are encased in the same building and the number only refers to the part of the terminal that you will fly from.
As well as being split into four sections laterally, the terminal is split across five floors with each having its own function. Floor 1 is the train station (more below) and floor two is the arrivals level. (Be warned if you are meeting people at the airport that the arrivals lounge for fights arriving at terminal one or two has two exits and it can be hard to see both at the same time!).
The third floor is the predominantly departures and as Stuttgart is a hub for both Germanwings and Hapag-Lloyd Express, there are a lot of check in desks for these companies. Make sure that you know where you are going because although HLX appear to have all check ins at the same point, Germanwings international and regional flights are at different points. The fourth level is full of travel agents etc and the fifth is a viewing platform (more below).
ARRIVALS/DEPARTURES
Stuttgart doesn't have many piers so it s likely that if you are arriving on anything other than a flag carrier (BA, Air France etc) then you will be taken to/from the terminal by bus. On my visit, these appeared to be well maintained, clean and were well driven. Given the design of the apron, it also affords great views of all the parked aircraft. My flight arrived quite late and baggage came through quite quickly but I can't guarantee this would always be the case because there weren't many carousels. On departure, check-in was ok but if you are carrying a laptop computer, be prepared that you may be asked to prove it works by turning it on.
AIRLINES THAT USE STUTTGART
This is by no means a comprehensive list but here are some of the airlines that use Stuttgart (those that fly to the UK are noted): Air Berlin Air Europa Air France Alitalia Atlasjet Austrian Airlines British Airways (Heathrow + Birmingham) Bulgaria Air Condor Corendon Croatia Airlines CSA Czech Airlines dba Delta Air Lines Finnair germanwings (Stansted) Hapagfly HLX (Manchester) KLM LTU Lufthansa (Jersey, Guernsey, Heathrow + London City) Malev Onur Air Qantas SAS Sky Airlines SkyEurope swiss Transavia Tunis Air Turkish Airlines
GETTING TO/FROM AIRPORT
The airport is situated outside of the city centre so transport is required to get into Stuttgart itself. When I visited, I used the train system, which I was extremely impressed with. The station is located directly beneath the terminal making it very quick and ash to catch. There are currently two lines (S-Bahns S3 and S2) which both go to the centre where you can connect with the general German rail network. The last train of the night leaves at 00:25 after which you would have to catch a taxi. There are however plans to improve the rail network in Stuttgart and within the next few years the Stuttgart21 project hopes to open up a direct, high-speed link from the centre, to the airport and beyond to the rest of Germany.
If you are driving there appeared to be ample parking and looking at the airports website, this appears to be relatively cheap although you would have to check when booking. There is also the usual plethora of rent-a-car companies such as Hertz, Avis etc. all of whom have desks in the terminal.
WHAT TO DO THERE
Waiting in airports can be one of the most boring experiences there is so what else there is to do is quite important. There is the usual array of shops that one would expect to find at an airport (perfume, clothes, alcohol etc) and these all looked to be well stocked. I didn't actually go in many and I will say that I was slightly disappointed at the number of shops once you had cleared customs as many appeared to be in the general departures hall.
One thing that Stuttgart does offer which is unfortunately being removed at many other airports is a viewing platform. This is located on the roof of the terminal building and stretches its entire length. It costs a couple of euros to go up there as there is also a display of old aircraft and it affords a great view over the entire apron. At several points there are speakers which you can select to hear various aspects of the ATC on and there are also high powered binocular stands (again a couple of euros). There is a café on the terrace although this was closed when I visited and didn't look likely to be opening any time soon. Whilst waiting for a flight to arrive I really enjoyed the terrace but there is one fundamental problem, there are no arrivals/departures screens. This makes it impossible to tell if the flight you are waiting for has had any status change.
IN GENERAL
Stuttgart airport appeared to me to be a well-run pleasant airport. The only problem that I had was that the display screens were non-existent on the viewing terrace and were very slow to update in the terminal itself. This may have been a one off problem but infuriating whilst awaiting my flight.
If you are at all interested in aviation, it is also a great place to observe many aircraft, as there is a large private area that deals with the major players in Stuttgart such as Daimler-Chrysler and Porsche.
I hope that I've covered everything but if I've missed something let me know and I'll update now, or when I fly there again in July.
07.06.2006 17:11
Great review seems like youy have gone into a lot of detail with this review its very informative thanks - Donna