From the German-speaking world to Symi
Flying from Germany.
Given the size and population of Germany, there are services from a lot of airports, but relatively few airlines are involved. The situation is similar to Britain, and some of the same companies are involved too, so there are scheduled flights to Athens with onward connections, low-cost/no frills flights direct to Rhodes, and seat-only sales on charters direct to Rhodes.
Looking at the routes via Athens first:
From Berlin (Tegel), Aegean fly once daily
From Berlin Schoenfeld, EasyJet fly once daily
From Frankfurt, Lufthansa fly 3 times per day, and Aegean 2 times per day. They also code-share on each others flights, making it easy to book through onto Rhodes without the need to check in again.
From Munich there are again 3 Lufthansa and 2 Aegean flights, with mutual code sharing.
From Dusseldorf, Aegean fly once daily
From Stuttgart, Aegean fly once daily.
Aegean and EasyJet’s baggage and catering arrangements have already been discussed in the blog.
Lufthansa have the European standard 20kg hold baggage allowance included in the fare, and offer a snack and drinks too.
Now flying directly to Rhodes we have TuiFly, the sister airline to Thomson, Condor, an associate of Thomas Cook, Air Berlin, Germanwings (Lufthansa’s low-cost affiliate), XL Germany, and Hamburg International (which confusingly offer no flights from Hamburg to Rhodes, but lots from other cities).
Berlin-Tegel : Air Berlin: Thursdays 6th May – 21st October
Berlin-Schoenfeld: Condor :Thursdays 20 May to 14 October
Bremen: XL Germany: Tuesdays 4th May – 26Th October (sold through TuiFly)
Dresden: Air Berlin: Thursdays 13th May – 21st October; Hamburg International Thursdays 20 May – 28 October (also sold by Tuifly)
Dusseldorf: TuiFly: Tuesdays 20th April – 30th October, also Saturdays from 1 May and Thursdays from 29th April; Hamburg International Sundays 2nd May to 24th October; Condor : Sundays and Thursdays 9th May to 17th October; Air Berlin: Thursdays 6th May – 21st October and Tuesdays 4th May – 19th October
Erfurt: Air Berlin: Thursdays 6th May – 21st October
Frankfurt International : Air Berlin: Saturdays 8th May – 23rd October; Condor: Sundays and Thursdays 9th May to 17th October; TuiFly: Tuesdays 20th April – 30th October, also Saturdays from 1 May and Thursdays from 29th April
Friedrichshafen: Hamburg International : Thursdays 20 May – 28 October
Hamburg: Condor: Sundays 9th May to 17th October; TuiFly: Tuesdays 20th April – 30th October, also Saturdays from 1 May
Hannover: Condor: Thursdays 20th May to 17th October; TuiFly: Tuesdays 20th April – 30th October, also Saturdays from 1 May
Karlsruhe: TuiFly: Thursdays 6th May – 28th October
Koln-Bonn: Germanwings : Sundays 1 May – 28 August, Tuesdays 6 July – 31 August; TuiFly: Thursdays 6th May – 21st October
Leipzig-Halle: Condor : Sundays and Thursdays 9th May to 14th October; TuiFly: Tuesdays 4th May to 28th October (operated by XL Germany, sold by TuiFly) and Thursdays 4th May – 28th October (operated by Germania Express, sold by TuiFly)
Memmingen-Allgau: TuiFly: Thursdays 6th May – 21st October
Munich: Air Berlin: Saturdays 1st May – 23rd October; Condor: Sundays and Thursdays 9th May to 17th October; TuiFly Tuesdays 20th April – 30th October, also Saturdays from 1 May and Thursdays from 29th April
Munster-Osnabruck: Air Berlin: Thursdays 6th May – 21st October
Niederrhein-Weeze: Hamburg International: Thursdays 15 July – 21st October. Operates via Kos; Condor: Thursdays 15 July to 21st October (this may be the same flight as above)
Nurnberg: TuiFly : Thursdays and Saturdays 1st May to 30th October; Air Berlin : Thursdays 13th May – 21st October and Saturdays 8th May – 23rd October
Paderborn-Lippstadt: Air Berlin : Thursdays 13th May – 21st October
Rostock-Lange: Air Berlin: Thursdays 1 3th May – 21st October
Stuttgart: Condor: Sundays and Thursdays 9th May to 17th October; TuiFly: Tuesdays 20th April – 30th October, also Saturdays from 1 May and Thursdays from 29th April
Zweibrucken: TuiFly: Tuesdays 4th May to 28th October
Air Berlin include 20kg hold baggage, 8kg hand baggage, coffee/soft drinks and a snack in the fare.
Condor include 20kg hold baggage, 6kg hand baggage, coffee/soft drinks and a snack in the fare. Meals can be pre-booked for 7 euros.
Hamburg International include 20kg hold baggage and 5kg hand baggage in the fare. Drinks and snacks are sold on board.
TuiFly include 20kg hold baggage, and 5kg hand baggage in the fare. Meals can be prebooked at a charge.
Flying from Switzerland
I’ve already covered the border airports of Basel-Mulhouse and Geneva in the French section of the blog, so this leaves Zurich:
Scheduled flights to Athens are operated by Swiss: 2 flights daily, with a third flight every day except Wednesdays. You will need to book onward tickets separately and check in again in Athens. This may change later in the year as Swiss and Aegean will then work more closely together.
Direct flights to Rhodes are operated by:
Air Berlin: Saturdays 22nd May – 23rd October (may be operated by Swiss subsidiary Belair)
Edelweiss: Tuesdays and Saturdays 15 May to 23 October; Sundays 11 July – 24 October. Edelweiss include 20kg hold baggage, 8 kg hand baggage, and a meal and coffee/soft drink in the fare.
Flying from Austria
Scheduled flights to Athens are operated from Vienna by:
Austrian Airlines and Olympic, who each have a daily flight, and Aegean, who have a flight 5 days a week (not Tuesdays and Saturdays). As usual, the two Greek carriers will sell through tickets to Rhodes and baggage will be checked through.
Direct Flights to Rhodes are operated by
Graz: Niki: Thursdays 27th May – 23rd September
Linz: Niki: Thursdays 30thth May – 30tht September. A second flight operates from 6th June
Salzburg: Niki: Thursdays 20thth May – 7tht October. A second flight operates from 27th May
Vienna: Niki: Thursdays 1 3th May – 30th September; Austrian Airlines: Sundays 2 May to 10 October (2 flights from mid-June, one returns Monday mornings), also Thursdays 17 June to 30 September , returning Friday mornings
Niki is associated with Air Berlin and share a booking system (whichever website you use, you end up in the same place) and have the same baggage and catering arrangements.
Austrian Airlines include Hand Baggage 8kg, Hold Baggage 20kg, snacks, and drinks in the fare.
