Airline Review: Niki (regional Economy)
Niki is a regional carrier with its base in Vienna. We had the pleasure to not only fly with an Embraer ERJ-190 on a city route earlier this year, but also with an Airbus A320 on a holiday route. To thoroughly review Niki, we decided to take seat in row one with more space and try one of the gourmet menus offered for a fee.
Niki is one of the smaller carriers in Europe. The subsidiary of Air Berlin is mainly flying routes from Vienna to destinations all over Europe.
- Airplane: Airbus A320
- Cabin Class: Economy
- Daytime: Noon
- Food: Lunch
- Seat Pitch: 30 Inch (76 Centimeter)
- Seat Width: 17.5 Inch (44 Centimeter)
When we flew from Berlin to Athens, we choose a connection with a stop in Vienna to give Niki another try, this time on a holiday route with a larger aircraft, an Airbus A320. If you are interested in how Niki does on business routes, check out our first airline review of the regional Economy of Niki!
Seating in the Niki regional Economy
The A320 is still no big plane, yet it is way larger than the Embraer ERJ-190.
The seats, however, are absolutely the same. Same color, same comfort, same seat width. The only difference to our first airline experience with Niki was the seat pitch as we decided to take a seat in the first row instead of one of the normal seats.
Bulkhead seats offer a generous legroom
The bulkhead seats in the Niki A320 got spacious legroom and enough seating comfort to enjoy. Sadly, the airplane was fully booked, so we had to share the row with someone else. Nevertheless, the seating comfort was decent, especially with the ample legroom.
Food in the Niki regional Economy
As an Air Berlin Platinum member, I’m entitled to getting a gourmet menu on all Air Berlin and Niki operated regional flights.
Presentation of the Gourmet Menu
When flying with Niki in the Airbus A320, I choose the chicken curry which looked surprisingly small at first sight. Nevertheless, I liked that it looked like you’d expect a curry when ordering at a street food booth.
Extremly tasty: Chicken Curry
The look was nice, but the taste was phenomenal. I have to admit that I rarely ate anything as good in an airplane yet, even in business class.
While I also like the Niki sandwiches which are served to all passengers, it may be worth paying a little extra to get a gourmet menu as the curry was a real blessing. It was also not a problem at all to get two drinks.
Entertainment in the Niki regional Economy
Even though Niki is known to be a low-cost-carrier, passengers may enjoy newspapers and magazines. When boarding, you may choose one or two of your choice to enjoy while flying. Sadly, the choice is limited to Austrian papers. There are no international and even no German choices.
Several Austrian newspapers are available for free
Other sorts of entertainment are overhead monitors and the board magazine which is awaiting every guest on the seat of the Niki A320. The entertainment options may not have been extremely good, but decent enough for a holiday flight in Europe.
Bottom line Niki regional Economy
The first time we flew with Niki I was already flashed by the flawless experience which is way better than what Air Berlin offers. This time, I was flashed another time as the service was great, the food was outstanding and the legroom in row one was decent, too. I have to admit that I fell in love with the regional Economy of Niki a little bit. Niki may officially be a low-cost-carrier, but my experiences with the Austrian airline are rather premium compared to other airlines in Europe. If you get the chance to depart from Vienna, you should definitely give Niki a try!
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