from the heating element on different sides of the heating element the air mass meter 1 is preferably disposed in the flow channel 11 in such a way that a surface of the sensor chip 2 on which the sensor element 4 and the evaluation electronics 5 are disposed is oriented essentially parallel to the flow direction of the fluid flow the evaluation electronics 5 are designed depending on the respective available voltage of the first and second temperature sensors and the detected temperature represented by them to determine a temperature difference and depending thereupon to provide a sensor signal to a connection on the output side which is integrated on the sensor chip 2 the sensor signal is representative of a mass flow of the fluid flow through the flow channel 11 the connection can for example be in the form of a bond pad which with bond wires 8 enables an electrical connection to the carrier element 7 and thus to the downstream vehicle electronics the evaluation electronics 5 can be coated on the sensor chip s at least in portions with a protective layer c to prevent damage by dirt particles in the air flow preferably only the portion of the evaluation.