New Berlin Brandenburg Airport Is Now Open
After 14 years of construction and a 9-year delay, Germany’s Berlin Brandenburg Airport finally opened its gates. Lufthansa and EasyJet operated the first flights out of BER on Sunday, with Lufthansa even designing a special Airbus A320neo for the occasion!
New Berlin Brandenburg Airport Is Now Open
On Sunday, November 1, 2020, regular operations began at Terminal 1 of Berlin Brandenburg Airport with the first commercial departures. The airport is named after Willy Brandt, Berlin’s former Mayor, and West German Chancellor. As of its opening, Berlin Brandenburg has taken the IATA code BER, with Schonefeld’s SXF being retired. Schonefeld Airport is now the official Terminal 5 of BER with the main building of the airport becoming Terminal 1 and in just a few days on Saturday, November 7, 2020, the Tegel Airport will cease all operations as well.
The first flights to land at Brandenburg were an EasyJet Airbus A320neo, followed by a Lufthansa A320neo. Both of these flights carried special passengers that were welcomed by the CEO of the company, Engelbert Lütke Daldrup. This included both easyJet CEO Johan Lundgren and Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr. The opening ceremony was also attended by the Mayor of Berlin, Michael Müller, the Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, Andreas Scheuer, and Rainer Bretschneider, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the airport company.
Engelbert Lütke Daldrup, CEO, Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg said in an official press realse:
“With Berlin Brandenburg Airport Willy Brandt, eastern Germany can now rely on airport infrastructure that will serve as a solid basis for the coming decades. The people here in the German capital region had to wait a long time for this day. Our customers, that is the passengers and airlines, will find professional standards at BER: good accessibility by train and car, reliability and safety in handling even under Coronavirus conditions, optimal service on the ground and in the air. I am very pleased that we were able to open the new airport with EasyJet and Lufthansa. They are our most important partners even in these difficult times. Together, we shall overcome this crisis.”
The new airport will concentrate air traffic in the German capital region in one location with a total capacity of over 40 million passengers per year. Around 25 million passengers can be handled at Terminal 1. More passengers are expected to pass through the new Berlin airport than at any other location in Germany. You can find the official website for the Berlin Brandenburg Airport Willy Brandt here.