BER opening in the middle of the Corona crisis: activists obstruct flight start - police must intervene

The BER opens.

Party mood?

Nothing.

Other airports are closing terminals, airlines are already thinning out their offerings, climate protests follow: "The situation is serious."

• It took almost a decade longer than expected - the new BER airport will open on October 31.

• However, there is no party mood in Berlin.

  The appointment falls in the middle of the Corona crisis and thus comes at an inopportune time.

• Airlines are already thinning out their program at the start, climate activists are protesting - and the financial situation at BER is "serious".

Update from October 31st, 5:18 pm

: In protest against air traffic, the organization "

" chained

itself

to the aircraft before a plane took off from the new BER airport.

"Extinction Rebellion" wants to defend itself against the "extinction" of humanity through climate change with peaceful actions.

+++ BREAKING / LIVESTREAM +++

People from XR stick to a plane and the runway in self-defense against the worsening ecological crisis. # StopBER #abgehoben #BER #ClimateJustice

👇🏽 Livestream 👇🏽 https://t.co / ZzgvAHDbUI pic.twitter.com/nF6CzXmxFd

- Extinction Rebellion Germany (@ExtinctionR_DE) October 31, 2020

The plane was able to take off an hour late - after the activists had been removed from the plane.

"That will be expensive," tweeted the Berlin police.

Opening of BER: Lufthansa CEO sees Munich and Frankfurt still ahead of Berlin

Update from October 31, 3:47 p.m.:

In his speeches at the opening ceremony, the Prime Minister of Brandenburg spoke of his wish

to see

the

even better connected internationally

.

Lufthansa CEO

was one of the serious people who were allowed to enter the new BER airport from an airplane over the terminal bridges.

However, he does not see the “Willy Brandt” airport as an

like Frankfurt am Main or Munich.

“There are historical reasons why long-haul traffic in Germany does not take place from the two largest cities, but from the two hubs in Munich and Frankfurt,” he says.

“And I don't think BER will actually change anything.”

The Lufthansa Group with its various airlines is aiming for

a three-digit number of flights to Berlin

for the time after the

.

Lufthansa is pleased that there is now an airport that “does justice to our country”.

BER is officially opened - an airport with "structural policy importance"

Update from October 31, 3:08 p.m.:

Federal Transport Minister

(CSU) is also on site.

The airport has annoyed and moved many, but now we should also be happy.

“The time of jokes about BER must now be over,” says Scheuer.

The airport is of

and is particularly important for the local business location.

And Scheuer is important: "We're not talking about money today, we're talking about the airport becoming an international hub." The airport and the location must be developed together.

And with these words from Andreas Scheuer, the speeches are over.

At 3 p.m. sharp, the time has come: BER boss Engelbert Lütke Daldrup, Easyjet managing director Johan Lundgren and Lufthansa boss Carsten Spohr press the buzzer.

This

Airport

.

+

Inauguration of BER: The fire brigade shoots fountains over the first two aircraft to land.

© Kay Nietfeld / POOL / AFP

Update from October 31st, 2:58 pm:

"There have been days in recent years that were desperate," says

(SPD), Governing Mayor of Berlin.

But he is convinced that it was “right and important” to finish building the airport.

This is important for the region, for East Germany and neighboring European countries.

“Also a piece of

.” Müller also mentioned Tegel Airport, which is about to close.

“I know that many have a bleeding heart.” But the airport is no longer an airport of the future, it can no longer offer what airlines and passengers expect.

Opening ceremony of the BER airport in Schönefeld: Greetings from the first guests

Update from October 31, 2:49 p.m.:

The Brandenburg Prime Minister

(SPD) also has a say at the opening.

He believes that we are now writing the first chapter of a BER success story.

But there will be some challenges.

He addresses the

on site

, for example

.

He calls for more climate neutrality when flying.

But an answer to the problem is too short-sighted: “It doesn't help us to go there and say that we all no longer fly.” Good

needed

.

The airport needs to be more internationally connected - “on par with the airports in Frankfurt am Main and Munich.” In addition, the airport will only be successful if the people around it accept it.

Update from October 31, 2:39 p.m.:

BER airport

welcomed his first guests.

“We can finally get our airport into operation, finally.” It was a long way, not an easy one.

"That's why we're not celebrating a party today, we just open up."

As of today,

a “real, strong, international airport”.

The airport is modern and contemporary, with a light-flooded terminal, modern technology and sufficient capacity for the next few decades.

According to Engelbert Lütke Daldrup, the ability to learn and team spirit will make BER successful.

BER: The first planes have landed at the new airport

Update from October 31, 2:25 p.m.:

After the christening, the machines now stop at the new

to release the first

into the airport, who then go to the official

.

Update from October 31, 2:16 p.m.:

On the apron, the two

nose to nose with a distance of around 20 meters.

And there emerges the picture that will possibly go down in BER history: The fire brigade shoots two

over the aircraft.

The airport is now baptized.

Update from October 31, 2:07 p.m .:

14 years after the first

, it is finally done: Shortly after 2 p.m., an Easyjet plane landed, shortly afterwards a Lufthansa plane with the label

at

airport

.

Actually, they should land at the same time, but the fog over Berlin overturned the plan.

Video: Interesting facts about the new Berlin Airport BER

Shortly before the opening of BER: protests by climate activists, residents and taxi drivers

Update from October 31st, 1:42 p.m.:

Life comes into the

airport

in Schönefeld.

Guests, employees, but also protesters fill the aisles and places under corona conditions.

have

rolled out

banners with the words “Burn borders, not kerosene” or “Stop planes instead of scrapping the climate”

on the airport grounds.

Shortly before the official opening, protests by various groups dominated the picture

.

Some people in penguin masks or penguin suits climbed onto the roof of the building.

The Brandenburg police wrote on Twitter against four people for trespassing.

In addition, a group of protesters moved from the Willy-Brandt-Platz to the entrance of the new Terminal 1, chanting loudly

"What do we want?

Climate justice!

When do we want them?

Now! ”In front of the entrance they formed

the letters“ #NO BER ”

with large, cube-shaped

.

Meanwhile, Lufthansa boss Carsten Spohr

speaks of a "historic day".

"I still can't quite believe it," he jokes according to

.

In these minutes he is sitting on board a Lufthansa plane that is supposed to land at BER around 2 p.m. with an Easyjet plane.

The major BER customer

also relieved about the opening of the new capital city airport.

"Berlin is one of our most important bases and deserves an airport of this stature," said CEO

the

+

A climate activist hangs with a banner on a facade of Terminal 1 of the Berlin Brandenburg capital airport “Willy Brandt” (BER).

© Patrick Pleul / dpa-Zentralbild / dpa

BER in Schönefeld: Protest actions for the opening of the new airport

Update from October 31, 10:47 a.m.:

The

at the new

airport in Schönefeld are starting.

As reported by the

, several dozen members of the “Stay on the Ground” group, which is committed to reducing global air traffic, have gathered.

“Our goal is to paralyze the airport and

massively disrupt

the

,” said Lena Tucnak, one of the speakers, on Saturday morning.

“It cannot be that

a new giant airport will be opened

in times of the

.” A social discussion is needed about which flights are still necessary and which are not.

The “Flight free 2020” group would also like to advertise on the opening day that they fly significantly less and instead use more buses and trains.

"Fridays for Future" and "Extinction Rebellion" have also announced protests.

The

want to ensure everyone's safety with a large contingent.

Opening of BER: No big opening ceremony planned due to Corona

Update from October 31, 9:18 a.m .:

It should be a very special

for Germany's capital region

- but the major construction project quickly became a laughing stock in the country.

Many people like to associate the

word

with

.

On this Saturday, after nine years of

and around three times as high

the

actually take place.

Greetings from Brandenburg's Prime Minister

(SPD *) and Federal Transport Minister

(CSU *) are planned

for 1:45 p.m.

Berlin's Governing Mayor

(SPD) is also there.

The first two Lufthansa and Easyjet planes land around 2 p.m.

Due to the Corona crisis, the utilization in the start phase of the airport will be significantly lower than originally planned and hoped for.

So there is enough space and time to finally get going.

The

airport tested

the

shortly before the opening.

However

, there will be

no excessive

due to the

.

The first departures are planned for Sunday, and the “Willy Brandt” airport will then be fully operational on Wednesday.

But there have also been

the large-scale project

for years

.

Therefore, on the opening day, there will also be demonstrations by citizens' initiatives and alliances against aircraft noise and by an alliance from the climate movement.

+

Brandenburg, Schönefeld: Illumination of Terminal 1 at the Berlin Brandenburg “Willy Brandt” (BER) airport in the early morning.

© Patrick Pleul / dpa-Zentralbild / dpa

During the corona crisis of all times: BER opening nine years late

First report from October 30, 12:02 p.m .:

Berlin

- On

the unimaginable for a long time is actually supposed to happen: The

will start operations - nine years later.

Among other things, the “monster”, the

, has now been defeated.

Actually a reason to be happy.

But the construction of the airport took so long that its opening now comes at an inopportune time.

Not only that

already announced protests: The

is

causing

problems

for the aviation industry.

Terminals are being shut down elsewhere, and not many passengers are expected in Berlin either.

And the financial situation at

is already precarious.

BER opening in the Corona crisis: "The situation is serious," says the chairman of the supervisory board - Hofreiter sees "a block on the leg"

"The situation is very serious,"

emphasized

Rainer Bretschneider,

the

Company, on

.

"The financial position and equity in particular are not such that we are positioned for the future." We are therefore in constant contact with the shareholders and have already asked for financial support for the year 2021.

Bretschneider would already be open to private investors.

The

,

, also sees the new Berlin airport as “in great economic difficulties”.

It should not be forgotten that the airport has become much more expensive, Hofreiter told the same broadcaster days before the opening.

"It was calculated at 2.5 billion euros and cost 6 billion euros." This means that the airport has become twice as expensive and will remain "a block on the leg" and "a subsidy company".

The

would be

, which could not cover the costs.

"You need a debt relief concept and it has to be honestly on the table."

The federal government and the two participating states Berlin and Brandenburg are supporting the airport company with 300 million euros this year.

A loan of around 550 million euros has been approved for the coming year.

Corona opening for the capital's airport: Berlin's mayor is hoping for better times

Berlin's governing mayor Michael Müller

, on the other hand, assumes that

remain

- albeit in a somewhat more distant future.

"With Tegel and Schönefeld we saw that an airport earns money," said the SPD politician of the

.

“We have a special situation with BER because the construction costs have to come back.” And the whole system has to start working, including that beyond air traffic.

“Nowadays an airport earns money with the services around it: with the commercial space, the shopping areas and not primarily with take-off and landing fees,” said Müller.

“But now we are experiencing a pandemic.

We have fewer passengers and fewer companies that use the whole area in Tegel and Schönefeld.

Once we have overcome the crisis, the new airport will make money just like the old one.

Airports in crisis: BER opens - Düsseldorf and Frankfurt for the time being are foregoing terminals

Numerous current

prove that this will be difficult for the time being

The

, for example, responded to the drastic decline in air traffic and

.

The

will be

in operation.

Because of the corona crisis, there is no earlier demand from customers, said a spokesman for the operator Fraport on Thursday.

The construction work for the approximately four billion euro project will continue, but could be stretched in part for cost reasons.

“Horror balances” * also came from Munich Airport in the pandemic.

recently faced with a bizarre problem

: six of their

747-400

are only allowed to

leave the

after a long hitch for their flight to the scrap yard

.

Initially, the local air traffic and environmental authorities had blocked the take-offs from the intermediate parking lot.

Opening for the capital city airport BER: Easyjet and Ryanair are already reducing

At BER, the

already

preparing

for the

with a reduced offer at the opening

.

For example, the largest provider in Berlin to date, the British airline

, has agreed with the trade unions to reduce the fleet stationed in Berlin from 34 aircraft to 18 last year.

The crisis-ridden

.

It uses the airport primarily as a starting point for long-haul flights with a one-time change at the

or

hubs

.

The largest German airline is planning to start at BER with just 30 flights a day - around half as many as before the crisis.

The

will

also reduce

its capacities at BER for the winter flight schedule, to 40 percent of the previous year, as the Irish company announced on request.

Ryanair will then serve around 27 international routes.

Around 9,900 extras have tested the #BER in the past few months.

The ORAT logistics team around Florian Steinhaus took care of the trial operation days.

You can find out more about this in the new #BackstageBerlinAirport video.

More insights ➡️ https://t.co/xTuURIwDB4 pic.twitter.com/wHDGikfMoR

- BER - Berlin Brandenburg Airport (@berlinairport) October 23, 2020

Airport boss Engelbert Lütke Daldrup

had recently

expected

a total of around

the airport at the main terminal T1.

With the

a week later, around 16,000 passengers would then be processed at T1.

A further 8,000 passengers would then

travel

via

, which serves as Terminal 5 of BER.

In

view of these low numbers

,

,

which has already been completed

, will not be needed for the time being and will therefore not open until spring.

After all: the federal government is already flying from the capital's airport.

BER opens - without a big party: "After this construction period we can't ..."

In view of all these problems, the

should also be

small.

From Müller's point of view,

a

on October 31st would

: “Airport boss Lütke Daldrup, Brandenburg's Prime Minister Woidke and I came to an agreement very quickly.

Of course you have to open an airport, but we can't have a party after this construction period, ”he said.

At least one institution was delighted: the

in the middle of the

is “a sign of confidence” from the industry perspective.

"The need to travel across countries and continents will remain," said the German Airports Association.

The epidemic is a serious turning point.

It is all the more important that the

new airport goes online.

(

) *

.