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 "
Extinction Rebellion
" 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
airport
even better connected internationally
(see update from October 31, 2:49 p.m.)
.
Lufthansa CEO
Carsten Spohr
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
international hub
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
corona pandemic
.
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
Andreas Scheuer
(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
structural importance
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 LĂĽtke Daldrup, Easyjet managing director Johan Lundgren and Lufthansa boss Carsten Spohr press the buzzer.
This
officially opens BER
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
Michael MĂĽller
(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
reunification and post-reunification history
.” 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
Dietmar Woidke
(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
demonstrators
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
connections all over the world are
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
boss
Engelbert LĂĽtke Daldrup
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,
East Germany has
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 LĂĽtke 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
terminal
to release the first
guests
into the airport, who then go to the official
opening ceremony
.
Update from October 31, 2:16 p.m.:
On the apron, the two
planes are
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
fountains
over the aircraft.
The airport is now baptized.
Update from October 31, 2:07 p.m .:
14 years after the first
groundbreaking ceremony
, it is finally done: Shortly after 2 p.m., an Easyjet plane landed, shortly afterwards a Lufthansa plane with the label
“Capital Flyer”
at
BER
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
BER
airport
in Schönefeld.
Guests, employees, but also protesters fill the aisles and places under corona conditions.
Activists
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
(see update from October 31, 10:47 a.m.)
.
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
dpa
"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
balloons
.
Meanwhile, Lufthansa boss Carsten Spohr
speaks of a "historic day".
"I still can't quite believe it," he jokes according to
dpa
.
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
Easyjet was
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
Johan Lundgren of
the
German Press Agency.
+
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
protests
at the new
BER
airport in Schönefeld are starting.
As reported by the
German Press Agency
, 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
opening
,” 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
climate crisis
.” 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
police
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
airport
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
“breakdown airport”
with
BER
.
On this Saturday, after nine years of
delay
and around three times as high
costs,
the
opening should
actually take place.
Greetings from Brandenburg's Prime Minister
Dietmar Woidke
(SPD *) and Federal Transport Minister
Andreas Scheuer
(CSU *) are planned
for 1:45 p.m.
Berlin's Governing Mayor
Michael MĂĽller
(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
emergency
shortly before the opening.
However
, there will be
no excessive
opening party
due to the
corona pandemic
.
The first departures are planned for Sunday, and the “Willy Brandt” airport will then be fully operational on Wednesday.
But there have also been
opponents of
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
Saturday (October 31st)
the unimaginable for a long time is actually supposed to happen: The
new BER airport
will start operations - nine years later.
Among other things, the “monster”, the
airport's smoke extraction system
, 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
climate and environmental activists have
already announced protests: The
corona pandemic
is
causing
serious
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
BER
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,
Chairman of
the
Supervisory Board of the Berlin-Brandenburg Airport
Company, on
RBB Inforadio
.
"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
chairman of the Greens in the Bundestag
,
Anton Hofreiter
, 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
debts due to the high construction costs
would be
offset by lower income from Corona
, 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 MĂĽller
, on the other hand, assumes that
BER will not
remain
a subsidy business
- albeit in a somewhat more distant future.
"With Tegel and Schönefeld we saw that an airport earns money," said the SPD politician of the
dpa
.
“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 - DĂĽsseldorf and Frankfurt for the time being are foregoing terminals
Numerous current
examples from Germany
prove that this will be difficult for the time being
.
The
Dusseldorf airport
, for example, responded to the drastic decline in air traffic and
closes on November 3 to the terminal B
.
The
Frankfurt Airport
will be
the third passenger terminal at the earliest in 2025
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.
Lufthansa was
recently faced with a bizarre problem
: six of their
decommissioned Boeing
747-400
jumbos
are only allowed to
leave the
small Dutch airport Twente
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
airlines are
already
preparing
for the
corona situation
with a reduced offer at the opening
.
For example, the largest provider in Berlin to date, the British airline
Easyjet
, has agreed with the trade unions to reduce the fleet stationed in Berlin from 34 aircraft to 18 last year.
The crisis-ridden
Lufthansa
has not stationed its own aircraft at BER
.
It uses the airport primarily as a starting point for long-haul flights with a one-time change at the
Frankfurt
or
Munich
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
low-cost airline Ryanair
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 LĂĽtke Daldrup
had recently
expected
a total of around
5,000 passengers on the opening day of
the airport at the main terminal T1.
With the
Tegel closure
a week later, around 16,000 passengers would then be processed at T1.
A further 8,000 passengers would then
travel
via
Schönefeld Airport
, which serves as Terminal 5 of BER.
In
view of these low numbers
,
Terminal 2
,
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
party at the airport start
should also be
small.
From MĂĽller's point of view,
a
big celebration for the opening of BER
on October 31st would
not be appropriate
: “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
opening of the new capital city
airport
in the middle of the
aviation crisis
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.
(
dpa / fn
) *
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