Airport News

Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) will officially open to passengers in 100 days time on 3 June 2012, marking a significant change in the German capital’s airport system.

The city’s exiting airports, Tegel and Schönefeld, will begin relocating their operations to BER in April and will officially close in the evening of 2 June.

A relocation office will be set up to make the move run as smoothly  as possible – in the weeks leading up to the opening of the airport, the relocation of around 190 airport users must be coordinated, 4,000 rooms and offices at BER must be arranged and 150 shopping units filled with goods.

Construction of BER began on 5 September 2006 and since then all aircraft operation areas and operational buildings have been completed, as well as the underground systems, train station and rail link and power stations.

Over the next 100 days, interior work will be completed, rental space developed and appurtenant areas including green spaces created. Building site facilities will be dismantled, final cleaning will be carried out and the building will be furnished.

The airport has already carried out several trial runs since November 2011, bringing in 10,000 airport testers to make sure ground handling, security, airline and airport staff are all up to speed in time for the opening.

Once open, the airport will feature 150 shops, restaurants and service facilities will be offered across 20,000 m2. Tenant will begin moving into the airport on 21 May and all establishments will need to be inspected and approved by authorities by 3 June.

A general public weekend will be held on 12-13 May in order to allow all local people to get to know the new Capital Airport, and then on 24 May, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Governing Mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit and Brandenburg's Minister President Matthias Platzeck will officially open BER in time for operations to begin on 3 June 2012.