Gallery: Berlin Brandenburg Airport Willy Brandt Opening

Linda Blachly

Both first flights of Lufthansa and UK LCC easyJet came to a stop in front of the terminal before both aircraft taxied together to the gate. EasyJet has offered flights from Berlin since 2004 and transported more than 12 million passengers. Credit: Radio Berlin Brandenburg

Departure screen. Nov. 1 was the first operational day of BER, registering only 23 takeoffs and landings. Credit: Kurt Hofmann

BER’s main building is 220 meters (722 ft.) long, 180 meters wide and 32 meters high. The main pier is 715 meters long and has 16 contact stands. Credit: Kurt Hofmann

Departure gate A07. Credit: Kurt Hofmann

In 2019, Both Berlin airports handled 35.6 million passengers. In 2019, 70 airlines operated to 150 destinations from Berlin. However, this year will be different. By August, 70% drop in passengers has been reported. Around 10 million passengers is predicted for all Berlin airports in 2020. Credit: Kurt Hofmann

Waiting Area. Credit: Kurt Hofmann

Passport Control area. Credit: Kurt Hofmann

The Market Place is the center of BER, which includes about 120 shops, restaurants bars on airside. Credit: Kurt Hofmann

Information about shops and restaurants. The main terminal offers 10 check-in booths with a total of 118 check-in counters. Credit: Kurt Hofmann

The airport offers T1 and T2. T2 will be not used at the moment. There is also T5, which is the old, but renovated terminal from Berlin Schönefeld Airport. The airport also offers a railway station. It is expected that two-thirds of passengers will use train connections. Credit: Kurt Hofmann

The Marketplace. Credit: Kurt Hofmann

A view of the main terminal. Construction work for the airport started in 2008. Credit: Kurt Hofmann

Lufthansa’s new lounge at BER. Here is the Business Class section. A dedicated section for Gold Status guests will be completed soon. Credit: Kurt Hofmann

The way to the new Lufthansa lounge. Credit: Kurt Hofmann

BER ATC tower. BER offers 115 aircraft positions on 1,470 hectares. There are two runways, one 3,600 meters long and one offers 4,000 meters. Credit: Kurt Hofmann

Old Terminal 5 will still be in use. Credit: Kurt Hofmann

Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr boards the A320neo back to Munich. Credit: Kurt Hofmann

Check-in at Munich Airport for Lufthansa’s first flight, LH2020, to Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), using an Airbus A320neo. Credit: Kurt Hofmann

Boarding LH flight 2020, an A320neo. Credit: Kurt Hofmann

Lufthansa CEO and chairman Carsten Spohr told journalists in Munich, that in precoronavirus times, Lufthansa had 400 weekly flights to both Berlin airports—Tegel and Schönefeld. Schönefeld is also part of the new airport. Credit: Kurt Hofmann

From left: Lufthansa Cargo CEO Peter Gerber, former Munich Airport CEO Michael Kerkloh and Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr. Credit: Kurt Hofmann

Lufthansa crew welcomes first passengers. Credit: Kurt Hofmann

The next phase of BER’s launch comes on Nov. 4 when the southern runway opens, while the final move takes place from Nov. 7-8 when airlines still using Tegel (TXL) relocate. By Nov. 8, BER expects to be handling about 16,000 passengers daily at T1 and almost 8,000 at T5. Credit: Kurt Hofmann

A first view of the new Terminal of Berlin Brandenburg Airport Willy Brandt. It will be most likely the last new-build airport in Germany, according to Spohr. Credit: Kurt Hofmann

Lufthansa flight LH2020 touches down. Photo credit: Radio Berlin Brandenburg

After a delay of nearly nine years, Berlin Brandenburg Airport Willy Brandt (BER) officially opened Oct. 31 with a parallel landing from Lufthansa and UK LCC easyJet. The opening was postponed six times and costs tripled to €6 billion ($7 billion). Three terminals have a passenger capacity of 41 million, making BER Germany’s third largest airport behind Frankfurt and Munich. Airlines are moving from Berlin Tegel and the old terminal in Schönefeld to the new facility. Schönefeld closed Oct. 25, but much of its infrastructure was incorporated into the new facility as T5. Tegel will close Nov. 8.

Aviation Week Network/ATW correspondent Kurt Hofmann, who was invited on board the first Lufthansa Airbus A320neo flight from Munich to BER, provides exclusive photos.

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Linda Blachly

Linda Blachly is Senior Associate Editor for Air Transport World and Aviation Week. She joined the company in July 2010 and is responsible for producing features for Air Transport World’s monthly magazine and engaging content for the aviationweek.com. She is based in the Washington DC office.

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Gallery: Berlin Brandenburg Airport Willy Brandt Opening

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