After a successful year in which Berlin Airports saw almost 21 million passengers passing through the capital’s hubs, the city has confirmed the opening date for the new Capital Airport Berlin Brandenburg International (BBI) which, on October 30, 2011, will take over all air traffic flow from the existing Schoenfeld and Tegel operations.
In 2009 passenger figures at Berlin Airports almost reached the record level of 2008, down only two per cent, compared with the German national average of 4.6 per cent.
On a European scale Berlin ranks 15th. In 2009 the airports served 166 destinations in more than 50 countries, 123 of which were in Europe. With non-stop flights from Tegel to New York, Bangkok, Beijing and Doha, the range of long-haul flights offered is constantly improving.
Since September 2006 the stage has been getting set for the future: In 2011 the opening of the new airport, BBI, will see a shift in the structure of Germany’s airport system from the current two-pillar system to three pillars. The aim is to transform the Berlin-Brandenburg region into one of Europe’s top ten aviation locations.
Unlike other European airports, BBI will have the capacity needed for the traffic streams of the future. Throughout Europe, Berlin will be the only airport capable of doubling its capacity to handle up to 45 million passengers and BBI will provide the infrastructure to link Berlin even more closely to the world’s networks and markets and transform it into the continent’s key east-west hub.
The new airport will be designed and built to comply ideally with aviation in a globalised world, with stricter security standards and new business models pioneered by low-cost airlines.
BBI will unite all carriers under one roof. The innovative security screening zone will help avoid queues at peak hours. The spacious non-aviation area after check-in and the airport’s first-rate real estate portfolio will open up new revenue sources.
Rail connections to Berlin and the surrounding region, the underground station below the terminal and the airport’s own direct motorway and major road access will put BBI at the centre of things.
Work on the new airport is progressing at top speed. In 2009 BBI literally emerged from the ground. The airport now has a distinct face. The construction site itself is the size of 2,000 football pitches; up to 3,000 construction workers were employed at the site daily in 2009 to build the underground railway lines, the terminal, the apron, the new southern runway and all the access roads.
After three busy years, a large proportion of the work on the new BBI has been completed. Work on the technical facilities, additional buildings, including the new tower and the power stations, are progressing to plan. The new face of the airport, with its glass and steel façade, is already clearly visible. From May 2011 the new airport will undergo a six-month period of extensive test runs to resolve any remaining issues prior to opening.
October 29, 2011, the date of the spectacular move, will be a red letter day for the airport as ‘Two become One’. Tegel and Schoenefeld will close in the evening and overnight all mobile equipment, machinery and systems will be taken to the new BBI, where the first scheduled flight takes off on the morning of October 30, 2011.