Berlin airport
Viral videos with chaotic conditions at BER: Why there are currently long queues
Because of compliance with the distance rules: Check-in area at BER on October 9th
© Christoph Söder / dpa
It seems to have come as a surprise, like a sudden snowfall in winter: the rush at BER Airport at the start of the autumn holidays. Even on Monday there is still no normal operation at the new capital airport.
Already on Saturday there were hours of waiting in the terminal of the new BER airport, which opened almost a year ago. Vacationers missed their flights by the dozen. Photos and videos of people waiting were uploaded to social media, showing endless lines. There were traffic jams not only at the check-in counters and in front of the baggage claim, but also in front of the central security check.
Even on Monday, when business travelers join the vacationers, there is no relaxation. “The airport was more likely to be planned as a provincial airport,” says a user on Twitter. The problem: passengers receive their boarding passes too late and do not arrive at the gate on time. For many, the autumn vacation falls through the water, as there are no free places on other connections to popular flight destinations.
Too few counters, far too few staff
Corona has made the processes at airports more complicated. The check-in staff must also check the passengers’ vaccination certificates and travel registrations. “We have basically prepared ourselves well”, justifies Hannes Hönemann from the airport company on “Berliner Rundfunk”.
“Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH expects an increased number of travelers for the autumn holidays. Between the last day of school, on October 8, 2021, and the last day before school starts, on October 24, 2021, around 900,000 passengers are expected at BER Airport,” it says in a press release. That means up to 65,000 air travelers per day. That’s the theory.
In practice, however, one cannot speak of “well prepared”. The airport, which went into operation on October 31 last year when there were hardly any passengers, is hardly able to cope with the current onslaught. The traffic figures are still a long way from regular normal operation before Corona.
Shortly before the opening: This is what Berlin’s new airport looks like
22 images
The recommendation to be “at least two hours before departure in the terminal” has also turned out to be a trap. According to those who suffered, travelers stood in line for three hours this weekend.
A disadvantage is that many airlines no longer check in their passengers with their own staff, but have commissioned sub-service providers with the service. While this saves money, it makes the communication chain more complicated when problems arise and how to fix them. If flight changes become necessary due to missed flights, the stress continues. Because even the few airline counters suffer from chronic understaffing.
Berlin can’t count either
Even in the second Corona year, digitization is not particularly good at some airlines. A manual comparison of the test, vaccination or recovery records is still required. The process is not automated. You can upload documents such as vaccination certificates at home, but you won’t get a boarding pass to print out or email on your mobile phone. Airlines like KLM and Air France force you to queue at check-in.
The pianist Igor Levit also wanted to leave BER on Monday morning. There were also delays on his flight, as he wrote on Twitter: Apparently you can’t count correctly in Berlin either.
Conclusion: Traveling via BER, which is subsidized with billions of taxpayers’ money, is no fun, the mood in the terminal is lousy these days. A passenger put it in a nutshell in the “evening show” of the “RBB” television station: “a shit shop.”
Even one year after its opening, BER lives up to its reputation as a breakdown airport.
Also read:
– As an extra at BER: “We played the airport”
– 2000 days of BER non-opening: never forward, always backward
– Germany’s most embarrassing construction site or the chronicle of the breakdown airport