An F16 fighter jet takes off from Schleswig-Jagel Air Base in Schleswig-Holstein Photo: dpa
By Stephen Peter
Was all the excitement in advance unnecessary? The international maneuver of the air force “Air Defender” has so far had little impact on operations at BER.
Under German leadership, 10,000 soldiers and 250 aircraft train the defense of Europe, and fighter jets also thunder over Berlin. The maneuvers started on Monday with the take-off of a Bundeswehr transport aircraft A400M from the Wunstorf air base. The first fighter jet followed two hours later: an F-18.
Air traffic control and pilots had warned of chaos in the airspace because of the maneuver and predicted delays of hours. But at BER (and almost all other airports) the all-clear was given: “Everything was unspectacular,” said a spokesman for the BZ. “The maneuver had no significant impact on flight operations.”
During the day there were several delays at BER, sometimes by more than an hour. The Easyjet flights to London and Manchester were affected. “The cause was a storm in Great Britain,” said the airport spokesman.
There were several delays at BER yesterday – but according to the airport, the reason was not the maneuver Photo: BER
Lufthansa flight LH 183 was also an hour late – which was due to delays in “circulation”. “In addition, the crew arrived at the aircraft with a little delay due to longer-than-usual pre-runs,” said a Lufthansa spokeswoman. Conclusion of the BER: “A completely normal flight operation!”
But nobody wants to give the all-clear yet – the maneuver will continue until the end of next week.