Hundreds of suitcases are in a hall at BER. There are gaps here and there, a sign of lucky finders (stock photo) Photo: private
From BZ/dpa
It’s been a while since the summer holidays, the autumn holidays are coming soon… – but at BER the pastries with bikinis and swimming trunks are still piling up. Around 3000 suitcases are still in the basement of the capital airport!
“It’s totally bitter that many passengers sometimes have to wait a very long time for their suitcases,” said airport manager Aletta von Massenbach in the “Berliner Morgenpost” podcast. But the situation is very dynamic. Intensive work is being done to remove the suitcases.
However, the problem did not arise at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport, explained von Massenbach. Rather, the suitcase of the respective passenger is lost at some point on the journey and then arrives separately.
The luggage is forwarded to the passenger to BER and the airline then has to bring it to the passenger, the manager explained. The airport company can only support this process, not control it.
The capital’s airport had coped to some extent with the wave of summer travel. At the beginning of the holidays, however, there were occasional bottlenecks with some partners at the airport, the airport manager explained. Sometimes there were not enough staff. But there was also a high level of sick leave.
“Everyone at BER is working very hard to fill any staffing gaps, and recruitment was also very good,” said von Massenbach. But it also takes a while because of the necessary security check. “Now the situation is okay overall.”