Airport boss Aletta von Massenbach (53) presents the new check-in machines for ten airlines Photo: Carstensen/dpa
By Michael Sauerbier
This is how the new self-check-in machines at BER Airport work. There are now 118 of them.
The wanderlust is back! BER expects three million passengers during the summer holidays. So that they can get on the plane faster, the airport has set up an army of machines to prevent queues at the check-in counter.
Flight holidaymakers know this: 200 fellow passengers are waiting with kith and kin before check-in. After advancing step by step, an employee asks for booking documents and passport, prints out the boarding pass and sticks the luggage tag to the suitcase on the conveyor belt. This is now the end of BER.
118 white self-service check-in machines are available from the entrance to the departure hall Photo: Christian Lohse
118 white “self-service check-in” machines from the entrance to the departure hall take care of the procedure. After giving your name and flight number, they spit out your boarding pass and baggage tag. Then they indicate where you can drop off your suitcase. Without queue and staff.
That used to only be the case with individual airlines such as Lufthansa, KLM and Easjet. The new machines handle the ten most important airlines. Other airlines are to follow. Only Ryanair and Eurowings still have their own check-in machines.
BER expects 65-80,000 passengers on each holiday day. There should only be queues in front of the security checkpoints Photo: Siegfried Purschke
“The many machines should significantly shorten the check-in,” hopes BER boss Aletta von Massenbach (53), “we have done everything to enable smooth holiday traffic. But we cannot guarantee that.”
Brandenburg
Even small breakdowns in the aviation network can lead to delays – like on Wednesday. Again and again airlines surprise with short-term flight cancellations. The most important rule for a holiday flight: be there 2.5 hours before take-off!
