By Teresa Zacchaeus
No endless queues as feared, no massive flight cancellations or endless delays. The fact that the big BER holiday chaos has not happened so far is probably also due to a Swede and his team.
“Chief Operation Officer” is written in large letters on his back. Thomas Hoff Andersson (45) has been the new Managing Director for operational air traffic at the capital’s airport since May 1st. His primary goal: to manage a smooth process on site.
Andersson does not do this from his desk, but goes directly to the scene. He speaks to people with a questioning look and helps them further.
It was full at BER yesterday too. Luckily, so far there has been no great chaos Photo: Olaf Selchow
“The first thing I ask about is the departure time,” he says. “So I can decide directly how I have to act. Many passengers are very stressed on the day of departure, although most of them actually have enough time.”
But what exactly does the Scandinavian and his team do differently and better?
First, Andersson shows a large poster that was hung between the escalators in the departure terminal. There are two large arrows on it, one on the right and one on the left. Below that are the names of the airlines. Please go left, e.g. B. to get to the Easyjet counter, to the right is Lufthansa.
This board shows which way passengers have to go when they arrive at BER Photo: Olaf Selchow
Andersson: “As soon as you walk up from the runway or the parking lot, you see this poster and have a first orientation.” Larger display boards are now installed directly behind them, which offer more detailed information about the flights.
Then Andersson shows the new self-check-in machines, where you can print out the boarding pass, but also the green label for your luggage.
On the “BER market place” you can store or dispose of your drinks and other liquids properly before the security check Photo: Olaf Selchow
Right next to it are the machines where the suitcases are handed in afterwards. The check-in can thus run completely automatically for almost all airlines.
“We rolled out the self-check-in kiosks in three weeks. They have been operational since June 15, 2022,” says Andersson.
An important part of the new concept is also that passengers stow away or dispose of liquids properly before going through security. For this purpose, several tables were set up in the middle of the “BER market place”. “These are small things, but they help to gain important time for the security check,” says Andersson.
The König family from Frankfurt/Oder: “Yes, we were excited and arrived four hours earlier. We fly to Mallorca today and stay there for a week. For our boys this is the first flight in their life, they are very happy” Photo: Olaf Selchow
Dennis M. (38) with daughter Ronja M. (10) from Rudow: “We are flying to Mallorca today. Actually, we were supposed to leave two days ago, but the airline simply overbooked the flight. There was no more room for us. Something like that is very annoying, my little one burst into tears. At least we can now start our package tour – the missing two days will be made up immediately afterwards” Photo: Olaf Selchow
What is also noticeable: there are many people with red T-shirts at the airport who help visitors to find their way around. “We developed the ideas together as a team,” says Andersson. “The airlines, the airport employees and the federal police all played their part here. In addition, 130 volunteers are currently on duty to help the passengers.”
Small ideas with a big impact. Andersson has had the BER chaos well under control so far.
Michelle and her family from Berlin: “We followed the scaremongering and therefore arrived three and a half hours earlier. But that doesn’t help us much because check-in only opens two hours before. We are very much looking forward to the holiday. We are flying to North Carolina in the US to visit family” Photo: Olaf Selchow