An aircraft is handled at BER at Terminal 1 (archive image) Photo: dpa
From BZ/dpa
The holiday traffic at the capital’s airport BER started without any major difficulties.
“We had a very well planned and relaxed start to the summer holidays on Friday,” said a spokesman for the Berlin-Brandenburg Airport Company (FBB) on Saturday when asked. “All passengers were well prepared and our service providers at the airport were well positioned.” Around 80,000 passengers traveled via Schönefeld Airport on the busiest day of the holiday season.
The operators expect around 3.5 million travelers over the entire summer holidays – around half a million people more than a year ago.
“One cannot rule out renewed chaos at the airports”
For airlines, however, the summer travel season remains a tense time. “It remains a challenge, and one cannot rule out chaos at the airports again,” said the head of the British low-cost airline Easyjet, Johan Lundgren, the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” (Saturday).
“There are 10 to 15 percent more European flights than in 2022 and at the same time there are still capacity restrictions at some airports, partly due to a lack of staff. It’s an explosive mix.”
Easyjet itself is currently struggling with delays despite having sufficient staff across all locations. “We cannot be satisfied with the current situation,” said Lundgren. Easyjet is one of the largest providers at BER. The capital airport is the most important location for the airline in Germany.