BER to open on 31 October 2020
BER will commence operations on 31 October. The Supervisory Board approved this proposal, made by Management Board, at its meeting on 29 November. Scheduled flights will end in Tegel one week later, on 8 November 2020. In that time, there will be three major relocation steps in which all flight operations will move from Tegel Airport to BER.
This was preceded by an intense discussion regarding the status of construction completion at Terminal 1 and the upcoming steps. In this context, the construction division reported on the available final expert certificates and on the status of correcting the remaining faults in the cabling. TÜV Rheinland also took part in the meeting again and presented the progress of its inspections. The inspections should be completed in spring 2020.
With regard to Terminal T2, the Management Board told the Supervisory Board that construction progress had developed well in line with planning. The installation of the baggage handling system and other technical building equipment has started. Structural work on the federal police building directly adjacent to Terminal 2 is in full swing. The building envelope, planned in a modular design, will be completed in a few weeks.
The Supervisory Board also passed the 2020 budget. The operating result planned for 2020 is around EUR 86 million due to the one-off charge for commissioning of BER (ORAT programme).
Rainer Bretschneider, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH: “Today’s opening date announcement marks the beginning of a new stage on the way to launching BER. The date also shows that the airport company is on the right track. With this in mind, the Supervisory Board welcomed the announcement of the specific relocation dates as a success for the airport company’s entire workforce.”
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Engelbert Lütke Daldrup, Chief Executive Officer of Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH: “The date is set: BER will open on 31 October 2020. All the work that still needs doing at BER is being done intensively. There is still much to be done in the next eleven months. The finished building must become a functioning airport.”