The Joint Aviation Authority of Berlin-Brandenburg (Gemeinsame Obere Luftfahrtbehörde Berlin-Brandenburg, LuBB) today presented Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH (FBB) with permission to begin operations and the airport operating certificate for Berlin Brandenburg Airport Willy Brandt (BER). Both documents are necessary to operate a commercial airport in Germany and are, therefore, a requirement for opening BER.
Engelbert Lütke Daldrup, Chief Executive Officer of Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH: “I am pleased that we have these two important certificates from the Aviation Authority. We were able to prove that all airport facilities and installed equipment are in line with requirements and function properly. Having received clearance from the building authorities to use Terminal 1 at the end of April, we now have the last necessary notices that we have an airport that is ready for use in accordance with all rules and regulations. As far as it is humanly possible to tell, there is nothing standing in the way of the BER opening on 31 October 2020.”
Guido Beermann, Minister for Transport and Infrastructure in the State of Brandenburg: “Willy Brandt Airport is one of the most important infrastructure projects for Germany and will make a key contribution to the development of the State of Brandenburg. BER has been put through its paces by the Joint Upper Aviation Authority of Berlin-Brandenburg. With today’s handover of notices, we have now reached the last important milestone for commissioning BER.”
Since July 2020, the airport company has successfully tested BER together with 9,000 volunteers as part of the internationally established and proven ORAT programme. The training programme will continue until 15 October 2020 with the aim of further refining procedures.
BER commissioning will begin with the opening of BER’s Terminal 1 on 31 October 2020. On this day, an easyJet aircraft and a Lufthansa aircraft will arrive at the same time and be the first to be received and handled at the new terminal’s Main Pier. On the morning of 4 November, FBB will start operations on the southern runway with a Qatar Airways aircraft landing. BER’s new night-time flight restrictions will also apply starting on this day. The transfer from Tegel to BER will be complete with the last flight, operated by Air France, from Berlin-Tegel to Paris on 8 November 2020.
