Best connections for the Berlin region

Berlin Airports provides essential aviation infrastructure for the entire Berlin-Brandenburg region around Germany’s capital city. In September 2006, work started to transform and extend Schoenefeld Airport into the new Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport (BBI). From 2011, all air traffic in the region will be focused on the new airport in south-east Berlin. The first major step towards this goal was the closure of Tempelhof Airport on 30 October 2008. The closure of Tegel Airport is due to follow in 2011 when BBI opens.

2008 was the most successful year in the history of Berlin Airports. With a record result of over 21 million passengers, Berlin Airports surpassed the previous year’s figures by an impressive 1.4 million passengers, which represents growth of 6.8 percent. These results make Berlin one of the fastest-growing airports in Germany. In the ranking of Germany’s 24 commercial airports, Berlin again succeeded in securing third position behind Frankfurt and Munich. In the European ranking, Berlin occupies fifteenth place.

Berlin has never been better connected with the rest of the world than it is today. In 2008, 82 airlines flew to and from Berlin’s airports, with the inner-European network of services exceptionally well represented. In 2008, airlines flew from Berlin to over 170 destinations in more than 50 countries, including 127 destinations in Europe. With non-stop flights from Tegel to New York, Bangkok and Doha, the capital of Qatar, the choice of long-haul destinations is continually expanding. A new service, launched in September 2008, now links Berlin directly with the Chinese capital, Beijing.

The BBI Project

BBI will be a modern airport, with all facilities within easy walking distance and a terminal located between two parallel runways. The design of the new airport echoes traditional local architecture, embedding BBI in the region’s cultural heritage. The structured facades and clear geometric forms of the terminal pick up on typical architectural elements, ranging from Prussian architect Schinkel to the Bauhaus style. The main access road, a tree-lined avenue, references characteristic features of the towns and countryside of Berlin and Brandenburg.

BBI represents a new generation of airports: cost-effective, functional, open to the world. It gives business travellers, tourists and enterprises an airport that offers the best connections, international services, its own motorway junction and a railway station directly under the terminal building. BBI has been designed to handle the new A380 aircraft: the dimensions of the runways and taxiways will allow modern wide-bodied planes to land and take off from BBI.

Initially the airport will open with a capacity of 27 million passengers. However, the modular design allows BBI to keep pace with growth in passenger numbers, and it can be extended to handle between 40 and 45 million passengers. As an airport with its sights set on the future, BBI provides the capacities the Berlin and Brandenburg region will require over the coming decades.

Giving the airport a distinctive face

2009 is the year that the new Airport Berlin-Brandenburg International finally reveals its distinctive face. A few months ago, only architects and structural engineers could envisage the new airport; now, the new terminal, apron and runways are clearly visible for all. In the summer, the first section of the underground BBI railway line was officially handed over to Deutsche Bahn, and work is now underway on the interior fittings of the underground station. By late summer, Berlin Airports had completed large sections of the concrete superstructure of the terminal building and work had started on the steel and glass building envelope. The construction of the apron and the new south runway is progressing at top speed.

The topping-out ceremony for the centrepiece of the airport, the new BBI Terminal, is scheduled for spring 2010. In May 2011, the new airport will undergo extensive test runs to resolve any remaining issues prior to opening. With the aid of volunteers and over a period of 50 to 60 days, all processes at BBI, including check-in, baggage handling and security screening, will be rigorously tested in a variety of different scenarios. This trial phase is essential to ensure that on 30 October 2011, when all operations are transferred to the new airport at the start of the Winter Flight Schedule, everything runs smoothly and that airport staff are fully trained and prepared.

Safeguard competitiveness, creating jobs

As a key infrastructure project, BBI will play a decisive role in shaping the region’s future. In an age dominated by internet and email, the ability to transport people and goods rapidly all over the world represents a crucial competitive advantage over other regions. The total employment effect of Berlin Airports currently stands at 33,600 jobs. Spearheaded by BBI, rising passenger numbers, the airport’s significant contribution to the appeal and value of the region, and the knock-on effects of greater purchasing power, will lead to the creation of up to 40,000 new jobs by 2012. The Airport Job Survey and a study published in 2005 by the Cologne transport expert Professor Dr. Herbert Baum, both state that by 2012, the year after the new airport is opened, BBI will have created a total of approximately 73,000 jobs.

As trade becomes increasingly globalised and the number of business travellers rises accordingly, the ability to offer a wide choice of top-quality services, to destinations all over the world, has emerged as a decisive competitive factor. The availability of highly-trained and specialised employees, easy accessibility, personal communication and Berlin’s status as a key centre for academic and creative work, give the city and the surrounding region a critical advantage in the competition for the position of innovation leader. Berlin’s position as a leading congress and trade show location will also be reinforced.

Berlin-Brandenburg is well on the way to becoming Germany’s third key aerospace location. Berlin’s airports employ a total of 18,000 people. The region is home to Deutsche Lufthansa AG, MTU Aero Engines GmbH, Rolls-Royce Deutschland Ltd. & Co. KG and roughly 60 medium-sized companies in the sector. There are also 15 technical colleges and institutes in the region that focus on fields that are relevant to the aerospace industry.

The heart of the Berlin-Brandenburg aerospace region will be the new BBI Airport at Schoenefeld, South-East Berlin. Numerous aerospace enterprises are settling in the area around Schoenefeld and new companies and jobs are helping to boost the region’s economy. In the Berlin-Brandenburg region surrounding the German capital, aerospace has become a key industry with outstanding prospects.