As of 8 November, all Lufthansa Group flights will take off and land at BER in Berlin. The move is scheduled to commence on 31 October and, over the course of a week, the flight operations of the German capital will move from Tegel Airport to the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER).
Lufthansa will bid Tegel farewell on 7 November: the last scheduled departure will be flight LH1955 from Berlin to Munich. The BER premiere will then take place the next morning at 06:30 on 8 November, when flight LH173 from Berlin to Frankfurt is scheduled to take off from the capital’s new airport.
Austrian Airlines, Swiss and Brussels Airlines will commence operations at BER, together with Lufthansa, on 8 November. According to current plans, Eurowings will already have its first flight from BER on 4 November.
The booking systems of the Lufthansa Group airlines have now been switched over to the new airport. Customers who book a flight for 8 November or later will see the new BER airport as their destination instead of Tegel. Passengers who have already booked a flight for this time will be informed and rebooked. According to current plans, the number of flights and arrival and departure times will remain the same.
“We care about Berlin. No one else connects Berlin with the world like we do,” said Harry Hohmeister, Member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Chief Commercial Officer Passenger Airlines. “Six Lufthansa Group airlines fly to the German capital – with up to 33,000 passengers a day – and 270 destinations can be reached with only one transfer. Berlin is a fascinating and cosmopolitan city that attracts people from all over the world. That is why Berlin needs an efficient airport. This also includes even better connections between BER and local public transportation, as well as to the long-distance rail network. More ICE connections to Rostock, Dresden or Hamburg could strengthen intermodal traffic. That would be good for passengers and for the environment.”
Lufthansa guests can expect a special highlight at BER: the Lufthansa Lounge. It is located in Terminal 1 (Main Pier North) and covers an area of around 1,600 square meters. Passengers of Lufthansa Group airlines with Business Class tickets, as well as travellers with Frequent Traveller, Senator or Star Alliance Gold status and HON Circle Members, can relax, refresh or work in peace before their flight in the Lufthansa Lounge with its separate Senator and Business areas. A special atmosphere is created by the surrounding window front with an exclusive view across the airport apron to the Berlin skyline.
In future, BER should not have the significant bottlenecks at security checks that were recently the case at Tegel. A centrally organised security checkpoint, more modern technologies at the control lanes, and more spacious terminals should make the processes more efficient. Harry Hohmeister added: “It is important that the modernisation of the airport continues in the future. The BER has to be competitive, both in terms of quality and costs.”
