Berlin’s new international airport welcomes first flights

Berlin’s new international airport officially opened on Saturday nine years late, massively over-budget and in the middle of a virus-induced air transport crisis. AFP reported.

The first flights operated by low-cost pioneer EasyJet and German national carrier Lufthansa touched down at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) around 2:00 pm (1300 GMT) after flying in from nearby Tegel Airport and Munich respectively.

The airport, Germany’s third-largest after Frankfurt and Munich, has been designed to welcome 27 million passengers a year, but in November it will likely see only 20 percent of usual air traffic owing to the pandemic.

Terminal 2 is not to open until spring 2021.

About 15 shops and restaurants out of just over 100 will remain shut, while the rest will keep “limited opening hours” because of low traffic, a spokesman told AFP.

Economy Minister Peter Altmaier spoke Friday of his “joy and happiness” at the airport finally being able to open.

Since construction began in 2006, the project has been dogged by one failure after another that turned it into a financial black hole and a national laughing stock.

The airport, located in the southeast corner of the capital, was originally due to open in 2011.

It now begins operations in the middle of the worst aviation crisis ever,