For years, the opening of Berlin airport has been delayed, for various reasons. And now, the new airport will finally open its gates for passengers. However, in this period of coronavirus, the lack of passengers is the biggest problem facing all airports and airlines globally.

The city of Berlin in Germany has 3 airports – Tegel, Schönefeld and BER not yet completed. The suggestion to temporarily close Tegel Airport due to a lack of passengers could push the idea for the BER to open as soon as possible.

Initially, in November last year, airport representatives mentioned that the airport will be operational by the end of October 2020. And at the end of April this year, the national construction authority in charge of the project gave the final approvals for the opening.

And now, after billions of euros in investments over the initial project and 9 years later than expected, terminal 1 seems to be open. Meanwhile, Tegel and Schönefeld are closed. Thus, it seems, Berlin operates with a single airport, a single terminal. However, this airport is expected to be the third largest in Germany, after Frankfurt and Munich.

Unfortunately, 2020 seems to be the worst year for the inauguration of an airport, given that the entire aviation industry is on the ground due to the coronavirus pandemic.

However, this airport is very large, so it is well prepared to deal with the rules of social distance and hygiene, compared to other airports. Therefore, it will most likely work at one-third of its capacity.

Therefore, starting with October 31, the airport can gradually open, with small steps, new passenger terminals, as the airlines resume their activity. By 2040, the new Berlin airport should be able to handle 58 million passengers.

In this context, because we will continue to work continuously for expansion according to the project, it seems that the airport will still be on site for the next decades. And the coronavirus and the impact on the industry only changed all the initial calculations.