Finally: New Berlin Brandenburg airport (BER) about to open
On the evening of 31 October 2020, Terminal 1 of Berlin Brandenburg Airport will open with the arrival of the first scheduled flights. One week later, on 7 November 2020, regular flight operations at Tegel will cease. In between the commissioning of Terminal 1 and the closing of Tegel, the airlines shall relocate to Berlin Brandenburg Airport in three stages; either into Terminal 1 or Terminal 5. Moreover, the airlines currently located in T5 (formerly SXF) shall move into T1. Travellers should therefore find out well before their flight from which airport and terminal they shall depart and where they should arrive. This information can be found directly from the airline or via the BER website.
The renaming of Schönefeld Airport marks the start of BER‘s commissioning. From 25 October, with the change to the winter flight schedule, it shall become BER Terminal 5. The flight dates for the 25 October 2020, as well as all other relevant information, can be found today at the website www.berlin-airport.de. Furthermore, on 25 October, the existing train station and bus stops will be renamed from “Flughafen Berlin-Schönefeld” to “Flughafen BER – Terminal 5”.
Terminal 1 has its own underground station. The first S-Bahns (city trains) will stop at the station “Flughafen BER – Terminal 1-2” from the 26 October 2020. At that time, however, there will be no flights from Terminal 1 yet. S-Bahn passengers may only board or unboard the train at Willy-Brandt-Platz via distribution level U1. Access to the terminal is not yet possible.
That afternoon, at Terminal 1 of Berlin Brandenburg Airport, special flights from easyJet and Lufthansa are set to land parallel to one another. In the evening, regular flight operations will commence and the evening easyJet arrivals will no longer land at Tegel, but rather at Berlin Brandenburg Airport. From there, Terminal 1 will be set in operation and it will open at 8 p.m. according to the flight schedule. The observation deck will not be accessible on this day. Departures from T1 still won’t be taking place on 31 October 2020.
From 31 October, BER will be easily accessible via public transport, including via long-distance and regional trains, S-Bahn connections, as well as coach and bus routes. With the connection of T1, long-distance and regional trains will no longer stop at Terminal 5, the former Schönefeld Airport. Even occasional bus routes from the surrounding area will only travel to Terminal 1, and not Terminal 5. The S-Bahn lines will stop at BER Terminal 5 Station. Those travelling to BER via public transport can find current information regarding departures and arrivals at the website orientation.berlin-airport.de or from the VBB.
On 1 November 2020, easyJet shall be the first airline to depart from Terminal 1. Additionally, flights from Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines will no longer depart from Tegel, but BER.
From 4 November, Eurowings and Vueling shall cease to depart from Tegel, and instead do so from BER Terminal 1. On the evening before, the first flights from Eurowings shall land at BER T1. Furthermore, Ryanair, SunExpress and Sundair shall relocate from Tegel to Terminal 5, whilst Belavia, Georgian Airways, Egyptair and Norwegian shall move from Terminal 5 to Terminal 1.
Tegel’s last commercial flights shall take place on 7 November. The first flights from Lufthansa will land at BER T1 that same evening. With the third and final relocation wave, the following airlines shall also begin operating at BER Terminal 1: Aegean Airlines, Aer Lingus, airBaltic, Air France, Air Malta, Air Serbia, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, Danish Air Transport, Finnair, Iberia Express, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Luxair, SAS, Swiss, TAP Portugal.
