Berlin Brandenburg Airport

Berlin Brandenburg Airport is an international airport in Schönefeld, just south of the German capital Berlin in the state of Brandenburg. Named after former West Berlin mayor and West German chancellor Willy Brandt, it is located 18 kilometres south-east of the city centre and serves as a base for easyJet, Eurowings and Ryanair. The airport was originally planned to open in October 2011, five years after starting construction in 2006. It finally received its operational licence in May 2020, and opened for commercial traffic on 31 October 2020.

About Berlin Brandenburg Airport in brief

Summary Berlin Brandenburg AirportBerlin Brandenburg Airport is an international airport in Schönefeld, just south of the German capital Berlin in the state of Brandenburg. Named after former West Berlin mayor and West German chancellor Willy Brandt, it is located 18 kilometres south-east of the city centre and serves as a base for easyJet, Eurowings and Ryanair. It mostly features flights to European metropolitan and leisure destinations as well as a number of intercontinental services. With projected annual passenger numbers of around 34 million, Berlin Brandenberg Airport is set to become the third busiest airport in Germany surpassing Düsseldorf Airport and making it one of the fifteen busiest in Europe. The airport was originally planned to open in October 2011, five years after starting construction in 2006. However, the project encountered a series of successive delays due to poor construction planning, execution, management, and corruption. It finally received its operational licence in May 2020, and opened for commercial traffic on 31 October 2020. Existing airports Tegel Airport, Sch Önefeld Airport and Tempelhof Airport were ageing and becoming increasingly congested due to rising passenger numbers. To ensure the economic viability of the project, they pursued the single airport concept, meaning that the new airport would become the sole commercial airport for Berlin and Brandenburg, an area with a combined 6 million inhabitants. The holding company announced on 20 June 1993 that Sperenberg Airfield, Jüterbog Airfield and the area south of Schönfeld Airport, where the evaluation of the locations was carried out.

On 28 May 1996 Mayor Diepgen, Minister-President of Brandenberg Manfred Stolpe and Federal Minister for Transport Matthias Wissmann committed to Schöefeld as the site for the new Airport. This so-called consensus decision was later affirmed by the respective state legislatures. On 3 August 1999, Hochtief and IVG teamed up and created a joint bid to receive a joint contract for a new airport. This led to the annulment of the contract on 3 November 2000. The new airport was officially commissioned on 3 March 2001. On 19 March 2002, BBF was granted exclusive authority to negotiate the terms of the acquisition of the Berlinenburg Airport holding and the construction and operation of an new airport for 50 years. On 31 March 2002 BBF officially commissioned the new construction and construction of its new airport and the contract was officially awarded on 3 August 2002. On 10 November 2000, BBf won the contract to build a new international airport for the city of Berlin and the surrounding state ofBrandenburg. On 2 May 2001, the Berlin Brandenburg Flughafen Holding GmbH was founded, owned by the states of Berlin, Brandenburg and the Federal Republic of Germany. The other consortium comprised IVG, FlughAFen Wien AG, Dorsch-Consult, Commerzbank and Caisse des Dépôts and ABB and included ABB, Fraport Berlin as partners.