The weekend chaos has only just subsided – and air travelers can already prepare for new problems at the breakdown airport BER. Crazy: The airport must already tremble in front of itself.
The pictures from the weekend are still freshly remembered: Hellishly long queues, children sleeping on the floor, passengers everywhere who even missed their flights – a disaster for the only airport in the capital!
Will there be another breakdown this weekend? In any case, the number of passengers means that the worst is to be feared: 70,000 passengers are expected on Friday – the previous record occupancy during the autumn holidays.
Last Friday around 67,000 people used the airport. The airport is expecting 52,000 passengers on Saturday, a little less than a week earlier. On Sunday, with 66,000 people, the level at the beginning of the holiday should be reached again.
In order to avoid new waiting horror, the airport operators are taking countermeasures with additional staff: According to a spokesman, 40 additional workers from their own ranks will be deployed to help passengers in the terminal and to speed up baggage handling. Long waiting times like last Saturday should be avoided in a joint effort by all system partners.
Huge queues Holiday chaos at BER
10/09/2021
Check-in is currently particularly time-consuming because, due to the corona pandemic, most travelers there have to present corona tests or proof of vaccination in order to be able to start their trip.
Lufthansa announced that it would increase the number of its check-in counters from 12 to 18 at peak times. A spokeswoman said that more staff should also be used in the waiting areas.
Lufthansa did not repeat the request to passengers, which has since been withdrawn, to be at the airport four hours before departure if possible. She asked passengers to check their documents and use the online check-in facility for travel to non-risk areas.
The additional “reaction force” consists of BER employees who have volunteered, said the airport spokesman. They would be used flexibly until the end of the vacation on October 24th.
The temporary staff should direct travelers in the terminal into the correct queue, answer questions and, if necessary, help out with luggage. Actually, these tasks are outsourced to private service providers.
At BER, only the main terminal T1 is currently open for cost reasons. According to the operating company, Terminal T2, which was completed last year, will only be opened if there is a constant rush of at least 70,000 passengers a day.