Start of the holidays at Berlin’s airports

164 destinations in the summer flight schedule / Increased traffic volume at the start of the holidays

Berlin Airports is expecting a rise in passenger numbers at the start of the school holidays. Air traffic will increase considerably at both Tegel Airport and Schoenefeld Airport on Thursday, Friday and the weekend. Approximately 122,000 passengers are expected at Berlin’s airports over the weekend – 41,000 in Schoenefeld and 81,000 in Tegel – with 324 flights being coordinated in Schoenefeld and 793 in Tegel. On a normal weekend, approximately 100,000 passengers are carried on a similar number of flights.

Prof. Dr. Rainer Schwarz, Berlin Airports CEO, explains, “This year the people of Berlin and Brandenburg can choose from more destinations than ever before. The airports are well prepared for the increase in traffic volume. We want to do our bit to ensure their holiday already begins at the airport.”

With 164 destinations available in 54 countries, the range of destinations is large and varied. In addition to the airlines having increased the frequency of many of their flights to existing destinations, the 2011 summer flight schedule will offer 13 new connections from Berlin. These include Basel, Vilnius, Maastricht, Verona, Novosibirsk and Amman to name but a few. Alongside existing long-haul connections, such as to Beijing, Doha, Bangkok and Phuket as well as to the destinations Dubai, Mombasa and Miami, which were introduced in November 2010, the 13th long-haul connection was introduced in May this year: to New York.

Berlin Airports recommends that air passengers contact their tour operator or airline before starting their journey to inform themselves about such aspects as which objects are permitted in hand luggage, what is allowed to be checked in together with baggage at the check-in desk, and which weight restrictions apply to luggage.

To avoid stress, holidaymakers should set off for the airport in good time. We also recommend that passengers proceed to the security checkpoint immediately after they have checked in. This will assist with the check-in process and departure preparations, and unnecessary waiting times due to the extensive security checks can be avoided. Berlin Airports provides passengers with a wide variety of options within the security areas for shortening their remaining waiting time.

Special regulations continue to apply for the carrying of liquids – such as creams, perfumes and toothpaste – in hand luggage. Each person may only carry liquids with them in a re-sealable, transparent 1-litre plastic bag. Within this plastic bag, each container that holds a liquid must not exceed a maximum volume of 100 millilitres.

All Travel Value & Duty Free articles are only sold within the airport’s security area and are subjected to repeated security checks. Although there are no restrictions regarding the quantity of these products that passengers can take with them as hand luggage into the aircraft cabin, passengers must still observe the hand luggage restrictions imposed by the airlines. This also applies to all liquids such as perfumes, cosmetics and spirits. In order to extend the security chain into the aircraft, purchases are handed to passengers at the cash desk of Travel Value & Duty Free shops in sealed bags.

Berlin Airports offers mobile phone and PDA (personal digital assistant) users the live flight schedule as a mobile service. Besides arrival and departure times for each flight, information regarding terminals, check-in desks, arrival gates and airline contacts is also available – furthermore, users have the option of being connected to an airline directly. The mobile flight schedule is available at www.berlin-airport.de.

The visitor centre of Berlin Airports, airportworld and Infotower continue to open in the school holidays at the regular opening times. airportworld is open from Monday to Friday from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm and the Infotower is open every day from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. Anyone who is interested is most welcome to see the BER construction site up-close during a guided bus tour. The construction site tours are taking place as usual and can be booked online at www.berlin-airport.de or by phone from Monday to Friday between 10:00 am and 3:00 pm on +49 30 6091-2250.