Berlin Airport is still far from Vienna

The bottom line is that FBB once again suffered a significant loss of approximately 213 million euros.

In February this year, the security checkpoint for passengers at Berlin Airport was thoroughly washed out: suddenly large amounts of water came out of the ceiling. It is just one of many unfortunate incidents that have occurred and occur at the airport.

Berlin-Brandenburg Airport (FBB) wants to slowly solve another problem: Since the beginning of the year, the company has taken over security checks itself – and passenger waiting times have fallen since then, according to FBB. 80 percent of passengers needed less than ten minutes to undergo security screening.

In the same quarter last year, this only applied to about 67 percent of passengers. There are frequent delays in baggage handling on the airport apron, for example due to staff shortages at the responsible ground handlers. “There are moments when this is still not working well,” airport president Aleta von Massenbach admitted on Wednesday when presenting the 2023 annual balance sheet.

There are ongoing discussions with the companies responsible. According to the FBB, live cameras and artificial intelligence software have also been used for a few weeks now to make operations on the battlefield more efficient.

Vienna handled an additional 6.4 million passengers

Despite the improvements, the airport is recovering much slower in terms of annual passenger numbers than other locations in Germany and especially in Europe.

Last year, around 23.1 million passengers traveled through Berlin Airport. For comparison: Vienna Airport handled 29.5 million passengers last year.

Berlin Airport expects to receive approximately 25 million passengers this year. The bottom line is that FBB once again suffered a significant loss of approximately 213 million euros.