The construction of billions in Berlin was a long time coming. Now the new capital airport is open and the passengers are more satisfied than in the old building in Tegel – at least under Corona conditions.
According to surveys commissioned by the operators, the new BER airport in the capital is more satisfied than the old Berlin Tegel Airport.
In the first few months of operation, the new airport received an average grade of 1.9 from passengers. In Tegel it was the grade 3.4 in the last full year of operation, according to information from the airport company. That was before the outbreak of the corona pandemic, when Tegel was completely overloaded. Because of the imminent closure, only the bare minimum was invested.
“Passengers who have already departed from BER are satisfied with BER and traveling under Corona conditions,” said the operators. The seating furniture and the free WiFi in the waiting areas, but also the cleanliness of the toilets as well as the friendliness and waiting time at the security checkpoints, received good marks.
This is due to the fact that initially hardly anyone flew at BER due to the corona restrictions. Only a fraction of the expected passengers used the new airport. It was not until the summer that the numbers rose sharply; two of the three terminals are still closed.
Mainly because many vacationers are returning, around 53,000 passengers were counted on Friday. Terminal 1 was thus more than half full. More than 52,000 passengers are expected this Sunday.
The airport opened at the end of October 2020 with a nine-year delay and tripled costs. From November to April, a market research company surveyed more than 6,300 passengers before they took off from BER.
One result: almost every second person drove to the airport. A total of 45 percent came with their own vehicle, a rental car, in a taxi or had friends or relatives bring them to them. 45 percent also used buses and trains.
However, the operators had set the goal of almost 60 percent coming by bus and train, and even 70 percent in the long term. Because although BER has its own motorway connection, the road connection is considered to be limited. Surrounding communities fear traffic jams when flight operations run at full load and more companies settle at the location.
“A connection of BER to the high-speed network of DB with ICE connections could convince even more travelers to travel by rail and shorten travel times,” emphasized the operators.
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
