Press­ Release

The Christmas Travel Season at BER begins 
Passengers are requested to make good preparations

For many people, the Christmas period is also a time of travel. During the holidays in Berlin und Brandenburg, the airport operating company is expecting slightly increasing passenger figures compared to the previous weeks. During the period from 17/12/2021 until 02/01/2022, in particular, a good 640,000 travellers are expected at BER. This corresponds to roughly half the number of passengers welcomed during the two-week Christmas holiday of 2019, prior to the Corona pandemic. In 2020, on the other hand, air travel slumped drastically during the Christmas holiday period because of the lockdown and only approximately 150,000 passengers were counted. 
In all, 118 destinations in 46 countries will be flown to from BER during the holiday period. In addition to Germany, Austria and Switzerland, destinations in Spain, Great Britain, Italy, France and Turkey are high in demand.
The busiest days will presumably be Friday, 17/12/2021, the day on which the school holidays commence in Brandenburg, and the last day of the holidays in Berlin and Brandenburg on 02/01/2022, with a good 45,000 passengers being expected on each of those days. During the autumn holiday last October, more than 60,000 passengers had been counted on peak days.

Due to the Corona-related security demands and the currently valid distancing and hygiene regulations, the processes at the check-in counters and security checks continue to take longer than usual. The airport operating company therefore requests all passengers to make good preparations for their journey. In order to avoid additional waiting times it is important to inform oneself in good time of the currently valid regulations of the airline, holiday destination and, if applicable, the transit country and to have all documents complete and close at hand.

Passengers may avail themselves of an extensive range of services at the airport. Shops and gastronomic facilities at BER are open as usual on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. The supermarket Rewe, located in Terminal 1, is there to serve its customers every day from 6 a.m. till 11 p.m.   

For many employees of the airport, Christmas Day and Boxing Day are “normal” working days. On each day of the Christmas period, a good 320 employees of the airport operating company alone will ensure that travellers arrive safely at their destinations. These include members of the fire brigade, those working in traffic management, in the terminal, for airport security or the winter services. They are supplemented by hundreds of employees of the airlines and the latter’s service providers for the check-in or the loading and unloading of the machines, of the Federal Police, customs and other companies who contribute towards flight operations.   

In order to stabilise passenger processes during the Christmas travel period, the airport operating company will be holding support teams at the ready for the particularly busy phases around December 17th and January 2nd.  

The most important Travel Tips for Passengers

Before Arrival at the Airport

Passengers are requested to:

• Inform themselves in good time of the travelling conditions and entry requirements in their destination country and for their return 

• Inform themselves about journeying to BER and to pay heed to the fact that the 3G-Regulation applies in public transport.

• Check their flight status with the airline beforehand

• Check their travel documents and to have them complete and close at hand at all times. In addition to the papers for their flight, passengers require a digital vaccination certificate and – depending on the destination country – an entry registration in either digital or paper form. 

• Have, if applicable, the necessary Corona test done within the prescribed period 

• Pack correctly – only one piece of hand luggage per passenger, please.

On the Spot

Passengers are requested to:

• Be in the terminal at least two hours prior to their departure time  

• Keep their distance from other travellers 

• Wear a form of medical mouth and nose protection in the terminal

• Pay heed to the fact that the 2G-Regulation applies in the restaurants, shops and lounges at BER, i.e. passengers wishing to use these facilities must be vaccinated or recovered 

• Pay heed to the fact that the 3G-Regulation applies in the aircraft, i.e. all travellers, both in this country and abroad, are subject to an obligation to have with them proof that they, at the time of embarking upon their journey, are not infected with the Corona virus SARS-CoV-2 (Test, Vaccination or Recovered Person’s Certificate). Children under the age of 12 are exempt from this obligation

• Go through the security check directly after checking in and registering their luggage and to have their boarding cards at the ready before passing through the boarding card check

• Pay attention to the waiting times indicated for the security checks (either on the spot or on the website) and to proceed to the checkpoint with the shortest waiting times

Automated Luggage Check-In

In order to enable the processes at the airport to be carried out contact-free to the greatest extent possible, passengers are requested to use the self-service facilities wherever possible and to use self-service machines for their check-in, in particular for the registration of their luggage. Many airlines, among them easyJet, the Lufthansa Group, Eurowings, Air France/KLM, airbaltic and Norwegian already offer their passengers this service completely or partially.

Contact and Online Services

The employees of our passenger information services will assist you at all times, both on the spot and by telephone at +49 30 6091 6091 0 (local rates apply). Passengers may also obtain service information and further-reaching travel information at www.twitter.com/berlinairport as well as www.berlin-airport.de and via the Berlin Airport App.

Further-reaching Information 

• Further-reaching information from the airport operating company regarding safe flying under Corona-conditions

• Checklist of BDL/DRV (Federal Association of the aviation industry/German Travel Association) for holiday journeys in times of Corona

Link at: https://www.bdl.aero/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/20211007_Handzettel_Reisen-in-Corona-Zeiten.pdf

• The platform “Re-open EU “ (available at the website and as an App) offers information on the situation regarding the pandemic, on Covid documents required upon entry, on quarantine regulations and on the respective national protective measures in all EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland

• Travel and security tips, checklists for the preparation for one’s journey from entry via health to customs, the addresses of the representations of your holiday country in Germany and the most important information about that country at a single glance are provided by the “Sicher Reisen” (safe travel) App of the German Foreign Office