Press release

Aletta von Massenbach confirmed as Chief Executive Officer                   

Terminal 5 to remain permanently out of service

The Supervisory Board of the airport company (FBB) today extended its contract with Aletta von Massenbach, Chief Executive Officer. Aletta von Massenbach joined FBB in September 2020 as Chief Commercial Officer and has been Chief Executive Officer since October 2021. 

Jörg Simon, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH: “The contract extension for the Chief Executive Officer shows that the Supervisory Board is relying on personnel continuity at the top of the airport company. Ms von Massenbach has significantly influenced the first two years of BER as Chief Commercial Officer and CEO. With the contract extension, she can continue the strategic development of the company. This includes the gradual transformation of BER into a sustainable and climate-friendly commercial airport as well as further increasing connectivity.” 

Aletta von Massenbach, Chief Executive Officer of Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH: “I would like to say thank you for the confidence shown in me and look forward to developing BER further together with FBB’s employees. The war in Ukraine and the ongoing economic crisis will continue to pose major challenges for air traffic and, therefore, also for BER in terms of traffic and economic development. There is still a lot to do to ensure financially stable, well-connected and sustainable flight operations.” 

At its last meeting in 2022, the airport company’s Supervisory Board also dealt with the current traffic situation at BER, which is still affected by the aftermath of the pandemic and the geopolitical background. The future of Terminal 5 and the budget planning for the coming year were also discussed.

The Executive Board was able to report to the Supervisory Board that the traffic volume during the autumn holidays, at a total of 1.1 million passengers at BER, was handled largely without disruption. The main reasons for this were the increased use of the self-service kiosks and the great success of the slot booking system for security control “BER Runway”, which has already been used more than 250,000 times.

At this meeting, the Supervisory Board also addressed Terminal 5, which was closed in February 2021 due to the pandemic. The Supervisory Board decided not to put Terminal 5 back into operation given the fact that concentrating air traffic in the midfield is the best way to organise operations for passengers and partners at the airport and the way favoured by everyone. Therefore, FBB is already implementing the single-roof concept laid out in the planning permission. 

The Supervisory Board recommended that the general meeting approve the 2023 budget, which was presented and explained in detail by the Executive Board. FBB’s budget for the coming year is also influenced by the aftermath of the pandemic and the impacts of the war in Ukraine. As in previous years, scenarios and a spectrum of possible developments have therefore been taken into account when preparing the budget. For 2023, FBB is assuming passenger growth to around 26 million passengers per year and an operating result (EBITDA) of € 142 million. 

To support the marketing of the land along the access road to BER, which will begin next year, the Supervisory Board approved the construction of a route for pedestrian and bicycle traffic to Terminals 1 and 2. The new route shortens the walking time between the areas currently used for parking and the terminals to just a few minutes. This will further increase the attractiveness of these areas, which will be marketed gradually from 2023.