While I usually review flights, airport lounges, and hotels, in this case I'll be reviewing an airport (it's the first airport-specific review I've done since the new Istanbul Airport). We're not just talking about any airport, but rather about the infamous Berlin Brandenburg Airport, which opened on October 31, 2020. Berlin Brandenburg Airport is kind…
Continue reading: Review: Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER)
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Did you see any signs for Global Ghana?
They are approved for Berlin to Accra!
You should review SFO T1 the next time you are out here. IMO it’s the best terminal in the States. Realize that’s a little different than a full airport however.
"While Tegel Airport was objectively pretty bad, it had a great location, and it was super quick to get from check-in to your gate, and those are two areas where Brandenburg Airport can’t compete"
In other words Tegel was better than Brandenburg for the two things that matter most in a largely O&D airport.
Do passengers exit on a different level normally? I know that's pretty common internationally, perhaps exiting is clearer when deplaning.
Flown in and out of BER twice so far and it's a great airport. The LH lounge is not serving food at this time, it was situated in the corner of the B gates and was easy to find. I did experience the quick turnout taking off and it was cool. Overall a great airport.
I arrived to Brandenburg a few weeks ago to go on the last flight from Tegel and have to agree particularly about the signage. The airport was running a free bus between the two airports at the time and despite following signs and maps for about 15-20 mins I could not find the dedicated stand so ended up getting a taxi. One of the good places to go for photos is the observation deck though I would say that there is no hope for social distancing up there as despite it being a large area, the visitors seems to have no concept of space and it was the closest I had stood to people I was not related to since March and I had never been so thankful to be wearing an N99 mask as I was then.
Other than that I thought it was a nice airport. Not world leading, and definitely designed for past times but a lot better from a passenger point of view except for location and speed of curb to gate.
I already miss Tegel. The distance from aircraft to baggage claim to Taxi was about 50 feet, if the aircraft was able to park at a gate with a jetway. Who cares whether the airport looked dated? It also had a far superior central location. So sad...
Those narrow piers are a bit dated and Frankfurt-reminiscent. They could take an approach of holding departing pax in the headhouse (and it's concessions) with delayed gate assignments as they do at Heathrow.
Yes, in your pictures the ceilings seem very low. And they're black! I really hate that in airports. I much prefer (and probably other travelers do as well) higher ceilings with a white or lighter paint colour.
@ Ben: But there are moving walkways. Didn't you see them? I know, they are hidden, but that's really telling if you didn't find them. I think you have to go again.
No one here really likes the airport, but we have to live with it now.
Very strange to build like Frankfurt when Munich and Zurich are among the best airports in the world and much better models.
Far from the city, hard to connect across terminals, low ceilings...what are the positives here?
That red net objet d’art seems eerily similar to the red human guts sprayed by the martians in War of the Worlds.
sxf has no seats. and tegel has no subway line.
this "new" airport doesn't even add a new runway. just a new terminal to the old sxf.
german taxpayers have been utterly conned. what an absolute scam.
I had a tour of the Airport before its opening (with other travel agents) and you won't believe the stories of things gone wrong, things still not finished or fixed and general things never taken into consideration that have never really been publicized.
The outlets are just one of many, many things that are unfathomable to me.
Yes, smart phones weren't quite as much of a thing in 2006, when planning was finished. But laptops already were and had been for a while. Berlin gets a lot of business travel, with the Bundestag being here and all, so to not take that into account at all or make up for that mistake later on, it's just dumbfounding to me.
This is a really good example of Berlin and how it works in general (you will find that out in due time). Nothing actually works, is just haphazardly fixed (if at all) until it breaks down again a short while later and people just take it with a shoulder shrug and "Dit is Balin".
@AdamH: Well, technically Berlin Brandenburg is nothing else than a new terminal + an extra runway added to the existing ex East-Berlin Schönefeld airport ...
I will sorely miss TXL. It was my favorite airport because of how compact it was and the fact that baggage claim for international flights was at the gate. It made the arrival process so expedient and then a quick cab or bus to the city. No other airport in the world was designed to move people so efficiently in my opinion. It also was super convenient departing from the airport because as others have mentioned the check-in desks were so close to the departure gates.
To all those Munich-lovers:
Only Terminal 2 is good, Terminal 1 is garbage. And rail connection is laughable for a world-class-airport.
Frankfurt and Dusseldorf have much better rail connection in Germany, worldwide HKG, ICN, PVG, PKX, heck even the dump of CDG also have way better rail connection.
The new BER is also a shame, the only good airport that has ever existed in Berlin was Tempelhof (THF).
I find this pretentious 'art' installation to be mildly disturbing, but I've never managed to articulate why I felt this way....until you hit the nail on the head just now. Would it have killed them to install something less ghoulish and more in theme with an airport, like a bunch of fluffy white clouds or something like Changi's raindrop installation??
I feel that the new terminal of Zagreb and Simferopol is nearly as good as BER...
I don't quite understand why Tegel suffers from so bad opinions - when you walk past check-in you go to the gate... that's german efficiency imho
Western world need to take note from asians and me on how to build airport and city planning.
Even wuhan airport looks better than this embarrassment.
When the greatest accomplishment cited is that BER finally is open (a decade late), the is not much about to be excited.
I wonder if if the company 'Schindlers Lifts' pre-dates the movie. Always makes me chuckle when I get in one.
You start by saying the Lufthansa lounge is deep in the B gates. Then it moves to the A gates in the lounge section.
I can highly recommend a podcast series made by Radio Spätkauf called “How to f up an airport”. It’s an entertaining summary of what happened. When it was made, BER was not yet open.
America should most certainly NOT take note - except perhaps what not to do.
First, this isn’t a new airport. It’s an expansion to SXF.
Second, similar expansions in the US took far less time, took far less money, and resulted in facilities that are at least comparable - some of them seem way nicer to me. Terminal F in ATL, the new concourses at TBIT at LAX, Terminal D at DFW, new terminals at SFO, completely new terminal at RSW and IND. And there are others.
Would Berlin have been better off doing what New York did with LGA and renovate its O&D airport? I’m shocked at how nice LGA is turning out and how much quicker it has happened than I expected. LGA is a larger airport than was TGL in terms of traffic. LGA is nearly as large as TGL and SXF combined. They have essentially built nice new terminals on top of the old ones. While the airport will still be constrained by no new runways, it's going to be a much nicer experience.
If America needs to learn from anyone, it’s a place like Singapore with Changi, not Germany with BER. No one should overspend and open up a brand-new, 10 year-old airport. With as much as was spent and as long as it took, BER should be perfect. It isn’t.
Hi Brian,
sorry to say: There is nothing to learn from Singapore, a vanity airport on all fronts, an airport without any cost accountability, with a landside shopping mall garden circus extravaganza just for the heck of it.
BER, here the points:
On the plus side:
- Architectural design design not your typical topsy-curvy glass and steel terminal 'baroque', which can be so 'admired' the world over, instead, for those who know, a very fitting and consistent design language for the city of Berlin. A calming and delicate central roof, a sort of high temple roof, that dominates and ankers the entire terminal complex. While at the same time providing a dramatic and practical canopy over the departure road, something only very few airports achieve
- Extensive use of wood interior walls to create a very warm terminal environment, rivaling Scandinavian airports in that aspect
- 3 rail platforms with multiple rail options and future 20min express train to the heart of the city, truly world class, leaving inner-city Tegel memories in the dust
- Beautiful architecture of the main pier fixed boarding bridges with extensive use of glass and gentle ramps, enjoy it before they become covered in advertisements
On the minus side:
- Lack of escalators, shockingly, throughout the terminal. You would think a no-brainer. I suspect a certain arrogance on the architect's side who were not interested in functionality but in beauty alone
- Some glaring planning mistakes for flexibility and future expandability
- Weak signage, makes orientation both at Check-in and in the piers a challenge
- Lack of landscaping at the Arrival roads. What happened?
Overall quite positive, fitting in size and design, generally functional, with some beautiful features, and the main terminal roof creating a simple and legible hierarchy for the airport.
As for the airport construction disaster, in case you don't know, Berlin is not your typical Germany! It is poor, completely mismanaged as a city by the Berlin government, and surrounded by a former East-Germany failed state that can be equally called completely incompetent. The blind leading the blind! Has to be said like that. So almost not a surprise it went south!
I dislike the Apple-store sterile white color that seems to be applied to terminal reconstruction projects in the States, so it's nice to see a little color with this project, such as some earth tones and wood paneling.
But the apparent total lack of carpeting still leaves the usual cold feeling of European airports. I understand if they don't want to place carpeting in the check-in area but why not at least at the gate seating areas?
Great review and should be a thing of the future, more airport reviews from Ben (Lucky).
Bad points of the design appear to be:
1. Too much walking, hard for old people and those with orthopedic injuries.
2. Not green. High ceilings look great but waste heating. Monitors for the check in area wastes energy. Better have have fixed, non-electric signs at least for common airlines, like Lufthansa.
@EJB in case you're referring to Brandenburg as the "former East-Germany failed state" I'd advise you to do your research better, as Brandenburg has a surprisingly low unemployment rate (lower than NRW for example), a much better infrastructure than one would expect and has become quite a desirable place to live for many well off Berlinians.
As for the incompetence you claim is unique to Berlin: while it is not, by far - as many other projects of this magnitude have proven - yes Berlin is pretty much a daily shit show and even seems proud of it.
It looks so... Scandinavian, like when you have to recheck your bags at OSL. Tegel was so iconic and fit the vibe of Berlin so well.
Plus the extra 50 euros a cab ride from BER to the inner ring will cost you if you are too tired to take public transit for 60-90 minutes. Plus, Berlin is not a hub for any airline, I don’t see the point of this.
@EJB
You be shocked and dismayed at how many Germans would drop Berlin for Changi in a heartbeat. Just the facts: even thirty-nine year old Terminal 1 Changi (oldest of three terminals at Singapore) is objectively better than one month old Berlin in terms of services and convenience.
Fellow commenters:
Way too much negativity about this airport as a public building (not as a process). But we are in the age of the "enraged citizen/Wutbuerger", so it was expected. A few things to highlight if you allow, in no-nonsense style but without any revenge feelings:
1. The airport is totally fitting for Berlin, the location is sensible in the grand scheme of things (the other two sites would have been double the distance) and the architecture is culturally unswerving with Berlin's heritage, a design consistency so rare in the world of just 'same-same'. But if you enjoy candy-sweet adult contemporary please enjoy Changi, or maybe you prefer western-designed 'sexed-up' steel and glass shapes at most Asian (China a.o.) or Middle Eastern airports?
2. Berlin is a quick in- and out type terminal, on mostly low-cost airlines, hardly any transfer traffic, no need for the kind of services extravaganza of Skytrax-winner airports. Arrive at rail station, go up and go, and hopefully they will add power plugs with seats and a few small coffee and sandwich outlets. More worried about slow-acting security check personal that doesn't understand the former Berlin-ubiquitous "Tempo, Tempo".
3. Carpeting is nice in gate areas, but unfortunately removed at the majority of airports, except of course Changi where they can care less about cost and efficiency, the only focus is to wow tired travelers. Wow!
4. Comparison to Tegel TXL is really just silly revisionism, what is there to compare to BER? hardly anything. Tegel was a drive-in 1960/70s design, adequate for its time (and then not). A wonderful unique airport, yet also so typical of what Berlin unfortunately still is: Strangely unambitious, broken, poor, dysfunctional for most of its life, not pretty.
5. Has to repeated here: The rail station is world-class, on 3-4 different types of rail service. 30min express today, 20min in a few years.
6. Walking distances to the south pier are long, but assisted. Not a deal-breaker and simply cannot be avoided at larger airports with pier layouts.
7. Berlin is just not a normal city. If you don't understand then look at its history where you can pinpoint the start of its real demise to 12 years before the end of the war, and all that followed. Many will argue much time before even. It will take generations to make it 'normal'. Meanwhile, one can be happy when it gets something reasonably right. This airport is very decent, practical for the most part (courtesy of its rail station and fairly simple layout), and in many areas even beautiful and serene.
Appearance-wise this is obviously much better and makes a lot more sense as the airport of an important European capital. I will, however, hugely miss Tegel Terminal A’s incredible convenience...fifteen seconds from walking out the door of the the aircraft to getting in a taxi just can’t be beaten!
Also, regarding MUC, it’s a big of a mixed bag - terminal 2 is lovely and a pleasure to connect through and fly into/out of, but terminal 1 isn’t that great. Though still not terrible... much better than Schonefeld (‘BER Terminal 5’) or Tegel’s terminal C (an absolute travesty and embarrassment not only to Germany as a country but to the human race as a whole). Or than JFK’s terminal 2, if you prefer a more American-centered comparison.
Ok Alex, comparisons of apples with oranges is maybe fun for you but let's stick to some sense-making:
1. 'Appearance-wise' BER is an entirely new terminal triple the size of what TXL was and why it is not 'better' but a completely new chapter to the city. To continue talking about TXL as if it can be compared to BER makes zero sense.
2. MUC T2 is a new generation terminal, why it is efficient and functional and easy to navigate, few would call it lovely, but ok. T1 was designed in the 1980s.. why it isn't great, never was, and shall not be compared.
3. BER T5 is the former SXF complex and was fixed up on the cheap to accommodate the boom in LCC traffic. No comparison, sorry.
4. Same goes for TXL Terminal C. No comparison. The human race travels through the same low-standard LCC facilities all over Europe.
5. JFK T2 is 1960s..
@EJB: You appear to be quite agitated by something I've said but then your response mostly agrees with me so...I'm not really sure what to say to this?
1. Of course BER is a 'completely new chapter' but that doesn't mean it can't be compared to TXL...comparing the city's previous 'main' (kinda) airport to its new main airport makes total sense to me...
2. I understand not everyone loves MUC T2, calling it lovely was just my opinion. And yes of course T1 is much older, which is obviously a function of its age...though again, I'm not sure why you are against comparing anything that's a different age?
3. BER T5 (which I also called SXF in my comment) is now exclusively an LCC terminal, but prior to BER's opening accomodated other airlines and was the city's second airport. Yes of course it was fixed up on the cheap and was never really meant to be any good, but that's no reason to reject it as a point of comparison...
4. And TXL terminal C is definitely a low-standard facility, but I think it's actually a very apt comparison...it was built as a temporary terminal to increase capacity at TXL until BER opened. And then it took like 13 years for BER to open, so TXL TC became permanent. Serving more than just LCCs, by the way.
5. Yep, JFK T2 is 1960s. And TXL Terminal A is a late 60s-early 70s addition to the airport...so not *that* much later. Time-wise, it's not a bad idea to compare things built around a decade apart. The thing about TXL TA that makes it hard to compare to other terminals (in Germany, in Berlin specifically, or anywhere else in the world really) is its a very unique airport concept that's so different from basically all other terminals in the world. The whole point of it is (or, I guess, was...) the thing I mentioned in my original comment, with it being a ring and terminal exits being just a few steps from the gates. Fifteen seconds from the aircraft door to a taxi wasn't even an exaggeration. I know it was criticized for a lack of airside dining/services/whatever, but my point was that even though the new BER T1 is obviously superior and much more modern (despite being a decade old at this point, but whatever)... there's really nothing that can beat TXL's convenience (only terminal A though).
Interesting review of Berlin's airport and insight-full reader comments;
maybe you could luanch a new section reviewing entire airports
I think this airport looks beautiful, modern, attractive and functional. I would be proud of it if I was a Berliner.
The nitpickers can be utterly ignored.
Ben,
Isn't accessing airside areas by deliberately buying a ticket for a flight that you had absolutely no intention of taking, contravening local regulations, if not federal laws?
Even if not, it's ill-advised to the point of being irresponsible. Inferring that your action was justified by wanting the "real" experience, rather than that which a media event would provide, just doesn't cut it. I'm really quite surprised at you!
What can I say? Most beautiful airport -The architecture is wonderful. I love BER!!!
It is happening every day that people leave the airport after check-in because they change their plans. Really nothing extraordinary and nothing unlawful about it!
I've flown into this airport a couple of times now in July. My opinion may change as I continue to use it, however my initial first impression was negative.
Signage, typically German and over complicated to the traveller who just wants a simple stress free passage through the airport. No clear way to go or what to do next when you reach check in areas and security areas. I had to ask what to do next.
Wooden wall decor I think dated already and dark /depressing. Willy Brandt black and white photos in restaurant areas, I find bit boring and dull. Beige tiled flooring dated and generally airport a bit dirty.
Inner open area of airport terminal overgrown with grass.
Long walks from security to gates esp. B42. Travelators not working yet. My opinion may soften as I use the airport in the future.
I’ve moved to Berlin a few years back, and I’m a frequent traveller. Travelling solo has been easy, quick and simple. Since the new airport has opened at the same time of me, having a baby, I am disappointed to realise that BER airport is NOT family friendly. I have been given false information at check in, that I am not allowed to take my stroller with me. After having to fight my case with a new employee at the airport I was finally taken to a bigger machine where the stroller can be put through. So basically I wasted over 40minutes arguing with staff about what they should know and passengers rights. Very disappointed.
As I have family living in different countries, and experiencing different airports , I have come to realise that all the airports are in fact family friendly and very pleasant and stress free to travel
Through.
After landing in Berlin airport I was told to wait at the bottom of the steps for my stroller and then was later told that my stroller will be on the belt with my suitcase. Didn’t help at all, having to carry a baby and 2 bags on my own for over 40mins just to get to my bag. This has been by far my worst airport experience. After asking why this is so, employers responded with “this is Berlin”
Which I think was extremely rude after seeing how I was struggling. I hope Berlin airport improves its ways of functioning and I really hope that the employers can learn to improve their communication skills and not give out false information and create unnecessary problems which can easily be avoided.
So for those travelling to or from
Berlin, find out information about your rights with children as staff here are very rude and give out false information. I would also highly recommend that when your in doubt of a member of staff, try to speak to a manager as they will be better to speak with.
Honestly the worst airport I’ve traveled thru…and I travel a lot, and always thru Berlin as I live in Berlin.
Most parts of the experience are just made unbearable the horrible set up of the airport that keeps the workers stressed, which many have a cliche “Berliner Schnauze” to start with!
The worst part tho is the security. No respect for u or your things. Today one security guard didn’t only come at me with rude remarks but also unpacked my laptop without consulting me when I was already thru check, it was upside down and scratched…it is a 6000€ laptop with my life on it…all my work etc… that should b handled with respect and the security people in security should respect the values of the items they r checking…I’m sure it is fine, but what if it is not next time? Like come on? Keep your anger at home
The airport services are disaster!!! Is being 3rd time in a year period that I had to wait for my luggage over 2 hours. The excuse is always the same „not enough staff”. Maybe time to plan everything better and employ more people. German quality is sort of a joke!!! Their approach to the people paying in fact their wages is also far away from any known standards!