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The new BER airport will be on the taxpayers' drip for many years to come and threatens to turn into a serious renovation case.

According to a report by the Berlin “Tagesspiegel”, the Berlin Brandenburg Airport Company (FBB) will ask its shareholders for loans and direct financial aid amounting to around 3.5 billion euros.

The federal states of Berlin and Brandenburg each hold 37 percent and the federal government has a 26 percent stake in FBB.

"Due to the corona crisis, we will have lost revenue of around 1.5 billion euros in the next five years," said FBB managing director Engelbert Lütke Daldrup to WELT.

“We can partially compensate for these failures through savings and deferred investments, but not completely.

That is why FBB has to reach a debt level that is sustainable in the long term under the new conditions, ”Lütke Daldrup continued.

It was actually planned to go into the black in 2025, “now we have proposed a partial debt discharge to the shareholders.

If a partial debt discharge is carried out, we will be in the black in the mid / late 20s, ”said the airport manager.

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Source: WELT / Jan-Friedrich Funk

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The "Tagesspiegel" quoted from a paper from the latest supervisory board meeting, according to which the shareholders will transfer up to 1.8 billion euros directly and take over loans of up to 1.1 billion euros in the coming years.

In addition to the 660 million euros of Corona aid already promised for this year in the form of borrowed capital, this would result in a sum of around 3.5 billion euros - an amount that could almost be used to build a new airport.

According to the paper, according to “Tagesspiegel”, a “Group profit from 2034” is targeted.

Budget politicians in the Bundestag have already voiced criticism of the assumption of debt by the federal government, Berlin and Brandenburg.

Because with it, the shareholders would quasi pay off loans for which they had already assumed the guarantee.

It is at least questionable whether such cross-financing will stand up to an EU aid check.

FBB did not confirm the figures to WELT, but announced: “Against the background of the completely changed conditions caused by the corona pandemic, the management presented the current status of a new business plan to the Supervisory Board.

There were no decisions or stipulations on the subject.

The finished business plan will not be presented to the Supervisory Board meeting until March. "

Debt burden from BER construction period

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In addition to the corona-related income filling, the debt burden comes from the long construction period at BER.

FBB is to finance most of the costs for the new airport building itself - this was the decision made by the shareholders years ago.

The new airport in the capital began operations in early November 2020.

But the start coincided with the beginning of the second lockdown.

Passenger traffic almost came to a standstill at all German airports.

In Frankfurt, for example, the number of passengers fell by 81.7 percent to 891,925 passengers in December, as reported by the airport operator Fraport.

In Berlin, however, where the tourism share of the passenger volume is particularly high, the slump was even more drastic.

According to FBB, only around 700,000 passengers were handled in the first three months of BER operations.

"That corresponds to just about ten percent of the pre-crisis level of 2019", according to FBB.

Terminal 1 at BER orphaned

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In order to save personnel and operating costs, BER Terminal 5, the former Schönefeld Airport, will be closed at the end of February.

Investments in the expansion of BER planned a year ago - such as the construction of a new Terminal 3 - will be postponed for years.

The new Terminal 1, the main building, is also currently orphaned.

At least in part.

In the middle area, where the well-known wood-paneled check-in counters are, there is currently no check-in.

The reason: it's freezing cold.

The weather pushes the arctic east wind through the underground train station and up the stairs directly into the main building.

The advantage of the short direct route from the platform to the check-in becomes a disadvantage in the winter months and in easterly winds - which is known to be not uncommon in Brandenburg.

Apparently there are only single-digit temperatures in Germany's new airport building.

"That was no longer reasonable for the employees at the counters," says FBB.

That is why the few passengers in thick jackets now rush through the main hall to the side pavilions, where there is enough space for the few hundred passengers a day.

However, this should not be a permanent solution, according to FBB.

They are working on using sliding doors and other measures to stop the arctic draft.