Experiencing BER airport as a passenger

At first glance, the large red BER lettering just before the baggage claim area really does not look spectacular. Nevertheless, a passenger quickly pulls out his smartphone and photographs the letters, as if he had to prove that he had really been at this strange place.

After all, this is not just any airport. It's the BER, also known by the nickname "mishap airport."

On November 4, the Berlin Brandenburg "Willy Brandt" Airport officially went into operation — 28 years after the start of planning, 14 years after the ground-breaking ceremony and nine years after the originally targeted opening date. Airport bosses were replaced several times replaced, and they postponed the official opening on seven occasions. 

Read more: Berlin's new airport is ready. But will it go bankrupt before it takes off?

Even on this Wednesday afternoon in November, not everything is going smoothly. There is no gangway for Lufthansa Flight LH1936. Instead, the passengers have to wait for the large diesel bus that will take them from the aircraft to the sober, grey-black terminal building. Welcome to Berlin.

The trip to the new Berlin airport began about two hours earlier at Munich Airport. Although Germany's second largest airport after Frankfurt has already clocked up almost 30 years, it is considered the best airport in Europe. It has a lot in common with its namesake city, Munich, which is almost 40 kilometers (25 miles) away: Both are polished, both function perfectly — at least judging by the shiny surface.

No sign of chaos and bags already waiting at the baggage claim

The never-ending drama surrounding BER, on the other hand, seemed to fit the cliché of the cool, but also hopelessly chaotic capital perfectly. But whoever lands at BER will be positively surprised. Once the bus has taken you to the entrance, the route to the baggage claim is pleasantly short. There the bags, which had been checked in at Munich, already make their rounds on the only currently active conveyor belt. 

There is not much going on here on this Wednesday midday. Five planes arrived at the terminal between noon and 1 pm, and there will be as many more in the next three hours, according to the display in the arrivals hall. Terminal 1 is designed to handle just under 77,000 passengers per day.

Another sliding door provides access to the arrivals area. There, you can't help but notice the COVID-19 testing facility, where returnees from coronavirus risk areas as well as non-travelers can get a test for €59 ($70). The airport after all has opened in extraordinary times.

In the arrival area of Terminal 1, Sonja from Berlin is waiting for her fiancé with her father Wolfgang and her dog. He should be landing soon. I ask her about her first impression of BER: "What can I say," Sonja replies and can't stop laughing, "at the entrance a sliding door didn't open and we got stuck between it and the door in front of it." But the security staff was able to help quickly.

Read more: Berlin's long-delayed airport undergoes dress rehearsal for October opening

Not everything seems to be running smoothly at the new capital airport. This is the impression you get in a number of places. A few steps away, at the information desk, a passenger is reporting a broken lift. A BER employee politely informs him in English about another elevator.

From bleak concrete and unusual architectural art

Visually, the new airport is a place of contrasts. Going to the baggage claim area past wood-paneled walls and wine red signs, it appears to be cozy, whereas in the arrival area the black ceiling paneling creates a gloomy and uninviting atmosphere. Any provincial airport is more beautiful to look at than the bleak grey concrete in front of the terminal entrance. 

Just a few steps further, an escalator upwards leads visitors to a check-in hall worthy of a world city's airport. An imposing red net of metal mesh, the "Magic Carpet" by the US artist Pae White, floats above the stairs. And through the glass facade, even on this gloomy November day, some light shines in.

In the areas accessible without a plane ticket, there are a conspicuously large number of people without a suitcase or luggage on this day, including Andrea and Kerstin. The two friends from Berlin came here only "to have a mosey around," Andrea admits. During the official opening, however, visitors could only saunter around 95 of the planned 111 stores in the new terminal. Andrea and her friend also came for another reason: "We want to see where all the money has gone." 

The money, a total of more than €7 billion, has flowed into an airport of pleasingly short paths. At least based on the impressions of going through Terminal 1. It is only a few steps from the baggage claim area to the train station, including minor obstacles: The escalator from the mezzanine to the tracks only leads up. If passengers want to get down with their luggage, they have to take the stairs or the elevator. The planners simply did not envisage an escalator to the ground floor.

A quick connection to the center with the FEX

Matthias and his wife Christiane walked here. They come from the Brandenburg town of Hohen Neuendorf, and they too came to BER without a plane ticket, "so that sometime when we can travel again, we'll be able to find our way around here," says Matthias. The missing escalator is "naturally a bit embarrassing," he says, and as far as he is concerned, the airport lacks clocks. "But apart from that, we have found our way around here very well."

The FEX, the new Deutsche Bahn airport express train, arrives on platform 2. Unlike other regional trains that run between the airport and downtown Berlin, it only stops twice en route. After a 15-minute journey, it crosses the Spree River for the first time and stops shortly afterwards at Ostkreuz station. After 25 minutes, it makes a stop at Gesundbrunnen station, and after half an hour it reaches the central station. In the future, it should only take 20 minutes.

Apart from these few flaws, BER looks like a normal airport. And maybe this is the nicest compliment you can pay to the former "mishap airport."