The former DDR airport at Berlin Schönefeld is being expanded to the south to become Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), the new unified airport for the German capital. The historic city airport of Tempelhof has already been closed to traffic and Berlin's third airport, Tegel, is also set to close when operations commence on the 3rd June 2012. The two Berlin airports handled a total of 22.3 million passengers in 2011.
The former Schönefeld Airport has been enlarged by 970ha, bringing the total area of the new airport to 1,470ha. The main elements are:
Midfield Terminal Complex: Located between two parallel runways, 1,900m apart. One-Roof-Concept with a total floor space of 220,000m2 and initial capacity to handle up to 27 million passengers annually. The terminal can be expanded in modules for up to 44 million passengers.
Runways: The northern runway has been closed. The current southern runway will be extended from 3,000 to 3,600m to become the new northern runway. A new southern runway has been constructed with a length of 4,000m. An extensive taxiway system has been developed to ensure optimal aircraft movement with a total of 85 aircraft stands.
Railway Station: Six-track station with three platforms directly below the terminal. The Airport Shuttle will connect the airport with the city centre in 20 minutes. BER will also link with the Inter-City and regional network.
Road Links: BER will be connected to the outer ring and city motorway.
Preparatory work started in 2007. Terminal construction was begun at the end of 2008. Trial operations of the new terminal and technical systems are now underway.
Our company, Airport Consulting Partners GmbH, has been one of numerous consultants to play their part in the planning, approval and realisation of the airside for this prestigious and challenging project.
Ian De Righetti, CEng MICE, Member in Germany is Managing Director of Airport Consulting Partners GmbH