Berlin airport (BER) will finally open its doors to customers this weekend, and ahead of the inauguration of flights the rail station has opened connecting the airport to Berlin Central Station.

Flughafen BER Terminal 1-2 is located directly under Terminal 1 on level U2, and has been built to handle up to 125,000 passengers per day across three platforms and six tracks. BER said that it expects two out of three travellers will arrive at the airport by public transport.

S-Bahn services S9 and S45 are now in operation, running every 20 minutes, and a total of 14 trains will stop at the station every hour during rush hour, including an S-Bahn train every ten minutes, as well as the IC service on the Dresden-Rostock route “about once every two hours”.

An Airport Express service is also set to operate between Berlin Central Station, Ostkreuz and the airport every 30 minutes, and several other routes are also set to launch this year. A full list of services expected in 2020 can be seen below.

Note also that the rail station at the former Berlin Schönefeld Airport (now known as BER Terminal 5) remains operational.

Berlin Brandenburg airport had originally been due to open back in 2012, but a series of delays pushed the inauguration back almost a decade.

Easyjet and Lufthansa are set to perform a parallel inaugural landing at the airport on Saturday October 31 to celebrate the opening, and the mothballed Steigenberger Airport Hotel Berlin has now opened for business.

Steigenberger gears up to open Berlin airport hotel

Commenting on the news Engelbert Lütke Daldrup, CEO of Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH:

“We are delighted that the airport railway station is going into operation today and would like to take this opportunity to thank our partners for close, constructive and solution-oriented collaboration even in difficult times.

“With its efficient railway station directly under Terminal 1, BER boast an important unique selling point compared to all other major German airports. The ability to take a lift from the platform directly to the check-in hall is a unique feature in Germany. BER is a train-friendly airport that sets a benchmark for environmentally conscious travel.”

berlin-airport.de

Rail services starting in 2020

  • Airport Express (FEX): Berlin Hauptbahnhof (Central Station) – Ostkreuz – BER Terminal 1-2 (every 30 minutes)
  • RE7: Dessau, Bad-Belzig – Berlin city centre – BER Terminal 1-2 – Wünsdorf-Waldstadt (hourly service)
  • RB14: Nauen – Berlin city centre – BER Terminal 1-2 (hourly service)
  • RB22: Potsdam – Golm – BER Terminal 1-2 – Königs Wusterhausen (hourly service)
  • S9: Spandau – Berlin city centre – BER Terminal 5 – BER Terminal 1-2 (every 20 minutes)
  • S45: Südkreuz – BER Terminal 5 – BER Terminal 1-2 (every 20 minutes)