Many of you will have seen the Forum thread I started a couple of days ago including the story of our editor who missed his flight.
It is the start of the Autumn holiday season in Berlin and Brandenburg and the capital’s new airport, colloquially known as BER, simply could not cope with the volume of travellers.
As a result many missed their flights in the ensuing chaos. Now comes news via the capital’s Morgenpost that Lufthansa is emailing customers and telling them to arrive at least 240 mins before departure (because of the congestion within the terminal).
The Lufthansa email is displayed within the above piece from Morgenpost. It concerns a passenger flying to Frankfurt which is its number one hub.
BER itself, reports Morgenpost, suggests travellers arrive two hours in advance. The newspaper says that Lufthansa is “reacting to the high number of passengers and the long queues at BER.”
It also notes that “Deutsche Bahn’s ICE Sprinter train takes 3 hours and 52 mins from Berlin to Frankfurt which is currently the fastest connection.”
Quoted in Morgenpost, BER says that it suffered staff shortages at the weekend. “The number of staff was ‘below the plan’ “ said BER.
Industry publication Aerotelegraph.com also reported on the chaos experienced at BER a few days ago.
BER was expected to handle up to 65,000 passengers a day. Over the entire holiday season 900,000 passengers were expected.
What this means is that any readers intending to fly out of BER in the coming days or weeks must check the situation locally and keep an eye out for any emails from their airline.
UPDATE
Lufthansa’s announcement of a four hour check-in resulted in much negative feedback on social media.
Berlin’s Morgenpost reports that Lufthansa has withdrawn its four hour recommendation.
“We have corrected our customer communication on this point,” said Lufthansa, “as before we ask that guests to arrive at BER early, especially when departing in the morning, as the number of passengers is particularly high at this time.”
The word “early” remains unclear says Morgenpost.
Some of the comments on social media can be read here
