Financial cushion used up
BER Airport continues to make losses
May 3, 2022, 4:18 p.m
After years of quarreling, Berlin Airport will open its doors at the end of 2020. One year after the start of operations, the airport is deep in the red. However, the head of the airport at Massenbach is optimistic about the current year.
As expected, the capital’s airport BER again made a high loss in the first full financial year after it went into operation. The deficit last year was almost 570 million euros, as can be seen from the annual report that airport boss Aletta von Massenbach presented with the chairman of the supervisory board, Jörg Simon, in Berlin.
This means that the loss has almost halved compared to the previous year. But that was “only partially reassuring,” emphasized von Massenbach. The Berlin-Brandenburg Airport Company (FBB) still does not earn enough to fully finance its own operations. Equity has been completely consumed by the renewed loss of millions. Flight operations can only continue with the help of the state owners, the federal government and the states of Berlin and Brandenburg.
Nevertheless, from the point of view of the BER boss, the signs point to relaxation, at least as far as the effects of the Corona crisis are concerned. The passengers are returning. “In some areas we are back to the pre-crisis level,” said von Massenbach. On individual days and times of day, just as many people traveled via BER as via Berlin Airports before the pandemic. Looking at the figures, von Massenbach expects positive operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the current year.
The airport on the outskirts of Berlin was opened at the end of 2020 after years of construction delays. The FBB is still struggling to ensure that everything runs smoothly, even at peak times. In addition, construction defects cause trouble. 17 actually new treadmills have to be completely renovated – for a single-digit million amount.