To date, only at Frankfurt am Main Airport in Germany has the airport managed its own security checks. At all other locations, the federal police or the respective regional council have the say. That changed because since January 1, 2024, BER has also been responsible.

Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH has been responsible for passenger and baggage controls at BER Airport since January 1, 2024. As planned, at the beginning of the year it took over the organization, control, implementation and financing of aviation security checks from the Federal Police in accordance with Section 5 LuftSiG.

“We have prepared for a long time and carefully to manage the security checks. I would like to thank everyone involved in the project for their commitment. By taking on these sovereign tasks, we have the opportunity to better plan the processes at our airport and thus make them more efficient. The overarching goal remains to maintain the high level of aviation security. We are pleased to have Securitas at our side as a new contractual partner. The Federal Police remains a reliable partner for us,” said BER Managing Director Aletta von Massenbach.

After Frankfurt am Main Airport, BER is the second German airport to carry out air security checks on passengers and their luggage. The aim is to further develop the processes functionally and, as a result, further reduce waiting times for passengers. The safety of passengers and employees remains the top priority.

The assumption of these sovereign tasks has been prepared over the past few months together with the Federal Police. Securitas Aviation Service GmbH & Co. KG (Securitas) will initially continue to carry out passenger and baggage checks. The plan is to gradually equip the security checks at BER with state-of-the-art control devices, so-called CT scanners. The first five of eight CT scanners in Terminal 2 are already in use. The computer tomography used in the CT scanners enables reliable and rapid detection of a wide variety of materials and objects. Passengers who use the new CT lanes no longer have to remove liquids, smartphones and other electronic devices from their hand luggage. The new devices will also be installed in Terminal 1 and preparations are underway.

“In the past few months, the Federal Police and the FBB have done everything together to prepare the FBB for the tasks assigned to it on January 1, 2024. We are extremely confident and full of confidence that the required safety standards will be met while maintaining the usual high quality. We are taking this step to the 'next level' together, and the FBB can continue to rely on the cooperation and, if necessary, technical advice from the Federal Police in the future," said Carsten Glade, President of the Berlin Federal Police Directorate.