Compared to the time "before Corona", the number of passengers at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport is still manageable, but it still seems to be overwhelmed. There were long queues on Saturday morning, but they are homemade.
Too few staff were deployed in the area of ground services and at the same time many airlines believe that they have to force their passengers to the check-in counter under the guise of "document control". An activity that - provided there are no different official regulations of the destination country - could also be carried out during boarding.
A spokesman for BER emphasized that the airlines themselves are responsible for the speed at the check-in counters. Some passengers reported that waiting times of over two hours were not uncommon. Many travelers also had to be patient at the baggage carousel.
Only Terminal 1 is currently in operation at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport. The handling complexes 2 and 5 are not used due to the low number of passengers. Furthermore, many employees are on short-time work both at the operating company and at numerous service providers.