Flughafen Berlin-Brandenburg GmbH will shortly take Terminal 5 (“Ex-Schönefeld”) offline. However, not in the short term, but probably in March 2021 and then for at least one year. The number of passengers is much lower than expected.

This means that carriers such as Ryanair and Wizzair will also move to Terminal 2020, which opened at the end of October 1. Before the corona pandemic, it was assumed that the capacity of the new buildings T1 and T2 would not be sufficient, and it was therefore decided that the old Schönefeld terminal buildings should be used for a few more years. At the same time, extensions around Terminals 1 and 2 were to be built.

The number of passengers at BER is very tight - precisely because of the corona pandemic. As a result, Terminal 2, which was actually ready for operation, was not even opened, but initially it was decided not to take the capacity of Terminal 5 off the grid. That is now changing, because, according to Berliner Morgenpost, airport boss Engelbert Lütke Daldrup wants to obtain approval from the supervisory board for the temporary closure of the former Schönefeld building on Friday. The entire flight operations are then to be handled in Terminal 1 for the time being.

There is also the possibility that the BER company could take a different path if demand increases. Instead of Terminal 5, T2, which is located to the right of T1, could be put into operation. However, it is currently not foreseeable how high the number of passengers will be in summer 2021. Theoretically, it would of course also be possible for both T5 to be reactivated and T2 to be opened. As of December 2020, however, the number of passengers is so low that Terminal 1 can handle the volume on its own.

Ryanair and Wizzair feel very comfortable in Terminal 5, because this is - in contrast to the new building - characterized by relatively short distances and also enables "walk-boarding", which is popular with low-cost travelers. In any case, Daldrup wants to speak to the supervisory board first and if this should give the green light, talks with the users of Terminal 5 are pending.