Berlin To Mothball Former Schoenefeld Airport As Air Travel Collapses - Officials

Berlin to Mothball Former Schoenefeld Airport as Air Travel Collapses - Officials

East Berlin's Former Schoenefeld airport may close again in March 2021, after it was reopened last month as Terminal 5 of the newly inaugurated Berlin Brandenburg Airport, B.Z.Berlin newspaper reported on Monday citing officials

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd November, 2020) East Berlin's Former Schoenefeld airport may close again in March 2021, after it was reopened last month as Terminal 5 of the newly inaugurated Berlin Brandenburg Airport, B.Z.Berlin newspaper reported on Monday citing officials.

"In light of a very bad passenger traffic trend, we must consider whether we will really need Terminal 5 in 2021," the airport's chief, Luetke Daldrup, told the German news outlet.

He will present the plan to the supervisory board on Friday. A board member told the daily that Terminal 5's definitive closure would be logistically challenging, meaning the former DDR air hub will probably be mothballed.

"When passenger traffic goes up again Terminal 5 will be put back in use," the airport's spokesman, Hannes Honemann, said.

Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) formally opened on October 31, after nine years of delays and budget woes. However, passenger traffic remains abysmally low, with figures nowhere near what was expected after the first shock of the pandemic waned.