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Friday, November 27, 2020
The crown crisis is making things difficult for the capital’s BER airport. Weeks after the opening, those in charge pull the rope, close terminals and close one of the tracks. Even for 2021, the outlook is bleak despite a multi-million dollar “Corona loan.”
Just a few weeks after the opening of the new BER airport in the capital, one of the two runways must temporarily close again at the beginning of December. One of the three terminals is also being suspended and another did not even open when the airport opened four weeks ago. Due to the persistently low number of passengers, operators are trying to cut costs in many areas. At the same time, they need millions from their owners, the states of Berlin, Brandenburg and the federal government, or from private investors. While the federal government is open to this, resistance is building in the state of Berlin.
Traffic at BER has been down to a tenth of usual, said airport chief Engelbert Lütke Daldrup after a board meeting. Instead of 36 million like last year, the BER chief expects 9.1 million passengers in 2020 and 10 million in 2021. “As long as Corona makes travel difficult, we can expect little improvement.” Already this year, the owners made up the crown-related loss of sales with 300 million euros. Next year they will contribute 660 million euros, the contracts are ready, as Lütke Daldrup said after a council meeting. He spoke of a “crown loan.”
However, the company had already registered a requirement of around 375 million euros for 2021 before the Corona crisis, mainly because then invoices will have to be settled by BER. The new airport opened at the end of October nine years late. Shareholders had already committed € 108 million for 2021 two years ago.
“We have to drive in sight”
However, Lütke Daldrup assumes that BER 2025 will be able to cover its operating costs on its own. In exchange for the aid, the state company has to reduce its costs. The terminal building of the former Schönefeld airport in the GDR is used by BER as Terminal 5. It is supposed to close at the end of March for a maximum of one year, thus reducing costs by between 20 and 25 million euros in 2021. The closure of the southern runway will save the work of around 50 employees, said Lütke Daldrup. So the traffic will only be handled with the main terminal and the north runway. How long it will be open. “We have to drive on sight,” he said.
For the roughly 2,200 employees of the airport company, zero rounds were agreed for the next two years. Terminations for operational reasons are excluded. But nearly one in four digits is lost, 125 this year, another 400 next. In some cases, however, it was already clear before Corona that fewer staff would be needed. Because after the closure of Tegel airport, Berlin’s air traffic at Schönefeld is concentrated in one place. After a three-month hiatus around commissioning, the company will return to reduced-time work in December and will use it for most of its employees throughout 2021, as Lütke Daldrup said.
However, there are not many additional income opportunities. At the beginning of next year, an entrance fee of three euros will be introduced for the visitor terrace. Up to 6,000 people per day have used the free Willy Brandt airport view in recent weeks. “The airport has become a safe destination for excursions,” said Lütke Daldrup.
Confederation open to private investors
The federal government is open to the commitment of private investors to take the economically difficult airport out of the crisis. The responsible state secretary in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Werner Gatzer, told RBB-Abendschau that further subsidies from the three shareholders Berlin, Brandenburg and the federal government were also possible. But neither should other instruments be neglected. “As far as I know, there are private investors who are ready to go.” According to information from the RBB, these are, among other things, private pension funds. “Even if the airport opened late, it will be a successful investment for decades to come.”
The federal government has kept the option to sell its shares in the airport company open, Gatzer said. Under the partnership agreement, this is still out for the next two years, but it needs to be clarified relatively quickly where the missing airport funds will come from. “It will also be necessary to ask whether all shareholders are selling shares so that a private investor can participate.” Gatzer referred, among other things, to the Frankfurt am Main airport, which has already been partially privatized.
In the state of Berlin, Gatzer, who represents the federal government on the airport’s oversight board, was vehemently rejected with his decision. “I personally and the state of Berlin definitely don’t want to go this way around Berlin,” said Berlin Finance Senator Matthias Kollatz of the RBB evening show. According to the SPD politician, important infrastructures must remain in public hands, also to avoid “a socialization of losses and a privatization of profits.”
“If the federal government wants to withdraw, we can’t help it,” Kollatz admits. “But I don’t think it’s wise.” In any case, you must ensure that the public sector retains the majority of the shares. On this issue at least, Berlin and the federal government agree. “The public sector must be able to help shape and make decisions,” says Gatzer. “But it doesn’t make sense to me why what is possible in Frankfurt or Düsseldorf should not be possible in an attractive airport like Berlin.”
