Berlin’s new airport, which has had nearly everything possible go wrong over its more than a decade of construction, is taking no chances on anything else going wrong by live-testing all its check-in, transport and security systems as well as arrival procedures.
Last week’s first test used 400 volunteers, who had previously attended a ‘dress rehearsal day’ at the Schoenefeld airport, whose main terminal will be Terminal 5 of the new Berlin-Brandenburg Airport. Each volunteer was assigned to two arrival and two departure scenarios.
Some were given unwieldy luggage (such as a vaulting pole) to check in; others were given too much luggage, others were required to walk through the process of getting VAT refunds. For arrivals, the volunteers were bused to the other side of the building and followed procedures through customs and passport control. No testing of the airport restaurants, though, and there were some complaints about the provided lunch.
The live tests are a scaled-back plan; originally it was hoped to have 20,000 volunteers participate in a final test that would have really put the airport on its toes, but Covid concerns required that to be scaled back. However, a press release from the airport last week indicates they are still hoping to do a test with 9,000 participants.
One other danger lies ahead for the airport, but will not affect its opening: the ongoing overruns and the current pandemic which will keep airport traffic low for a long time, are putting pressure on revenues. Without a cash infusion soon, the airport operator could be technically bankrupt by opening day.
