It’s now less than 48 hours until Berlin’s new Brandenburg Airport is set to be opened by a spectacular double easyJet Lufthansa landing on its parallel runways. However, the airport will also be used to welcome state guests to Germany. As such, the German military took the opportunity to practice welcoming guests ahead of the airport’s opening.
Around ten years ago, Berlin Brandenburg Airport was supposed to open to passengers worldwide. In reality, it became a bit of a white elephant. However, now things have changed, with the airport finally set to open this weekend.
Practicing state welcomes
As the main airport for Germany’s capital city, Berlin Brandenburg will be more than just a passenger airport. The facility will also play host to a government terminal at the north of the field. This will be where Merkel boards Germany’s new executive Airbus A350 for example.
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The terminal will also be used to welcome state visitors to Germany. Artillery and airports typically don’t go together. However, this week the German military brought the two together to practice welcoming state visitors.
Am 31.10 eröffnet der Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg (#BER). Dort werden dann auch Staatsgäste u.a. durch die #Flugbereitschaft BMVg empfangen. Damit deren Begrüßung am Regierungsterminal reibungslos funktioniert, wird die Empfangsprozedur in einer Art Generalprobe durchgespielt. pic.twitter.com/b3X5sRiY5K
— Bundeswehr (@bundeswehrInfo) October 28, 2020
The scene is set when the government’s executive Airbus A340 rolls onto the stand. The stairs are put in place outside the aircraft, and work begins to roll out the red carpet with attention to detail being everything. Once the rug had been laid out, soldiers march out to line the carpet. At this point, the visitors walk down the aircraft steps where they are greeted. The armed forces also fired artillery to mark the moment.
Lufthansa plans to celebrate the opening
Lufthansa, Germany’s flag carrier, will be moving to the new airport in a little over a week. However, it will operate a ceremonial flight to the airport on Saturday to mark its opening.
Flight LH2020 is set to depart from Munich Airport at 12:50 pm. The flight, operated by an A320 called Neubrandenburg (new Brandenburg), will carry 40 special guests to the airport, including the airline’s CEO, Carsten Spohr. Just over 30 years ago, Lufthansa first flew to Berlin’s Tegel Airport.
However, now the Lufthansa Group holds the largest market share of Berlin flights at 30%. The next airline group clocks in at half of this. Lufthansa will be using the airport’s new Terminal 1, which has had already been fitted out with the airline’s branding long before the airport’s opening. Eurowings is set to use Terminal 2 of the airport. However, given the current lack of demand to travel, this won’t open until the first half of 2021. In the meantime, it will fly from Terminal one from Wednesday onwards.
Will you be flying through Berlin Brandenburg Airport any time soon? Are you excited to experience the new airport? Let us know what you think and why in the comments!
