EU backs E1.7b in state aid for Berlin airport

The EC has given the green light for state aid of E1.7b planned for Berlin’s airport to help ensure it does not go bankrupt, the Commission said on Tuesday. “The decision is very important and trend-setting for us,” Berlin Airport CE Aletta von Massenbach said. “Now we can get back on track and, in the medium term, reach the traffic level we had before the corona crisis.” However, the airport needs another E700m to partially free itself of debts, von Massenbach said. The Berlin-Brandenburg Willy Brandt airport, now known by its code BER, opened late in 2020 almost a decade later than planned and in the middle of a global slump in air travel due to COVID-19. Airport operator Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH applied for aid made available through the European Union’s Temporary Framework scheme to firms hit hard by the crisis. FBB owes banks and its owners - the German federal government and the states of Berlin and Brandenburg - around E4.5b. 2020 sales reached E177m after 416m in 2019. Last year, the airport carried around 10m passengers. This compares to 36m passengers in pre-crisis 2019 at Berlin airport Tegel, which was closed when the new airport opened, and Schoenefeld, which was integrated into the new BER airport. For 2022, the airport predicts 17m passengers. Built in former East Berlin, BER has been beset by problems from the outset. <br/>