The holiday traffic at the capital’s airport BER started without any major difficulties. “We had a very well planned and relaxed start to the summer vacation on Friday,” says a spokesman for the Berlin-Brandenburg Airport Company (FBB) on request.

“All passengers were well prepared and our service providers at the airport were well positioned.” Around 80,000 passengers traveled via Schönefeld Airport on the busiest day of the holiday period.

The operators expect around 3.5 million travelers over the entire summer holidays – around half a million people more than a year ago.

For airlines, however, the summer travel season remains a tense time. “It remains a challenge and one cannot rule out renewed chaos at the airports,” said the boss of the British low-cost airline Easyjet, Johan Lundgren, the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”.

“There are 10 to 15 percent more European flights than in 2022 and at the same time there are still capacity restrictions at some airports, partly due to a lack of staff. That’s an explosive mixture.”

Easyjet itself is currently struggling with delays despite having sufficient staff across all locations. “We cannot be satisfied with the current situation,” said Lundgren. Easyjet is one of the largest providers at BER. The capital airport is the most important location for the airline in Germany.