With the beginning of the festive season last December, there was a slight increase in the number of passengers on Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER).

According to airport traffic data, the airport was used by a total of 1.77 million travelers, which was an increase from the numbers recorded in November of 1.75 million.

The rise

The numbers showed that in December 2022, the total number of passengers on BER stood at 1.53 million, while 2.6 million passengers were recorded on Tegel and Schonefeld airports in December 2019.

As far as flight operations are concerned, there was a movement of 13,600 in December 2023, which was an increase of 1,400 flights from December 2022.

On the other hand, the number of flights recorded in December 2019 had been higher, as both Schonefeld and Tegel airports had recorded 21,200 flights.

Last year, the total number of passengers that used BER was 23.07 million, which reflected an increase of 16% or 3.22 million as compared to 2022.

However, despite the rise, the numbers were still 12.6 million less than the numbers recorded before the pandemic.

More statistics

The total number of aircraft movements on the capital’s airport stood at 176,649 in 2023, which was a 7.5% increase from a year earlier.

Meanwhile, the total number of landings and takeoffs that had been recorded in 2019 stood at 277,600. Other statistics showed that air cargo volumes last year in BER had managed to rise above pre-pandemic levels.

This was a 14% increase, as they rose to 3,200 tons. The annual cargo statistics last year were 34,038 tons, which showed an increase of almost 7% as compared to 2022, when the total was 31,827 tons.

In contrast, the total air cargo handled in 2019 stood at 35,000 tons.

Air travel demand

Aletta von Massenbach, Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH’s Chief Executive Officer, said that the last year had seen a consistent upward trend in the demand for air travel.

She also added that almost 20 million people had chosen BER in 2023, either for inbound flights to Berlin from abroad, or outbound flights to international locations.    

The CEO said that it was 73% of the levels recorded before the pandemic, which showed that people have continued to give priority to holidays.

It was further disclosed that when it came to long-haul connections, the numbers in 2023 had returned to the same levels they were at in 2019.

Previously, an AI-driven software solution had been implemented at BER Airport for optimizing its handling processes.

The strategic initiative is a reflection of the airport’s commitment to improve punctuality, quality and overall operational efficiency, while adopting advanced technologies.

While the latest digital products had been directed towards terminal operations at BER, it is now focused on integrating the advancements into the 49 platform positions next to the terminal.