GERMANY. Berlin Brandenburg Airport has said that the most “realistic” timeframe for a return to 2019 passenger traffic levels is by 2025. The airport company has set 2023 as an optimistic target for hitting pre-pandemic traffic, with 2027 as a “worst case”.
The Executive Board reported that on average, the new Berlin Brandenburg Willy Brandt Airport served 7,500 passengers a day in the early weeks of January, only around 10% of the previous year’s level. According to estimates, traffic is likely to reach less than one-third of 2019 volumes in 2021, or around 10.7 million passengers (2019: 35.6 million).
“Many airlines have significantly reduced their fleets, cut jobs and are repositioning themselves in the market,” said the airport company.
The Executive Board presented the airport Supervisory Board with three scenarios for recovery in a meeting on Monday. Each case depends on when vaccines are globally and extensively available, when quarantine regulations are relaxed or lifted, and how quickly the economy recovers. The updated business plan is based on the middle scenario of a 2025 recovery, with passenger traffic growth estimated at +1-2% annually after that.
If that projection is correct, the airport would serve 83 million fewer passengers between 2021 and 2025 than originally expected. This would also mean “considerable economic losses”.
Possible cost saving measures include delaying investments in structural expansion, strict expenditure control and reorganising the personnel structure. Special projects, such as the temporary decommissioning of Terminal 5 or suspending the use of the southern runway, would also make significant contributions to reducing costs.
These savings would still not be enough to compensate for the coronavirus-related loss of turnover, said the airport board. Therefore Berlin Brandenburg will remain reliant on the renewed support of its shareholders and partial debt relief to maintain its capital market viability.
Chairman of the Supervisory Board Rainer Bretschneider said: “We are satisfied with operations at Berlin Brandenburg Willy Brandt Airport so far. Processes are running steadily and coming together, not considering the usual teething problems that come with a major construction project. Unfortunately, the economic situation of the airports in Germany is still very critical because of the pandemic and a recovery is still a long way off. That is why we are now focusing on the finances after the commissioning and, in doing so, on the economic activities of the company.”
