The saga that is the construction and commissioning of Berlin’s Brandenburg Airport is creeping toward a conclusion, with the airport operators announcing that a final security sweep of the site has begun.
The sweep aims to ensure that there are no dangerous or forbidden items located in areas that will fall within the security perimeter. The search will last at least 10 days and is being carried out by airport security, supported by state police and under the supervision of the LuBB (Aviation Authority of Berlin-Brandenburg).
Commenting on the procedure, Engelbert Lütke Daldrup, CEO of Berlin Brandenburg Airport, highlighted, “The ‘cleaning’ is an important milestone in order to turn BER Airport into a functioning building after acceptance of the construction work. Across the whole of Germany, such a large internal and external area has never been searched in accordance with the currently applicable Aviation Security Act.
“For all employees of the Airport Company as well as its partners, BER with its Aviation Security Area will be a completely new experience. Taking this step in due time before the opening is an advantage so that we can all further practice the processes under real conditions.”
The process is a time consuming and understandably thorough one, as all of the premises, vehicles and areas that fall within the future security-restricted area must subject to visual searches and checking with explosive detection equipment and sniffer dogs.
During the security search, access to the security-restricted area of Terminal 1 is only permitted to search and security staff. Following approval by the LuBB, which should be complete by mid-August, access to the previous operating areas is then only possible with an airport identification card via the corresponding access control points.