Germany‘s federal police, responsible for transportation security, evacuated Terminal 1 of Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) on Thursday evening.
Preliminary reports suggested a luggage security scare. It was not immediately clear whether or not it posed a real threat.
What do we know about the evacuation?
A spokesman told Germany’s DPA news agency that a woman had told security staff at a service point that she had a dangerous substance.
“A potential threat from the unidentified substance could not be ruled out,” the spokesperson said.
He said that as a result a dangerous item alert was issued and declined to comment further at the early stage.
Prior to this, travelers and a German reporter had posted corresponding social media accounts from the scene about the terminal building being emptied, including footage either of crowds waiting outside or of emergency vehicles parked near the lower level entrance.
What did the airport say about departures and arrivals?
The airport also confirmed the incident slightly later on Thursday.
“Because of the suspicion of a dangerous substance, the federal police issued a dangerous item alert at around 17:45,” a spokesman said, leading to the “public area of Terminal 1 being cleared.”
He said that planes that were already prepared to depart could take off as normal and incoming arrivals could also continue to land.
Passenger processing was being “relocated to Terminal 2 to the extent that it’s possible,” he said. “The degree to which this could lead to delays or cancellations is not yet foreseeable.”
Many but not all flights departing Terminal 1 from around 7 p.m. local time were marked as at least slightly delayed on the airport’s website. An airport press officer told DW that at least 30 flights had been delayed but that they were trying to avoid cancellations by redirecting departures to Terminal 2.
Trains were also impacted by the operation for a time. The local S-Bahn train service confirmed disruptions on two lines servicing the airport, while Deutsche Bahn’s user apps also indicated widespread disruptions to regional trains.
BER or the “Willy Brandt Airport” in Schönefeld is Berlin’s busiest and Germany’s third-busiest airport since it opened in 2020. It also serves as the primary airport for many federal government flights. Some 26 million passengers travel through it each year.
This is a developing story, more to follow…
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Edited by: Zac Crellin
