“Countless empty flights” – willingness to fly for another ten years, sometimes without politicians

The move of flight availability from Cologne-Wahn to the capital's BER airport, which has been decided for years, will not be possible until 2036 at the earliest. The responsible Federal Agency for Real Estate (Bima) confirmed this to the magazine “Spiegel”. “The completion of the target structure of the government airport at the BER location is forecast for the years 2036 to 2038,” said Bima.

The overall move of the flight readiness can only take place after these construction measures have been completed. Among other things, the planning approval process must be changed because the number of government machines has increased to 18. The larger fleet has “significantly expanded” the space required, according to Bima. Instead of the original around 304,000 square meters, the flight readiness now requires 580,000.

Because the jets remain at the Cologne-Wahn location, expensive and climate-damaging “provision flights” to Berlin take place on a regular basis. Government representatives then get on at BER.