Accelerating the opening of BER: Action plan SPRINT to ensure a swift and reliable opening

Today airport CEO Hartmut Mehdorn presented SPRINT, his action plan for a speedy opening of the future Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) to the supervisory board of the airport operating company 'Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH'. Following the board meeting, Mr Mehdorn said during a press conference: "We are making a fresh start in various parts of the organisation. This entails changes with regard to personnel as well as processes to accelerate the opening of BER." Other decisions taken by the supervisory board today include the approval of the revised business plan for the current year. In addition, Elmar Kleinert was appointed Head of Operations for Schönefeld and Tegel Airports as well as for the future BER.

SPRINT: Action plan for a speedy opening

Mr Mehdorn will personally oversee the action plan SPRINT which will bring together all processes that are related to the opening of BER, from the remaining construction work to approvals, trial runs and the opening itself. SPRINT will be coordinated by a dedicated Project Management Office which will be located at BER. SPRINT will also establish a centre of competence that will oversee all technical aspects of the project such as the evaluation of the current state of the construction work, liaison with companies involved in the project and documentation. Moreover, all training necessary for the move to BER and to ensure the operational readiness of the new airport will become part of SPRINT. Mr Mehdorn added: "The remaining work at BER will be divided up into 20 to 30 modules. The managers responsible for each module will be announced over the coming weeks. Our technical centre of competence will rely on both internal and external know-how, and we will talk to everyone who can make a positive contribution to the swift opening of BER."

Matthias Platzeck, the state premier of Brandenburg and Chairman of the airport's supervisory board promised the board's full support for the new direction taken by the operating company: "It is the right decision to set the course for a swift opening of BER. We are clearly noticing that things are moving forward since the appointment of Mr Mehdorn."

Business plan 2013

The supervisory board also approved the revised business plan for the current year. According to the latest calculations, the shareholders will provide €650m for the realisation of BER (so far €900m were planned for on the basis of an opening on 27 October 2013). A first tranche of €192m were already provided to the airport operating company by its shareholders in January 2013 (€71m from Berlin, €71m from Brandenburg, €50m from the Federal Republic).

Elmar Kleinert to strenghten airport operations

The airport appointed Elmar Kleinert, 52, as new Head of Operations. Most recently, Mr Kleinert was Managing Director of Paderborn/Lippstadt Airport. Previously, he worked for Luft­hansa and for Berlin Airports as Head of Operations at Tegel Airport.