Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) has suggested that the city relax rules around when planes can take off and land at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport (BER).

Wegner floats earlier flights out of BER Airport

Speaking at the ITB tourist trade fair in Berlin, the capital’s mayor Kai Wegner has suggested that the night flying ban at BER Airport be relaxed.

Currently, planes are forbidden from departing or arriving at the airport between 12am and 5.30am, so that locals living in surrounding areas can sleep peacefully without noise pollution.

Speaking at the fair, Wegner argued that it was neither in the interest of the climate nor passengers if planes delayed by mere minutes are forced to reroute because BER will not give landing permission. In February, two Ryanair planes were rerouted to Hanover for this reason, and according to the mayor, airlines operating at the airport often complain about the existing rules.

Wegner's night flight plan faces opposition

Wegner stressed that under his plan, only a few additional flights would take off and land in the small hours, but the mayor may struggle to find the city senate majority that he needs if the plan is to materialise.

Berlin Senator for Economic Affairs, Franziska Giffey (SPD), has voiced opposition. “I don’t think we should cut the ban on night flights,” Giffey told the dpa, “Berliners have the right to a good night’s sleep. Growth will not be hampered by a ban on night flights.”

Locals in Brandenburg want to go even further in the opposite direction. In 2012, before the airport opened, they voted to extend the night flight ban so that no planes could take off and land at the airport between 10pm and 6am. In 2025, the referendum results are yet to be implemented. SPD and BSW politicians have also voiced support for greater restrictions.

Thumb image credit: Bogdan Khmelnytskyi / Shutterstock.com