Emirates puts Berlin BER flight plans on hold despite new traffic rights

Emirates has put its plans to fly to Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) on hold for the time being, according to its president, Tim Clark. Speaking to journalists in Berlin, he said the airline hopes to talk to the transport ministry again to clarify a few things.

In September, the German government granted the airline additional traffic rights in an agreement with the United Arab Emirates. According to a statement at the time, Emirates may now serve a fifth German airport, in addition to its four current destinations, with an agreed number of connections. Emirates currently flies to Frankfurt, Munich, Düsseldorf and Hamburg, and has wanted to serve Schönefeld for years.

Clark said everything had gone smoothly until the rest of the agreement was presented. It was not as generous as the airline had hoped. He did not say which points the airline objects to.

If the ministry is willing to give way on some points, Emirates would be ready to start flying to BER from 1 April, Clark said. But he said this has been put back until the airline has more clarity.

The new rights would let Emirates link BER with its hub in Dubai, with many onward connections available there. It would not be the only direct route from BER to Dubai: in the winter schedule, Condor (from 25 October) and Eurowings (from 1 November) also fly there. The report comes from the dpa news agency.