Friday, February 6
BER blames the weather for the grounding of all planes, with no flights in or out of the airport. “Due to flash ice and persistent freezing rain, no take-offs and landings are currently possible at BER,” said a spokeswoman. The exact situation is changing hour to hour, but she explained, “In order to protect passengers and employees, flight operations have been temporarily suspended.”
Apparently, the airport’s winter service had used de-icing agents throughout the night without success. Surfaced remained mirror-smooth. Many flights have been cancelled, and one plane that was supposed to land in Berlin was diverted to Frankfurt Airport.
However, passengers are complaining about long waiting times for delayed flights that are inevitably cancelled, alongside poor communication. One Redditer wrote, “There is no information! I spent 10 hours [at BER] yesterday with my 2-year-old.” Another reported on being “on a plane at the gate for 3 hours now,” and adds that “the crew cannot let us off. It’s actually very unsettling right now.”
For now, BER asks passengers to check their flight status for further updates.
