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Today, the airport company’s supervisory board addressed the Auditor’s Report for the 2018 annual accounts, the preparation status of the operational measures to guarantee the opening and the establishment of a project company for the construction of Terminal 3. The reports from TÜV, the executive board and the construction department on the progress of the systems which are subject to mandatory testing – in particular, the fire prevention systems in BER Terminal 1 – were of course in focus at the FBB supervisory board’s consultation.

The operating result (EBITDA) for the Berlin airports reached a new record high of 118.7 million EUR in 2018. For this year, the airport company expects a moderate growth in passenger numbers as well as a corresponding improvement in turnover.

With regards to the preparations for BER’s start-up operations, the supervisory board were informed about the allocation of airlines which has already begun. The airport company has informed the major airline partners – Lufthansa Group, easyJet and Ryanair – about which terminal they will operate from. The other airlines – more than 80 – will be gradually allocated.

On the construction progress, the executive board was overall able to report to the supervisory board that in April, amongst other things, the complex smoke control system was approved in its operating tests. The approval of further system groups will be expected in the coming weeks.

The fire alarm system is now going to have the last outstanding removal of defects carried out and the review process completed, so that the operating tests can begin in the summer. The swift testing of the defects still to be signed off will be guaranteed through a close exchange between Bosch, project supervision and senior experts. The documented completion of the tests is planned for the summer. For the cabling, the removal of defects is moving forward largely by ROM. The supervisory board was informed that around half of the identified defects have already been able to be processed by senior experts.

Since the supervisory board had been presented with the creation of a project company by the executive board at their last meeting in March 2019, the concrete steps towards implementation and organisation have now been decided. The new project company shall take over planning and also, if necessary, the implementation of the scheduled Terminal 3. The supervisory board recommends that the shareholders’ meeting make the decision for the establishment for the project company and delegate the preparation of its establishment to the executive board.

Rainer Bretschneider, Chairman of the Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH supervisory board: “Needless to say, the supervisory board will keep a close eye on the issue until the final approval from TÜV. It is good that today we have noted a succession of important advances, despite all of the difficulties. With the recommendation to the shareholders to establish the project company for T3, the supervisory board shows that we are continuing to work on optimising the technical and organisational expertise with regards to construction. This is vital, as we have further significant tasks to handle for the start of operations.”

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Engelbert Lütke Daldrup, CEO of Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH: “Although I have been able to report to the supervisory board on the good progress made in the last two months, in particular with Bosch on the fire alarm system, we have intensive weeks ahead of us – we want to start the operating tests this summer. The blow count in the removal of defects in the cabling that is subject to testing must be increased by ROM, so that we can finally finish in the autumn.”