Berlin Airports Becoming COVID-19 Vaccination Centers

Given the decline in passenger numbers due to the coronavirus pandemic and a new airport kicking off operations, there is more free space in Berlin’s airports. The available spaces, however, are being used as vaccination centers to assist in efforts to control COVID-19.

It is hoped that air-traveling will return to near normalcy as more people get the COVID-19 vaccine. This will greatly improve the quality of travel for business and leisure travelers because it would get rid of COVID-19 tests and quarantine or isolation periods.

The aviation industry in Berlin, like others across Europe and the rest of the world, is providing necessary assistance to authorities to distribute COVID-19 vaccines across two sites. Firstly, in the city of Berlin, the Senate repurposed Tegel Airport’s Terminal C to a vaccine center in December 2020. Before this, the airport was closed to aircraft and passengers in November.

Also, a part of the Schoenefeld Airport, also known as the Berlin Brandenburg Airport, has been donated to the fight against COVID-19.

The air terminal’s administrators said that Terminal 5 would be shut for one year from Spring 2021. Nonetheless, one section is now being utilized for non-flying purposes. The operators said around 1,300 square meters have been utilized to set up a vaccination center in area M of Terminal 5. During its first day of activity, the facility tended to 100 appointments.

Engelbert Lütke Daldrup, Chief Executive Officer of Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH remarked on the news saying,

“The vaccine is an essential step towards reviving travel and air traffic. As the airport company, we are making every effort to support the vaccination campaigns of the Berlin and Brandenburg state governments… people want to fly, and comprehensive immunization provides hope for opening the borders without quarantine restrictions.”