Investment programme for Berlin Tegel Airport: South runway, sprinkler water tank and cooling unit renewed

The investment programme for Berlin Tegel Airport has mainly been completed. The South runway has been covered with an anti-skid surface. The sprinkler water tank, which is required for emergency firefighting, has been replaced. And a new cooling unit now ensures the passenger terminals stay pleasantly cool even when it’s warm. In March, Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH had announced plans to invest a further 19 million euros in Tegel Airport’s infrastructure.

Christian Gaebler, Secretary of State for Transport and the Environment on the Berlin Senate Committee for Urban Development and the Environment: ‘By the time Berlin Brandenburg Airport opens, most of Berlin’s air traffic will be handled here in Tegel. It was therefore only logical to invest even further in the location. The measures now implemented are aimed entirely at maintaining operational safety and are necessary despite the fact that Tegel will only be in operation for a limited period.’

Elmar Kleinert, COO of Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH: ‘Passenger numbers in Tegel continue to rise. Our aim is to ensure flight operations run as smoothly as possible. The single most important investment in securing operations was the renovation of the South runway for around 3 million euros. Thanks to investments in infrastructure and our team of dedicated employees, we are now well equipped to deal with high passenger volumes.’

Between May and July, a total of 105,000 square metres of anti-skid surface was laid on the South runway. The work was performed primarily at night, to avoid disrupting flight operations. The aim was to create a uniform surface structure and ensure the necessary skid resistance in poor weather conditions. First, the existing asphalt surface was cleaned using a special high-pressure water procedure and markings were planed off. The approximately three-millimetre-thick anti-skid surface was then gradually applied, followed by the markings a day later.

Tegel Airport’s sprinkler water tank, which was over 40 years old, had to be replaced in order to maintain operational safety. The new tank is an open steel container with a holding capacity of around 22,800 litres. The container is 5 metres long, 2.4 metres wide and 2 metres high with a flow velocity of up to 3,000 litres per minute. This can be used by the fire service, for example, to fill up their engines in the event of an emergency. The sprinkler systems in the passenger terminals are also supplied with water from here. It took 14 days to replace the sprinkler water tank at a cost of around 50,000 euros.

Two cooling units at Tegel Airport provide air conditioning in the passenger terminals. Due to a mechanical fault in the switch panel, one of the units was destroyed. To avoid the risk of complete failure, a new cooling unit had to be supplied and installed. It took one day to replace the 21-tonne unit, which was put into operation in July. The total cost amounted to 504,000 euros.

The next step is to renovate the toilets in Terminal C and D, increase automatic boarding card inspection, expand the long-haul gate in Terminal A and upgrade the baggage conveyor system. Asphalt surfaces landside and the pipe and channel system must also be renewed. The number of emergency and cleaning personnel has already been increased.