About Berlin Airport
Berlin’s security response is extensive. The security fence between the German capital and Berlin Airport, near the northern railway station, runs alongside the city’s river embankment. Once the passengers are inside the fence, cameras monitor every corner of the airport and can instantly call for help to handle an emergency. Once inside the airport building, travelers have to go through scanners and can only access areas with ticket counters, where they are only required to carry identification cards. The Federal Police conduct extra checks and security audits on all aircraft, and German officials inspect all baggage and freight travelling to and from Berlin Airport.
The German federal police alone has a long list of regulations and rules. Individuals that enter Germany or come in contact with German citizens are required to keep up with a daily report of their whereabouts, carry a passport, and carry their identity card with them at all times. The police checks on individuals are further increased when they are traveling to or through Germany, for example by forcing travelers to show their passport, residence permit, identity card and stay within a city limit. If a foreigner fails to provide such documentation within a designated time, the police may demand them to prove their identity. During that time, they are only allowed to leave their hotel in the presence of the police officer.
At the airport, visitors will observe the stringent rules and the obvious identification criteria at the checkpoints. Passengers arriving at Berlin’s airports will be required to maintain their identification cards on them and with them at all times. They will also have to show them to airport officials at the entrance to each terminal. As for the new flights to the capital, the passengers will be subject to baggage searches and may be subjected to additional security checks after they have landed at Berlin’s international airport. The German capital has already implemented extreme security measures at its airports, but the heightened security measures implemented by Germany in the past few years also come with an increase in civil liberties. In September 2021, a decree went into effect that requires people to cooperate with police in cases of terrorist attacks, otherwise they will be subject to penalties of up to €10,000.
Flights to and from Berlin will remain on a regular schedule, even with the change in security measures, and authorities are confident that the changes will not affect the airport’s operation. The airport will be closed after the last flights of the day on September 4, so that German authorities can arrange the new security measures.
History of Berlin’s Airport
Berlin-Brandenburg Airport was founded as an airport for commercial and passenger flights in the summer of 1948. Its first flight to the German capital was made by the German Luftwaffe, during the World War II, on September 25, 1944. One year later, a regular passenger flight operated from Berlin to Prague via Frankfurt, while another flight flew directly from the German capital to Hamburg. The construction of Berlin’s new airport required an extensive process and several shifts, since all equipment used was previously used at the German capital’s existing airports. The German Luftwaffe performed the first flight to the German capital on September 25, 1944, during World War II. The facility was almost finished by the beginning of the next year, but the airport remained unused for several years due to the cold war and tensions between Berlin and the Soviet Union. The Berlin air force lost several planes to Soviet fighters before the Berlin air force could deploy to the airport. The airport began serving commercial flights in 1963, and in its first year of operation, it served around 500,000 people. The construction of Berlin’s airport, which included the construction of Berlin’s twin airports Schönefeld and Stuttgart, cost 623 million Deutsche Marks, making it the most expensive airport construction in history. When the Berlin air force was stationed at Berlin’s central air base at Brandenburg, the existing airfields were renamed Berlin-Brandenburg Airbase. The air force began to move to the airbase in 1962. At the end of September 1963, the first commercial flight operated from Berlin’s central airbase to Athens. The air force’s flights to Athens were temporarily suspended after the Soviet Union decided to close the airfield for military flights. On September 26, 1965, German parliament gave the authorities permission to rename the airfield Berlin-Brandenburg Airport, which also became the permanent name of the facility.
The airport has been a key hub for German carriers Lufthansa, Germanwings, and Eurowings since the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The airports in Berlin and Hamburg have regularly had over 50 percent of their entire passenger traffic passing through Berlin’s airport. During the first quarter of 2021, more than 26.7 million passengers passed through Berlin’s airport, which is an increase of more than 8 percent compared to the same period last year.
Subsequent Growth and Development
Today, Berlin’s airport is one of the major European airports and it is responsible for facilitating over 15 percent of all international passenger traffic in Germany and for 25 percent of all air traffic within Europe. The airport currently has regular flights to over 100 destinations worldwide, including all major international hubs and major cities in Germany. The airport’s central location means it is the only major international airport within a 50-kilometer radius.
During the first half of 2021, Berlin’s airport served a total of 63.5 million passengers, including 23.3 million from domestic flights and 40.3 million from international flights. The airport has the largest duty-free shopping area in Europe, including the three biggest airports in Germany, along with the largest shopping centre in the region. The new central location of the airport will allow more international flights and a lower load factor.
During the next decades, Berlin’s airport will expand and the modernization process will continue until it reaches the necessary capacity in the near future. The Berlin airport’s central location will help it attract a greater number of passengers from other regions. The airport is developing its own transit network and other new passenger transportation services. The airport expects its transit traffic to increase to around 90,000 passengers by 2021.
Cape Town Airport, South Africa
I hunt for a lovely site to photograph near the Cape Town Airport every time I fly from the United States to South Africa. This time was no different. After takeoff, I found an open spot and started snapping away. Unfortunately, at the time I noticed this city and skyway building, my battery was already running down because of the long trip. I was hoping I would be able to come back after the end of my Cape Town trip to see if my camera battery died and to find this spot again.
Cape Town is obviously not the only city that has amazing skyways, as you can see in the photos on this post. Several other interesting city skylines can be found on my skyway posts. I hope this one gets you looking for more skyways to capture with your camera and view.
At least two different flights take off from this Cape Town Airport every day. This shows how busy and huge Cape Town is. Right away, you can see that this area is the center of the city. On the right of the photo, you can see City Hall, the capitol building for South Africa.
Since we did not fly from this airport, I started looking around the city for other amazing views to capture. In Cape Town, I discovered a street where many people take to the air to photograph the city below. The street is Regent Road, and it is located in the Old Town district. I believe this is one of the neighborhoods in Cape Town that is still being built up and developed. Although, this picture was taken in September 2021. Even though the colors of this area are faded in this photo, I still think the design is fantastic. There are two rows of stores on the street to the right of the photo. There is even a big flight of steps to get down to the sidewalk. The clouds were not very high in the sky at the time and I was hoping for a higher flight of stairs so the clouds could be above me. After taking some of my own pictures in the area, I turned around to look to see if I could find this cool street again. When I did, I got a view that I would have liked to take another picture to give the perspective to show you more of the city. There were no clouds left in the sky in this picture. In the distance, you can see the summit of Cape Town.
Cape Town City Hall and the Weather
Last but not least, I’d like to show you the view from this lovely city hall. The skyway is undoubtedly one of Cape Town’s most magnificent bridges. When I took this photo, the sun was already setting on the horizon and the sun was just starting to go down in the sky. The weather was extremely beautiful at that moment. I hope you get to see this view as well.
How I Found Cape Town’s Skyways
In Cape Town, I indicated that I took a different path to snap my photo. This road is a short drive through the South Africa city of Mitchell’s Pass. Mitchell’s Pass is a very scenic road and a very nice drive through this part of South Africa. When you drive through this part of Cape Town, you can take a beautiful view of Table Mountain. However, the scenery around Cape Town was amazing. I would describe the drive to Cape Town through Mitchell’s Pass as a road that looks like it has the skyways built on top of it. I actually thought that the skyways actually are built on top of this road because of the cables.
After driving through Mitchell’s Pass, I ended up finding a flight of stairs that looks like it has skyways built on top of it. It is actually not very far from the city, so I went down to the steps. I got out of my car and started taking some pictures. I photographed the skyways, stairwells, and a flying bird. When I was looking through the camera to get the photos, I realized that the bird was taking a flight over the city. It was a nice way to finish up this post.
If you are a photographer and you want to see Cape Town’s skyways in all of their glory, then check out my skyways blog posts. You will find the one I just shared with you here. There are also skyways in other amazing cities such as Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York City, London, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Toronto. I hope you will love looking at all of the amazing views from skyways too. I know I do!