IT failure at BER Airport: Travelers suffer long waiting times!

On Friday, January 3, 2025, there was a nationwide computer failure in Germany that affected the computer systems of the federal police. The BER Airport in Berlin was also affected by this technical problem, which led to considerable delays for travelers.

The passengers had to expect longer waiting times at passport checks, in particular those from the non-Schengen area, including travelers from countries such as England and Turkey. The BER press spokeswoman confirmed that although there was no entry stop, the entry lasted significantly longer. In order to carry out the controls, the federal police officers had to fall back on an alternative system.

Waiting times and impairments

The IT failure not only led to problems at BER, but also at several other airports. Long snakes formed on the passport checks because the automatic border control systems were paralyzed over several hours. As the Rbb24 reported, many control activities had to be carried out manually, which further extended the waiting times. Entry from non-Schengen states and some routs to these countries were particularly affected.

The federal police increased the controls to cope with the bottleneck, which also led to increased waiting times. From 5:45 p.m., however, positive news could be reported: the systems at BER Airport were again functional and there were no further delays. There were similar allotments at other airports, including Frankfurt and Düsseldorf, which also reported from 6 p.m. that the technical problems were resolved.

In addition to the delays at Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden Airport, where 450 passengers had to wait for their flights and two machines could not be handled, there were also disturbances at the Hanover and Hamburg airports. The search and information system in Hamburg failed, but the security locks remained unaffected by the technical problems because their responsibility lies with the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA).