United Airlines flight 963 from Berlin to Newark yesterday marked the first-ever flight from the German capital’s new Brandenburg Airport to the United States.
United Airlines Returns To Berlin, Flies First-Ever Nonstop Flight To USA From Brandenburg Airport
After a long hiatus, United Airlines has resumed service between Newark (EWR) and Berlin (BER). When United Airlines last flew this route, Berlin Tegel, the World War II-era airport in Berlin’s Reinickendorf neighborhood, was still in service. Yesterday’s flight departed from Berlin Brandenburg, the beautiful but troubled new airport.
That airport was plagued by delay layered upon delay, which pushed the opening of the airport back nine years. But in October 31, 2020 the airport overcame (most) of its design flaws and faulty construction to launch commercial flights.
However, nearly a year and a half went by before a flight to the United States departed.
Dignitaries and United representatives were on hand for the event, which saw UA963, operated by a Boeing 767-300 aircraft, take off for Newark at 10:21AM local time. Thorsten Lettnin, United’s Director of Sales in Europe, noted:
We are very pleased that we are finally serving this important route again and that there are once again non-stop flights between the German capital region and the largest metropolis in the USA.
Other scripted remarks came from Aletta von Massenbach, CEO of Berlin Airport, and Franziska Giffey, Governing Mayor of Berlin. Giffey also noted Tesla’s new factory in her remarks, heralding a warming friendship between German and the USA:
“Berlin and the people of Berlin welcome the new direct flight connection to New York. After two years of the corona pandemic, this step also stands for the return to normality and for German-American friendship. Both cities are attractive metropolises that thrive on mutual exchange and are now finally directly connected again.
“Economic relations will certainly benefit from this as well, for example the establishment of the US company Tesla in our region. I hope United has also opened the door for other airlines to connect BER directly to destinations around the world, making our capital city airport even more attractive and competitive.”
The launch comes just days after United Airlines scrapped plans to serve Berlin from its Washington Dulles hub. Although Berlin is Germany’s most populous city, it has struggled to attract transatlantic travel after the demise of Air Berlin, with Lufthansa’s major hubs in Frankfurt and Munich reducing the need for a third transatlantic gateway.
United’s re-launched service will serve as a barometer for gauging transatlantic travel demand from Berlin.
CONCLUSION
United Airlines has resumed nonstop service between Newark and Berlin. Yesterday’s flight to Newark marked the first-ever transatlantic flight to the United States from Berlin Brandenburg.
(top image: Ekaterina Zershchikova, Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH // H/T: Simple Flying)
BER beautiful? Beauty is as they say in the eye of the beholder, but BER is a far cry from being beautiful and to make matters worse practical….I’d much prefer Munich.
I wouldn’t even say Berlin is attractive, compared to other European capitals. Fun, exciting, dynamic, yes. Max’s comment highlights the difference between Berlin and Munich. Munich rebuilt the center of the city to appear exactly as it did before WWII, while what was West Berlin is new and modern save for the occasional suvriving Wilhelmine building randomly appearing), while a large part of what was East Berlin is still 1950’s Soviet, and if one travels eastward seems to mostly ugly, deteriorating cement block Stalinist.
Munich is beautiful, but I think Berlin has a certain beauty…even on the East side.
https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/30613-united-boeing-767-suffers-engine-failure-over-the-atlantic
Does Brandenburg have a rail link to downtown?
yes take Airport Express (FEX) train from Terminal 1 to central Berlin station Hauptbahnhof
runs every 30 minutes and takes 30 minutes, cost is just 3,80 €
I have family in Kleinmachnow and Potsdam that I visit often. I welcome this addition but sad to see IAD-BER scrapped.