Business travellers flying via Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) will no longer be able to pre-book a 15-minute time slot for security screening. The airport quietly switched off its free “BER Runway” reservation tool on 26 May 2026, the very day many executives were heading out for post-Pentecost meetings. Airport management told local media that uptake had collapsed: in April, nine out of ten passengers who reserved a slot ignored it and chose other lanes instead. The reason is technological rather than behavioural. Terminals 1 security areas 1 and 5 are now fully equipped with next-generation CT scanners. The machines allow laptops and liquids of up to two litres to remain inside hand luggage, slashing queue times and removing much of the incentive to secure an advance slot. By contrast, the older scanners that still serve the dedicated Runway channel require passengers to unpack electronics and restrict liquids to 100 ml. Airport COO Thomas Hoffmeister said the Runway zone will itself be refitted with CT technology in the autumn. Until then, all 24 high-speed lanes will remain open to every passenger on a first-come, first-served basis.
![Berlin’s BER Airport scraps “Runway” security-slot service as new CT scanners speed passenger flow]()
For travellers who also need to juggle visa requirements alongside changing airport processes, VisaHQ can streamline the paperwork. The online platform handles German and worldwide visa applications, passport renewals and other travel documents quickly and securely, giving corporate flyers one less queue to worry about. Explore its Germany-focused services here: https://www.visahq.com/germany/
Real-time wait-time information is available on the BER website and through several travel-management APIs, allowing corporate travel desks to monitor bottlenecks and re-route travellers at short notice. The airport insists overall capacity is sufficient for the summer peak even without the reservation tool. For mobility managers the message is mixed. On the positive side, the faster scanners mean fewer missed connections and less schedule padding for domestic shuttles to Frankfurt or Munich. On the risk side, VIP or group movements can no longer ring-fence a fixed slot, so high-volume corporate charters should build in extra ground time until the autumn retrofit is complete. Travel-policy teams may also want to update pre-trip communications: many employees still expect the Runway option to appear during online check-in. The demise of Runway underlines a wider European trend. Amsterdam-Schiphol, London-Heathrow and Frankfurt are all phasing out their slot systems as CT coverage expands. Germany’s Federal Police (Bundespolizei) expects the same pattern to repeat at Munich once its Terminal 2 upgrade finishes next year, effectively ending the short-lived era of bookable security checkpoints.
For travellers who also need to juggle visa requirements alongside changing airport processes, VisaHQ can streamline the paperwork. The online platform handles German and worldwide visa applications, passport renewals and other travel documents quickly and securely, giving corporate flyers one less queue to worry about. Explore its Germany-focused services here: https://www.visahq.com/germany/
Real-time wait-time information is available on the BER website and through several travel-management APIs, allowing corporate travel desks to monitor bottlenecks and re-route travellers at short notice. The airport insists overall capacity is sufficient for the summer peak even without the reservation tool. For mobility managers the message is mixed. On the positive side, the faster scanners mean fewer missed connections and less schedule padding for domestic shuttles to Frankfurt or Munich. On the risk side, VIP or group movements can no longer ring-fence a fixed slot, so high-volume corporate charters should build in extra ground time until the autumn retrofit is complete. Travel-policy teams may also want to update pre-trip communications: many employees still expect the Runway option to appear during online check-in. The demise of Runway underlines a wider European trend. Amsterdam-Schiphol, London-Heathrow and Frankfurt are all phasing out their slot systems as CT coverage expands. Germany’s Federal Police (Bundespolizei) expects the same pattern to repeat at Munich once its Terminal 2 upgrade finishes next year, effectively ending the short-lived era of bookable security checkpoints.
