Berlin moves to Bremen (18 December 2006)


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Langen, 18 December 2006

Berlin moves to Bremen

Successful relocation of Berlin air traffic controllers
Since last weekend, air traffic controllers in Bremen have been handling traffic in lower airspace (below 7,500 metres) over Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Sachsen-Anhalt. The Berlin air traffic controllers who are responsible for this airspace moved to the DFS control centre in Bremen on 15 December. In line with the so-called operational centres concept of DFS, operations in Berlin were phased out; all of the air traffic in eastern Germany is now controlled from the Karlsruhe, Munich and Bremen control centres. The air traffic controllers for the other airspaces already moved to Karlsruhe and Munich in the past two years. Berlin is not the first control centre to be closed by DFS. Düsseldorf control centre was closed down as early as in 2002. Since then, air traffic over the federal state of North-Rhine/Westphalia has been controlled from Langen, near Frankfurt. The airlines benefit from the consolidation of infrastructure at DFS through lower user charges.

In the last step of the restructuring process, 131 employees left Berlin and moved to Bremen. Up until the move, Bremen control centre had controlled lower airspace over Schleswig-Holstein, Lower-Saxony, Hamburg and Bremen. Now 540 employees, including 366 air traffic controllers and flight data specialists, 56 engineers and technicians, are responsible for the entire airspace above northern Germany. The switchover took place shortly before midnight, with the controllers in Berlin transferring control of the aircraft in the air to their colleagues in Bremen. A Condor aircraft was the first to report on the radiotelephony frequency of Bremen Radar at 23:45 hrs.

DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH is a State-owned company under private law and has 5,200 employees. DFS ensures the safe and punctual handling of flights. Staff coordinate around 10,000 aircraft movements in German airspace every day, and more than three million movements every year. With this large number of flights, Germany has the highest traffic volume in Europe. DFS operates control centres in Langen, Bremen, Karlsruhe and Munich. In addition, DFS is represented in the Eurocontrol Centre in Maastricht, the Netherlands, and in the control towers of the 16 international German airports. DFS provides training and consultancy services around the world and develops and sells air traffic control, surveillance and navigation systems. The company's portfolio also comprises flight-relevant data, aeronautical publications and aeronautical information services. DFS has the following business units: Control Centre, Tower, Aeronautical Solutions and Aeronautical Information Management.


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