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Berlin Brandenburg Airport faced significant congestion at passport control on the opening day of the Berlin Film Festival, creating frustration and disruption for many international arrivals heading to one of Europe’s most important cultural events.
Travelers landing at the airport throughout the day described long waits, slow moving lines, and confusion as hundreds of passengers queued to enter Germany. Among those affected were sales agents, financiers, producers, journalists, and talent arriving for both the Berlin Film Festival and the European Film Market. Several industry professionals reported waiting for hours, with some missing scheduled meetings as a result of the delays.
One traveler who arrived earlier in the day managed to pass through passport control after about an hour, having been seated near the front of the plane and joining what was then a relatively small queue. However, even at that point, hundreds of people were already lined up behind. As more flights landed, the lines grew significantly longer.
At one stage, the situation appeared particularly strained in the line designated for non European Union travelers. The entire rest of the world queue, which included families with young children as well as elderly and disabled passengers, was reportedly being handled by a single passport control officer. Passengers described the line as moving at a painfully slow pace, with little visible adjustment to staffing levels despite the growing crowd.
