After years of lobbying, Dubai-based Emirates might finally be about to win approval to start flights to the German capital, Berlin, and it’s reportedly so confident of getting the go-ahead that it has already secured takeoff and landing rights at the city’s main airport.
According to a slot coordination document obtained by Bloomberg, the airline has gone to the effort of obtaining a pair of landing and takeoff ‘slots’ which essentially let an airline use an airport at set times.
The document reveals that Emirates wants to use a Boeing 777 to operate the route, starting in December 2026, although there is still one very big obstacle in its way… German regulators have yet to give Emirates permission to fly to Berlin.
The problem is that under a decades-old agreement between Germany and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the country’s airlines are only permitted to operate flights between the UAE and four cities in Germany.
Emirates built its long-haul capacity into Frankfurt and Munich, as well as Düsseldorf and Hamburg, while campaigning over the years to be granted access to Berlin.
The German flag carrier, Lufthansa, has always vehemently opposed Emirates’ calls for better access to the country, arguing that its presence, along with that of other Persian Gulf carriers, distorted the market and was bad for competition, as these were essentially government-controlled airlines that could lose money in order to fuel their rapid expansion plans.
The government has long taken Lufthansa’s side on this topic, although in recent years, its stance has softened.
Qatar Airways, for example, already operates flights between its hub in Doha and Berlin Brandenburg after securing the rights to fly to five cities in Germany – Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Munich, and, of course, Berlin.
Back in the mid-2000s, Etihad Airways managed to circumvent the restrictions by taking a stake in local carrier AirBerlin and getting the airline to operate long-haul flights to Abu Dhabi on its behalf.
That loophole came crashing down in 2017 when Etihad allowed AirBerlin to fall into insolvency after massively overstretching itself in a failed equity investment plan involving several loss-making airlines.
Lufthansa remains opposed to Emirates being awarded any more flying rights to Berlin, itself preferring to operate short-haul flights to and from Berlin and its long-haul hubs in Frankfurt and Munich.
The airline is not, however, unaware of the desire of Berliners to have non-stop flights to Dubai, given that the Lufthansa Group started this route using an Airbus A320 through its low-cost subsidiary Eurowings.
In a statement, Lufthansa called on European lawmakers to counter the perceived threat of Middle Eastern airlines and “prioritize its own competitiveness.”
For its part, Germany’s Ministry of Transport says no decision has been made about granting Emirates additional access to the country. No doubt, Lufthansa will be working overtime to try to persuade decision makers to reject the latest request.
