The long-planned relocation of the air readiness unit from Cologne-Wahn to the BER capital airport will not be possible until 2036 at the earliest. The responsible Federal Agency for Real Estate (Bima) confirmed this to Spiegel. Bima forecasts that the completion of the target structure of the government airport at the BER location will occur between 2036 and 2038.
The overall transfer of the air readiness unit can only happen after the completion of these construction measures. For example, the planning approval procedure must be changed because the number of government aircraft has grown to 18. Bima stated that the larger fleet has significantly expanded the space requirements, increasing them from originally around 304,000 square meters to 580,000.
Due to the jets remaining at the Cologne-Wahn location, readiness flights regularly take place to Berlin, where government representatives then board at BER. The Greens criticize this timetable and demand a faster transfer. Sebastian Schäfer, a Green expert on the budget in the Bundestag, told Spiegel that the Minister of Defence must urgently accelerate the plans for housing the air readiness unit at the government terminal in Berlin. The excessive number of empty flights of the air readiness unit between Berlin and Cologne-Wahn must stop so that the environment and the federal budget are not unnecessarily burdened further.
