Berlin's head of government calls for more international flights

Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) has renewed his criticism that there are too few international flights from eastern Germany. "We finally need more intercontinental flight connections from Berlin-Brandenburg Airport," he said after consultations at the meeting of the prime ministers of the eastern German states in Berlin.

"We have 180 international flight connections a day from western German airports, and around seven from eastern German airports," Wegner said. "This is an unacceptable imbalance at the expense of the eastern German regions."

More long-haul flights to boost the economy

More international flights from BER, for example, could help to strengthen the connections to all eastern German states and thus economic growth in these regions. However, Wegner had already expressed such ideas on several occasions, so far without any visible consequences.

"I am also campaigning for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Berlin and the eastern German states," explained the Berlin head of government. All eastern German states could benefit from this.

The special infrastructure fund approved by the Bundestag is to be welcomed. However, it was important to streamline the bureaucratic procedures and, above all, speed them up so that investments could be implemented quickly. "For example, we need to quickly expand rail links through eastern Germany or to eastern Europe, repair roads and bridges and invest in science and research."