Berlin, October 27th, 2026 (The Berlin Spectator) – Starting on January 1st, 2027, Berlin taxis will no longer be allowed to line up at BER Airport to wait for passengers. The district of Dahme-Spreewald county in Brandenburg state, where the airport is located, has terminated an agreement with the state of Berlin effective December 31st, 2026. The Berlin Senate Department for Mobility, Transport, Climate Protection and the Environment announced this in a press release.
The agreement had been in place since September 15th, 2020. It was concluded when BER opened and both Berlin-Tegel Airport and the old Schönefeld Airport closed. Most recently, it allowed 550 Berlin taxis to pick up passengers at BER, even though the airport lies within Dahme-Spreewald. In return, taxi companies from the district were allowed to pick up passengers at Berlin taxi stands.
Pickups on prior order will remain permitted. Passengers can still book Berlin taxis by phone, through a dispatch service or via an app.
Less Demand
The district justified its decision with a significant recent drop in demand for taxi rides at BER. The much improved rail connection is also a factor. Deutsche Bahn offers the Airport Express (FEX) which connects BER with Berlin’s Central Station four times per hour, with a travel time of about 23 minutes. According to the Senate department, passengers have embraced the service.
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Ute Bonde, the Senator for Mobility, Transport, Climate Protection and the Environment, said she was very pleased about the FEX’s success but regretted the latest development, since current market conditions were “challenging for the Berlin taxi industry as well”, as she put it. The Senate will now work to make pre-booked rides from the airport better known and more appealing through a “secured fixed price”, Bonde said. The department is already talking to the Berlin taxi industry about how to improve the use of such rides.
Talks with Dahme-Spreewald will also continue. The district wants to step up its enforcement role at and around the airport, because taxi drivers are under additional pressure from growing competition from rental cars booked through platforms such as Uber, Bolt and Miles. The airport operator, the district and the Senate department also plan to stay in contact about demand peaks, for example during rail disruptions, so that many taxis remain available in such cases.