Getting to Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg Willy Brandt (BER) is easiest and cheapest by Airport Express train (FEX) from downtown Berlin Hauptbahnhof central main station. Regional trains, S and U Bahn trains, and buses are further cheap public transportation options when traveling to Berlin Airport.
Public transportation, especially trains, provides the easiest, fastest, and cheapest way to get to the Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) in the German capital. The Airport Express trains (Flughafen Express FEX) are the fastest transportation for most travelers to downtown Berlin Hauptbahnhof and many parts of the city. Regional and S-Bahn trains are also useful for travelers to Berlin, while the U-Bahn and bus combination works very well for many other parts of Berlin. Direct trains connect Berlin Brandenburg Airport with Potsdam, Oranienburg, Wismar, Rostock, and a few other cities in Germany. Taxis and airport transfer shuttle services are also available – pre-booked airport transfers are around €60 for a trip from the airport to Berlin Mitte or the Kurfürstendamm area.
The basic public transportation fare to Berlin Brandenburg Airport from downtown Berlin is a standard ABC ticket. The Berlin Welcome Card is a good savings option that includes transportation and discounts at sights in Berlin. Surcharges are payable on express buses and long-distance trains (e.g. ICE, IC, EC) but not on U, S, RB, RE, or FEX trains and Berlin public transportation buses (BVG).
Berlin public transportation ticket prices in 2025: €3.80 for AB and €4.70 for ABC tickets.
Getting to Berlin Brandenburg International Airport (BER) on Public Transportation
Berlin Brandenburg International Willy Brandt Airport (BER) replaced Berlin Tegel (TXL) and Berlin Schönefeld (SXF) airports as the only airport serving the capital of Germany. All flights depart and arrive at Berlin Terminal 1 or Terminal 2 — Terminal 5 is permanently closed. The public transportation options to both terminals are the same, as the terminals are basically the opposite ends of the same building with trains, buses, and taxis stopping at the center.
The official name for the train station in the basement of Berlin Airport is now only Flughafen BER — Terminal 1-2 was dropped from the name in 2024.
Trains to New Berlin Brandenburg International Airport (BER)
Trains are the best and easiest option for most passengers traveling to Berlin Brandenburg International Airport (BER). However, the U-Bahn is also a very good option if a metro stop is closer than an S-Bahn station.
The airport terminal train station, “Flughafen BER“, is in the basement of the airport’s main terminal with the distance between the train and check-in counters as short as 50 meters.
From the airport to Berlin Hauptbahnhof, trains are available around every ten minutes — the duration of the journey depends mostly on the number of stops en route. The Flughafen Express trains (FEX), Regional Express (RE8), and Regional Bahn (RB23) are the fastest with traveling tom from the airport to Hauptbahnhof around 30 minutes. S-Bahn trains (S9) stop at more stations, which may be more convenient than the Hauptbahnhof, but is much slower if going all the way to central Berlin.
Further regional trains run to amongst others Potsdam, while long-distance trains provide fast access to amongst others Dresden and Rostock.
By Airport Express Train to Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg (BER)
Airport Express trains in three versions connect Berlin Brandenburg Airport with downtown Berlin:
The Flughafen Express (FEX) trains connect the airport and Berlin Hauptbahnhof central station twice per hour in 30 minutes. En route, the FEX trains stop only at Ostkreuz and Gesundbrunnen — neither station is of much interest to most international tourists, although Ostkreuz has good connections to the S-Bahn network.
Regional trains (RE8 and RB23) traveling from Berlin Brandenburg Airport to Central Berlin and both trains stop from the Airport (Terminal 1 — 2) at Ostkreuz, Ostbahnhof, Alexanderplatz, Friedrichstraße, Hauptbahnhof, Zoologischer Garten, and Charlottenburg. RE8 and RB23 run once per hour each.
- RE8 (Regional Express 8) trains continue through west Berlin to Spandau and then all the way to Wismar via Nauern and Wittenberge (not to confuse with Lutherstadt-Wittenbergen!).
- RB23 (Regional Bahn 23) trains continue to Potsdam (Hauptbahnhof and Golm).
The Airport Express trains are thus available every 15 minutes to Berlin Hauptbahnhof, although the stops on RE8 and RB23 are often more convenient than traveling via the main station.
The Airport Express trains are regional trains (Nahverkehr) and regular Berlin transportation tickets may be used. (Exceptionally, regular Berlin public transportation tickets may also be used on the Rostock InterCity train between the Airport and Hauptbahnhof, but it runs only every two hours.)
→ See By Airport Express Train to Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) for more information on the routes and stops of the Airport Express trains. German Railways timetables to Berlin Brandenburg Airport or BVG to include U-Bahn trains, trams, and buses to the final destination in Berlin.
S-Bahn Trains to Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg (BER)
Two S-Bahn trains stop at Berlin Brandenburg International Airport to provide easy access from many parts of Berlin not directly served by the Airport Express trains. The S-Bahn trains stop at both Flughafen BER (Terminal 1-2) and S Schönefeld station (previously SXF and Flughafen BER Terminal 5, which is now permanently closed) — if using the wrong stop, simply take the next train, the fare is covered. (Note that a further stop between the two airport Terminal stations — Waßmannsdorf — has no links to the airport.)
- S9 – S-Bahn trains run from Berlin Brandenburg International Airport (BBI / BER) via Ostkreuz to Spandau. S9 trains run right through central Berlin on the same route as the Airport Express RB23 and RE8 lines but stop at more stations, which depending on the final destination could cut out a transfer. Traveling time to the Hauptbahnhof on S9 is 50 minutes. S9 trains run three times per hour.
- S45 – S-Bahn trains run from Berlin Brandenburg International Airport (BBI / BER) to Südkreuz, which has good connections to further S-Bahn and long-distance trains, especially to destinations in the south of the city.
U-Bahn Trains to Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg (BER)
Plans to extend Berlin’s U-Bahn train network all the way to Berlin Brandenburg International Airport floundered on cost grounds. As a result, the closest U-Bahn (metro) station to the airport remains Rudow on line U7. A simple bus connection is available between Flughafen BER and Rudow U-Bahn train station.
Buses X7 and X71 (N7 at night) provide the 10-minute ride between Berlin Brandenburg Airport and Rudow to bring passengers to the Berlin metro system. During most of the day, buses and U-Bahn trains operate every five minutes. U7 provides a useful service to many travelers and is worth considering if the final destination is close to an U-Bahn station rather than one of the main S-Bahn stations. The metro to bus change at Rudow station is very simple with services running very frequently.
→ See also By Bus and U-Bahn to Berlin Brandenburg Airport for a more detailed description. To many parts of Berlin, the U-Bahn is a better option than it may appear at first.
High-Speed Deutsche Bahn Trains to Berlin Brandenburg International Airport (BER)
High-speed ICE, IC, and EC trains of German Railways should eventually also stop at Berlin Brandenburg International Airport. This will be great for passengers arriving from other parts of Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic.
However, the number of long-distance trains stopping at the airport remains dismally low, while railway construction work continues. The only InterCity train currently using the airport station is the Chemnitz-Warnemünde IC train that stops among others at Dresden, Flughafen BER, Berlin-Südkreuz, Berlin-Hauptbahnhof, Oranienburg, and Rostock.
Exceptionally, regular Berlin ABC public transportation tickets may be used on this IC train on the section Flughafen BER and Berlin Hauptbahnhof. This is currently the fastest connection at 27 minutes.
Buses to Berlin Brandenburg Airport
A few bus services to Berlin Brandenburg Airport are worth noting as they provide useful services to parts of Berlin where using the trains will require detours and transfers.
Routes that are likely to be of use to some foreign travelers include:
- Bus X7 — airport to Rudow U-Bahn station in 10 minutes — every 5 minutes.
- Bus X71 – airport to Rudow U-Bahn station, Johannithaler Chaussee, and the U Alt-Mariendorf — three times per hour.
- Bus 164 to Köpenick (from Terminal 5).
- BER2 to Potsdam — (surcharge)
(Bus X7 and X71 no longer stop at Schoenefeld (bei Berlin) on the way to BER T1-2. Use the S-Bahn train between Schoenefeld S-Bahn station and Berlin Airport — walking is not an option.)
→ See also By Bus and U-Bahn to Berlin Brandenburg Airport for a more detailed description of available bus services.
Travel from Potsdam to Berlin Airport
Travelers going to Potsdam with its lovely palaces, including Sans Souci from the time of Frederick the Great, can bypass traveling to downtown Berlin. Regional train RB22 goes directly from Flughafen BER to Potsdam. The more expensive Airport Shuttle Express Bus BER2 provides an alternative to the train when traveling to Potsdam.
→ See Transportation from Potsdam to Berlin Brandenburg International Airport (BER) for more details.
Transportation to Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER)
Public transportation from Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) to Berlin generally requires an ABC ticket — €4.70 in 2025. Many further deals and passes are available to travelers.
- Public Transportation Options to Berlin Airport
- By Train to Berlin Brandenburg Airport (Airport Express / S-Bahn) — usually the best option
- By Bus and U-Bahn Trains to Berlin Brandenburg Airport — worth considering if not close to an S-Bahn station
- By Train or Bus from Potsdam to Berlin Brandenburg Airport
- Prebook Berlin Airport Private Shuttle Transportation at Suntransfers
- Check train schedules at German Railways / Deutsche Bahn or BVG
Public Transportation to Berlin Airport BER Terminal 5 (previously Schönefeld SXF)— Terminal 5 closed permanently.
Berlin Brandenburg International Airport (BBI / BER) was in planning (and construction) for many years. The airport is right on the border between the two German states Berlin and Brandenburg, which explains the inclusion of the latter in the airport name. The IATA code for Berlin Brandenburg International Airport is BER, previously used as code for the whole Berlin area. Willy Brandt was added by the state governments to honor the former West Berlin mayor and West German chancellor – like most other German airports that honor persons, the full name will probably very rarely be used in practice. (BBI was used in the planning phase until it became clear the small airport Biju Patnaik in India has no intention of giving up its IATA code.)
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