Socket problem at the airport? Okay, yes, I know, why am I writing a post about Berlin's BER airport having a problem with power sockets? It's not really worth a post, is it? Well, since I was affected by it myself this time, and there is hardly any information about it on the internet, I'll write about my experience.
Let's get to the point: if you don't have a flight ticket and want to find a socket in the airport, you really have to look hard, because I couldn't find a socket on the first floor in either Terminal 1 or Terminal 2. There are no charging options at the seats, which are already very cramped. So if you have to wait a long time and don't have a flight ticket, like I did because I had to pick someone up from the airport, you'll be left out in the cold if you don't have at least one well-charged power bank for your smartphone.
Socket problem at BER airport
Now we come to the point where you can find sockets, as far as I could find out, there are only 2 sockets that I could find accessible. Yes exactly, in the entire airport in front of the security checks, there are only 2 sockets.
These are located at the charging points, where there are various USB cables to charge your smartphone. Personally, I don't recommend this as you can't check whether something has been tampered with by a third party, nor do you know how many people have held the cable. What's more, such USB connections are usually not fast-charging capable anyway, as they incur additional costs.
At the charging stations you can Charging devices with Apple's Lightning, USB-C and micro USB.
For fast-charging devices, I recommend taking the corresponding power adapter with you so that you can use it at the socket and charge your smartphone quickly.
Appliances with 230V plug
If, like me, you like to take your travel laptop with you to work on the web, sooner or later you will need a power socket to recharge the laptop battery. And with 2 sockets, that's pretty inconvenient. I was at least able to recharge a little, as I had to make a few phone calls to the airline.
You can charge your laptop or other devices that have more than one USB port to be charged, but unfortunately it's not practical as you can't sit down properly.
The Infopoint as an insider
I then simply asked the staff at the Info Point and they explained to me that this situation with the lack of sockets and the bench seat problem is well known, but that it is undesirable from a higher authority that there are so many sockets or benches so as not to keep people in the airport if they don't have a ticket.
Of course, if you don't have a ticket, a loading facility or a place to sit, you will leave the airport more quickly. An economically understandable decision, but does it have to be like this? Would it be so bad to place USB charging ports or sockets under the seats? Honestly, how many people with a smartphone or laptop would really stay in the airport just because they can charge their device there?
The aim is probably simply to save electricity costs, fewer sockets, less power consumption, as fewer devices can be connected. And if someone has a flight ticket, they can use the sockets behind the security check (hopefully there will be more).
In the past, several other companies have already News article about it reportedthat airport visitors have complained that there are not enough power sockets.
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