Again more complaint against airlines at Berlin Brandenburg Airport

The district court of Königs Wusterhausen, which is responsible for the capital city airport, again records more lawsuits against airlines. According to the court, there were almost 15,500 cases last year. “This significantly increased the number of procedures compared to previous years,” said court director Stephan Lehmann of the German Press Agency.

At the court in Brandenburg, the proceedings of the BER make about 90 percent of all civil lawsuits (around 16,500 cases). Königs Wusterhausen is one of the particularly burdened courts in Germany, as a survey by the “German Richterzeitung” showed at the courts at the locations of the 20 largest airports in Germany.

The Cologne District Court is therefore at the top with almost 41,300 procedures. That is 11 percent more compared to the previous year. In the cathedral city with Cologne-Bonn Airport, Europe’s largest air traffic group, Lufthansa, also has its legal company headquarters. The district court of Frankfurt/Main is in second place with around 16,000 cases (2023: about 15,000).

Nationwide, there were around 131,000 lawsuits of passengers in 2024 – around 6,000 more than in the previous year. Customers usually charge compensation for unusual or late flights, sometimes it is also about cases of travel contracts.

AI programs should help

The German judge sees portals with which passengers can quickly and easily enforce passengers as an essential reason for the development in the courts. “The judiciary is now responding with special AI assistance programs that are tested in larger local courts,” said Federal Managing Director Sven Rebehn.

The district court of Königs Wusterhausen and the Ministry of Justice in Brandenburg are also relating to the new technology with the AI ​​project “Kai”. “This should make it easier to cope with the massive procedures, especially the sometimes similar and recurring questions,” said Lehmann. A test run of the project should start in the first quarter. “To what extent this will lead to a faster processing of the procedures and/or less personnel requirements for the processing, the future must show,” said the court director.

Continuously more cases

The number of passengers and travel laws on his dish has risen continuously in recent years. According to Lehmann, there were almost 14,000 cases in 2023, and around 7,000 the previous year. The lawyer also attributes this to the fact that the travel volume has increased again after Corona pandemic.

“I assume that this development will solidify if air traffic at the airport remains the same or even increases,” said Lehman. This presents his dish permanently with enormous challenges.

According to justice, passengers or portals have the choice whether they move to court at the seat of society or at the departure location. According to preliminary calculations by the ADV airport association, there were around 213.5 million passengers 2024 years. In 2023, the Federal Statistical Office registered 185.2 million passengers at the 23 German main traffic airports. (