Berlin’s new airport finally opens on Saturday after nine-year delay and an extra £450 million grant

Engelbert Luetke-Daldrup, head of BER airport, poses inside the terminal 1 of the Berlin-Brandenburg Willy-Brandt international Airport

Credit: MICHAEL KAPPELER /AFP

It was supposed to be a triumphant celebration of German reunification and engineering prowess that cemented Berlin as the interconnected capital of Europe.

But nine years of delays and corruption scandals have turned Berlin-Brandenburg Willy Brandt Airport into a laughing stock as it finally opens on Saturday €4 billion over budget and in the middle of a pandemic.

On Friday, as the final touches were being made to BER, as it is known, German Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer confirmed that the airport will receive another half a billion euro bailout package, with the possibility of further funding to help it through coronavirus, which has decimated the aviation industry.

“The airport is opening during one of the biggest crises in aviation history,” Mr Scheuer told a local radio station, justifying the bailout.

The list of mishaps suffered at Berlin Brandenburg Airport go far beyond the ordinary.

Originally supposed to open on October 31, 2011, the airport was beset by technical issues with its highly complex fire safety system.

People walk past a display board before the official opening of the new Berlin-Brandenburg Airport

Credit: HANNIBAL HANSCHKE /REUTERS

The architecture firm gmp wanted a system which extracted smoke via subterranean pipes, so as not to blemish the aesthetics of the roof by installing chimneys.

The decision by the state leaders on Berlin and Brandenburg to personally oversee the project is also widely recognised as having been a catastrophic error.

Corruption was another serious issue. A manager brought in to rescue the project in 2013 was later found guilty of demanding hundreds of thousands of euros in kickbacks from firms bidding for contracts.

The final cost of the project is estimated at €6.5 billion, roughly three times the original projection. 

Tegel airport in the north of the city will close immediately, while Schönefeld, which is adjacent to the new build, will be revamped and used as a fifth terminal. Berlin Brandenburg Airport will be the third largest airhub in Germany, behind Frankfurt and Munich.

With the opening, at least a line will finally be drawn under a fiasco that seriously damages Germany’s reputation for engineering excellence.

General view of the terminal 1 at the airport Berlin Brandenburg Willy Brandt (BER)

Credit: STEFANIE LOOS /AFP

The country’s reputation has simultaneously been hammered by mismanaged builds at the Hamburg Philharmonic and Stuttgart’s underground railway.

All three mega projects suffered years of delay and spiralling expenditure, as city governments lost control of planning and project management. 

But the opening of the Hamburg Philharmonic in 2017 to rave reviews — albeit at the exorbitant cost of €800 million — started to heal the wounds.

If the opening of Berlin Brandenburg Airport goes smoothly, only the unfinished Stuttgart 21 will remain as a sore spot.

“It’ll be just the same as with the Hamburg Philharmonic — as soon as the airport opens, and people see how it works, they will soon forget the suffering that came with building it,” Berlin mayor Michael Müller recently told the Tagesspiegel newspaper.   “We’ve seen it before with other projects. There is lots of criticism while they are being built, but it’s quickly forgotten.”