German efficiency takes a knock as Berlin’s airport opens 9 years late, €4bn over budget
IT WAS supposed to be a triumphant celebration of German r e unif i c a t i on a nd engineering prowess that would cement Berlin as the connection capital of Europe.
But nine years of delays and corruption scandals have made Berlin-brandenburg Airport Willy Brandt a laughing stock as it finally opens today €4 billion over budget and during a pandemic.
Yesterday, as the final touches were being made to BER, as it is known, Andreas Scheuer, the German transport minister, confirmed that the airport would receive another bailout package of half a billion euros, 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, as he sought to justify the bailout.
The list of mishaps suffered at the airport goes far beyond the ordinary.
Originally scheduled to open on Oct 31 2011, the airport was beset by technical issues with its highly complex fire safety system.
The architecture f i rm GMP wanted a system which was able to extract smoke via subterranean pipes, so as not to blemish the aesthetics of the roof by installing chimneys.
The decision by the state leaders of 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 air hub in Germany, behind Frankfurt and Munich.
With the opening, at least a line will finally be drawn at last under a fiasco that has seriously damaged Germany’s reputation for engineering excellence.
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. However, the launch of the Hamburg Philharmonic in 2017 to rave reviews – albeit at the exorbitant cost of €800 million – at least started to heal the wounds.