Unfinished Berlin Brandenburg airport denies it will be another year late
London is not the only capital city having trouble building up its airport capacity.
With the debate raging over whether or not to build a third runway at Heathrow, a new airport in Berlin has had its opening pushed back into 2018.
German newspaper Bild said a confidential schedule from the airport’s project management company said the opening would not be possible until 2018.
The airport, Berlin Brandenburg Airport, denied the accusation, and insisted the airport was on track to open to open in the second half of 2017, as is currently planned.
“In a project where 2,000 to 3,000 emails, letters and meeting minutes are written every day, there are, at times, differing assessments,” the airport said in a statement.
It said the Bild report was based on “outdated” information.
When construction started in 2006, the airport’s completion was planned for 2010. The project is not just long overdue, it also over budget. The budget has more than doubled from its original €2.8bn (£2bn) since 2006.
The unfinished airport, which costs €16m a month to maintain, has been labelled as an “embarassment” to Germany by the country’s press. It has faced a wide range of logistical problems since building started.
Earlier this year, it was discovered that parts of the roof of the airport was too heavy, with construction halting while checks were carried out.