Germany’s engineering prowess in car and machinery manufacturing is admired around the world, with many wondering how to emulate the German model. When it comes to building a new airport in the capital and other large-scale construction projects on the go, however, Germans would rather not draw much attention to themselves.
The new grand Berlin Brandenburg Airport was meant to replace all three existing airports in Berlin, unifying all air traffic entering the city. It will be the country’s third largest airport. After two decades of planning and construction, the airport was scheduled to open in 2011.
Now, however, in January 2013 on a field in southeast Berlin, construction workers are the only ones entering the shiny, new terminals. The opening date for the airport has been postponed five times now, the latest postponement announced on Jan. 6, each time creating a media furor.
The initial reason given was an unsafe fire safety system that needs fixing, but more issues have since accumulated. At the last meeting of the supervisory board, it was uncertain whether the airport would even open before 2015. The original price tag also jumped from 2.4 billion euros (US$3.2 billion) to at least 4.2 billion euros (US$5.6 billion).
