Construction of the Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) took 14 years, three times longer than expected. During this period, the costs of the project increased by 2.5 times and the date of its opening was postponed six times. It finally happened on October 31, 2020, albeit not without problems. The deadline coincided with the new tightening of covid restrictions in Germany. Therefore, the number of take-off and landing operations has been limited and the opening date of Terminal 2 has been postponed by six months, because it would still be empty.
In its first month of operation, Berlin-Brandenburg sent 179,000 jobs. passengers and in December 2020 – almost 265 thousand. In the whole of 2021 there were less than 9.95 million passengers, of which 81%. in international relations. In total, over 105 thousand. take-off and landing operations. From January to the end of September this year, the number of passengers at the Berlin-Brandenburg airport reached 14.65 million passengers. For comparison: in the last year before the 2019 pandemic, Tegel and Schönefeld airports handled a total of 35 million travelers.
Berlin-Brandenburg. “For him all of Germany has become a laughing stock”
To understand the “unfortunate airport” phenomenon, let’s move on to 2006. It was then that construction of a new airport began to replace the overcrowded and worn Berlin-Tegel, Berlin-Schönefeld and Berlin-Tempelhof airports (closed in 2008). These plans were drawn up as early as 1991 after the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was also meant to be a symbol of the reunification of Germany and the still sharply divided Berlin. It is no coincidence that Willy Brandt was chosen as a patron.
The first planes from the Berlin-Brandenburg airport would take off five years after the first shovel on the construction site, in October 2011. This did not happen after one of the contractors went bankrupt. The inauguration date has been postponed to June 3, 2012. This has not happened either. And so until 31 October 2020.
How not to build an airport?
What went wrong? The simplest answer might be: everything. This is why Berlin-Brandenburg has become a prime example of how not to build a new airport.
Because of this airport, all of Germany, not just Berlin, has become a laughing stock – openly admitted Engelbert Lütke Daldrup, president of BER airport, at a press conference before the port’s inauguration.
Already in the implementation and construction phase in 2008-2012, about 150 changes were added to the project. One of the most bizarre was the one on the terminal building: it was decided to adapt it so that it could be used in the future the largest passenger aircraft in the world: the Airbus A380. And this despite the fact that there were no plans for the A380 flight from Berlin.
“This decision would only be justified if the Berlin-Brandenburg airport could become the third hub in Germany after Munich and Frankfurt, or the fifth hub in Europe, including Amsterdam and Copenhagen. It was an illusion that management decided to change the project. “. – wrote Genia Kostka and Jobst Fiedler in the book “Large infrastructure projects in Germany. Between ambitions and reality”, published in 2016.
Mistakes, lack of competence and supervision
The need to adapt the sleeves, also the changes in the layout of the floors and the introduction of other small changes have also resulted in changes in the fire protection system. And it was he who proved unusable and hindered the planned – and several subsequent attempts – to open a new airport to the maximum extent.
In 2014, the weekly “Stern” revealed that the chief designer of the fire-fighting system, Alfredo di Mauro, was not a qualified engineer, but only a draftsman.
A year later, “Tagesspiegel” reported that the opening scheduled for the second half of 2017 would not take place because 600 walls that did not meet fire protection requirements must be demolished and rebuilt. The CDU politician then hypothesized to raze the entire construction site and start all over again. The Brandenburg government, however, rejected this idea. Brandenburg government coordinator Rainer Bretschneider said implementing such a plan would increase costs and extend construction time.
The interestengineering.com portal estimates that before the first attempt at opening the inspectors found around 120,000 jobs. errors and deficiencies, of which – he notes – 170,000 km of incorrectly wired cables in and around the airport.
Errors were found not only in the design and execution, but also in the planning and management of the entire investment. There was no general contractor. As many as 50 different companies were responsible for the individual elements of the project. prof. In an interview with the BBC, Genia Kostka said that “the supervisory board was full of politicians who had no idea how to supervise the project”.
It took a total of nine years to solve the problems. However, failures were also reported after the opening of the Berlin-Brandenburg airport. When the first winter came, it was found that an icy wind was blowing inside the terminal, which brought the temperature down to 9 degrees Celsius.
The construction costs of the Berlin-Brandenburg airport were initially estimated at EUR 2.5 billion. In 2014 they were estimated at € 5.4 billion. In the end, they reached € 7.3 billion, three times as much as expected.
What is Berlin-Brandenburg Airport like? First impression
Berlin-Brandenburg Airport was built to serve up to 27 million passengers annually. The next expansion was to nearly double this number. It covers an area of 1470 ha.
Terminals 1 and 2 are located between two parallel runways. A similar hypothesis was adopted by the creators of the Central Communication Port. The former Schönefeld airport “functions” as Terminal 5 of BER airport. The quotes are not random. Is closed. Trains from Berlin first stop at the deserted “BER – Terminal 5” station, and the announcements warn passengers to continue, as there are no flights from Terminal 5. Terminals 3 and 4 can only be built in the future if a ‘expansion.
Trains arrive at a subway station with six tracks. Terminal 1 has 118 check-in counters, 36 security gates and eight baggage claim carousels. In addition, 25 exit gates, the so-called gates and 21 parking spaces accessible on foot. Terminal 2 acts as an “extension” of the security control area and offers additional space for shops and restaurants.
The interior of Terminal 1 makes a good first impression. Instead of the white, gray and metallic industrial furnishings, there are wood-paneled walls, sand tiles, brown upholstery on the armchairs. This creates a more welcoming and modern impression at the same time.
Above all, however, the Berlin-Brandenburg airport is a prime example of the fact that even a large and modern terminal is not enough for the airport’s success.
The new airport is not enough. A strong carrier is required
The inauguration of the Berlin-Brandenburg airport was symbolic. Two planes landed on two runways at the same time. The first in Lufthansa colors to fly from Munich. Second for low-cost easyJet from nearby Berlin-Tegel Airport: it closed a week later on November 7, 2020.
Berlin-Brandenburg Airport was to be a new hub for Air Berlin. Their history dates back to 1978 and in 2017 they were the second largest carrier in Germany, after Lufthansa. The strategy and plans for further activities were inextricably linked to the new hub. Air Berlin has been making losses every year since 2012. In August 2017, the airline filed for bankruptcy. The activity ended in October 2017.
Many years of delivery delays at Berlin Brandenburg Airport were one of the nails in Air Berlin’s coffin. Already in 2012, the carrier announced that it would sue the manager of the new port. As pasazer.com wrote at the time, the airline’s losses related to the delay in the delivery of the new hub “are difficult to estimate, but must certainly be counted in the tens of millions of euros”. In 2012 Air Berlin was forced to sell part of the fleet destined for the planned connections from the new port.
Berlin-Brandenburg will not become a hub. And that’s what it was built for
The new airport was therefore “inherited” by the Lufthansa Group which is headed by the German national carrier. And it’s not quite on the way, because it already has six of these hubs.
The presence of the Lufthansa Group at the Berlin-Brandenburg airport is very strong. In the summer of 2023 it is expected to offer around 40%. all connections to and from Berlin. However, these are connections with existing Lufthansa hubs in Frankfurt and Munich, Austrian Airlines in Vienna, Swiss in Zurich, Eurowings in Düsseldorf, Brussels Airlines in Brussels. On the map of transcontinental connections from Berlin-Brandenburg airport there are other carriers: the American airlines United and Delta fly to the United States, Qatar Airways to Doha and Singapore Airlines to Singapore. In this way, these lines provide passengers from Berlin with their home hubs.
Although the first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner (D-ABPA) in the Lufthansa fleet was christened two weeks with the name “Berlin” on the tarmac of Berlin-Brandenburg airport, it will not fly overseas from the German capital. On her long-haul maiden voyage, she flew from Frankfurt to Newark.
On the occasion of the ceremony, Franziska Giffey, mayor of Berlin, asked for the opening of transcontinental connections from Berlin, indicating a tourist magnet and an exhibition center in the capital. However, as Der Mobilitätsmanager writes, you “got a basket” from Carsten Spohr, CEO of the Lufthansa Group. He said that Germany is too small a country for a line to have three hubs.
