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Berlin Brandenburg airport 'on track' to open in October 2020

July 29th 2019

By The Local.de

After several years of delays, the controversial Berlin-Brandenburg Airport (BER) will open next fall following a last series technical tests, said its CEO Lütke Daldrup.

Starting on Monday, final technical tests were due to be carried out on the construction site in Schönefeld, in the south of the city.

“The tests in July are on track with our schedule until the opening of the BER in October 2020," Airport CEO Lütke Daldrup told dpa.

The so called ‘Wirk-Prinzip-Prüfung (Effect Principle Test) is an important prerequisite before the airport can receive its final acceptance from authorities.

BER’s original opening was planned for October 2011, but was postponed at the last minute due to concerns about fire safety.

Over 40 working days, or two months, the independent working group Rhineland Technical Inspectorate (TÜV Rheinland) will ensure that different parts of the airport function well together.

For example, the fire alarms and back-up electricity supply will be put to the test simultaneously. Before such systems were only carried out individually.

Various other construction shortcomings, technical problems and planning errors have already caused the opening of BER to be delayed six times.

The airport has also been plagued by corruption allegations and legal disputes revolving around the financing of the project.

In May 2018, the project was pushed back further after the airport announced plans to construct an additional terminal.

It is slated to accommodate six million more passengers per year, and increase the airport's total capacity to 28 million passengers.

Germany’s federal government owns 26 percent of the airport, and the rest is shared between the states of Berlin and Brandenburg.

Currently flight passengers in the region use either Berlin's Tegel airport or the old Berlin Schönefeld airport.