Berlin’s new airport running out of finance

The troubled Brandenburg airport, which should have been up and running two years ago, is now in deep financial trouble according to Der Spiegel online international.

A recent report by the European Court of Auditors is highly critical of the project and although much of the attention in the past has been on construction problems and technical difficulties the worry is now about a liquidity crisis and the extra financing needed to complete the structure.

The EU Investment Bank (EIB) provided €1 billion in 2009 for what it called one of the biggest infrastructure projects in Europe, in addition to what was approved by the German federal government and the state of Brandenburg and Berlin.

In 2012 the German authorities budgeted an additional €1.2 billion for the completion of the airport but it seems that the money is now running out.

The present CEO of Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH, Hartmut Mehdorn, who took over when the airport failed to open in June 2012, has indicated that an additional figure of €1.1 billion is needed although no details have been forthcoming.

According to the Spiegel report Mehdorn has been unable to give adequate figures for completion of the airport, which is supposed to replace Tegel when it is finally completed. It is estimated that the costs have gone from the €2 billion in 2006, when the project first started, to over €5 billion and are still rising.

The opening of the new airport was due in June 2012, but put off supposedly because of difficulties with the fire safety systems. It was then scheduled for March 2013 and then rescheduled for autumn 2013.

See previous article.