Berlin Brandenburg Airport: Will the German ‘ghost hub’ EVER open?

Renowned German punctuality doesn’t apply when it comes to the Berlin Brandenburg Airport. Its opening, originally scheduled for 2011, has been postponed several times and there are doubts it will finally open its doors in 2020.

The German capital has been waiting for a new international airport, to be named after the late politician Willy Brandt, since 2006, when the construction project was initially announced.

However, the grand opening was first pushed back to June 2012 over various problems, then delayed again and again almost every year. Now the cost of the ghost hub is believed to surpass €7 billion and counting, turning it into a costly embarrassment for Germany.

Last week, Germany’s Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, Andreas Scheuer, fueled further doubts over the completion of the transport hub, now scheduled for October 2020. The official voiced his concerns over the opening of the airport, in a letter to the operator of the project, and demanded clarification of the “uncertainties,” according to German media.