Turbulence For Brandenburg

As Berlin’s new airport faces hurdles, the opening remains uncertain. 

THE ROAD TO OPENING has been rough for Willy Brandt Berlin Brandenburg International Airport. The airport, named for the Nobel Prize-winning former mayor of Berlin, is currently under construction — a state it has been in since 2006. While it was meant to exemplify the destination’s growth and innovation, it has been fraught with financial, political and logistical challenges since it was first proposed in 1991 following German reunification.

Located next to the current Berlin Schönefeld Airport (SXF), 11 miles south of Berlin, Berlin Brandenburg was originally meant to replace the aging and too-small Berlin Tegel Airport (TXL) and build on Schönefeld Airport by extending and adding runways and a new passenger terminal, initially designed to serve 27 million passengers per year, with a future goal of accommodating 50 million. This would make BER the third-busiest airport in Germany, surpassing Düsseldorf (DUS).