Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER): 9 Years Late, EUR 5.9B vs EUR 2B Budget
Berlin's new airport was scheduled to open on 30 October 2011. It finally opened on 31 October 2020. The budget at the start of construction in 2006 was about EUR 2bn (Brandenburg state audit office); the Berlin Senate put the construction cost at EUR 5.9bn in 2022, about 195% more. Higher figures of EUR 7bn and above circulate in press coverage; we have not found them in an official document.
EUR 5.9B
construction cost (Berlin Senate, 2022)
9 years
behind schedule
+195%
over the EUR 2B budget of 2006
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2006 | Construction begins; budget EUR 2bn; opening planned October 2011 |
| 2010 | First opening delay announced (to June 2012) |
| May 2012 | Opening cancelled four weeks before launch, fire protection system fails inspection |
| 2013-2017 | Five further delays announced; cost rises past EUR 5bn |
| 2019 | Building cleared for occupancy after rebuilds of cabling, fire protection, automation |
| October 2020 | Airport opens, 9 years late |
What went wrong
- Fire-protection automation: The single biggest cause of the 2012 cancellation. The bespoke smoke-extraction system, designed to push smoke down through the floor rather than up through the roof, was unprecedented in commercial aviation and never passed certification as designed.
- Public-sector general contractor: The airport company chose to act as its own general contractor rather than appoint a single industrial GC. Coordination across hundreds of subcontractors became uncontrollable.
- Mid-build scope changes: Capacity targets were revised upward repeatedly after construction had begun, requiring rebuilds of finished sections.
- Political board governance: The supervisory board comprised politicians without industrial-construction expertise.
Sources
- Berlin House of Representatives, Drucksache 19/13638 (2 November 2022): construction cost of EUR 5.9 billion. Read 8 October 2026.
- Landesrechnungshof Brandenburg, audit communication of 10 July 2015: budget of about EUR 2 billion when construction began in September 2006, opening planned for 30 October 2011 (extract published by the Green group in the Brandenburg Landtag). Read 8 October 2026.
- Berlin House of Representatives BER investigative committee (4th and 5th terms).