Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER): 9 Years Late, EUR 7B Over Budget
Berlin's new airport was scheduled to open on 30 October 2011. It finally opened on 31 October 2020. The cost grew from a 2006 estimate of about EUR 2bn to a final outturn of about EUR 7.3bn.
EUR 7.3B
final cost
9 years
behind schedule
+265%
over original budget
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
- Bundesrechnungshof (German Federal Court of Auditors) reports on BER
- Berlin House of Representatives BER investigative committee (4th and 5th terms).