EUROPE – If Gerard Depardieu is causing embarrassment in Paris over his tax and passport status, then the German reputation for efficiency is being damaged by the farce around the construction of a new Berlin airport, now delayed again.
The German capital’s Mayor has admitted plans for the opening of a new city ‘Brandenburg Airport’ are to be delayed until 2014, more than two years later than originally planned. Mayor Klaus Wowereit also resigned as head of the supervisory board of the airport. He had previously promised the project would be completed in 2007.
Meanwhile Air Berlin has announced that its Chief Executive Hartmut Mehdorn, is to step down with immediate effect. He is replaced by Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, former head of British carrier bmi.
Germany’s second largest carrier had made losses of €102m in the first three quarters of last year, and Air Berlin had increased its schedule anticipating the opening of the new airport last June.
The new airport had been planned to take over from the capital’s ageing Tegel and Schoenefeld airports. The aim is for it eventually to handle up to 27m passengers a year.
German newspaper Bild says fire safety issues with some of the airport building may mean they have to be pulled down and rebuilt. The BBC, however, speculated that the problem is with the baggage handling systems.
What is sure is that the cost of the project has risen from an initial €2bn to over €4bn.
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