According to Bild Zeitung, not the most reliable of sources, the opening of BER is expected in autumn 2019 at the earliest.
http://www.bild.de/politik/inland/flugh ... .bild.html

For a long time, I have wondered whether or not BER is a real airport, or someone's idea of a real airport, or an imaginary airport! If BER was an airline, it would be like Baltia / USGlobal or Air Gumbo, both of which have current web sites. There is another web site that is keeping track of the (lack of) progress of construction at BER. The site is in German, but my Google Translation handles it very well. Here is the site's addy:

http://www.istderberschonfertig.de/

This project is purposely made to give subsidies to Germany main companies like Bosch and others, so that they can make nice profits on tax payers costs. There cant be any other explanation for so much incompentency.

I fear there is something basically wrong with the building or concept? Otherwise anything should be repaired and ready after several years and billions more. Maybe this is the politicians soft way to say it will never open for some -unknown to the public- major reason? Practical building pace and progress seems to be very low this year. It's not because of lack of money.

Delta777Jet wrote:

This project is purposely made to give subsidies to Germany main companies like Bosch and others, so that they can make nice profits on tax payers costs. ....

US subsidies paranoia here as well?

“Never ascribe to malice that which can adequately be explained by incompetence.”

That is two years from now, at "the earliest". "BER" is not even an Airport. The runways are ready, the Train Station and ancilliary buildungs as well. What is not ready is a stupid terminal building.

But I am absolutely sure that Berlin will be able to top anything that has gone wrong before. Once the "BER" terminal opens, the law is, that TXL must Close 6 months sharp after the opening date. I bet that "BER" will prove inefficient and unable to cope with traffic which will leave "BER" with the simiar inadequate SXF terminal )which by then will also enjoy tthe BER Designator.

In short, a 3,5 Million plus surroundings City with a traffic potential of 40 Million p.a. will have totally inadequateairport capacity.

Get more Popcorn and nachos......................

PanHAM wrote:

That is two years from now, at "the earliest". "BER" is not even an Airport. The runways are ready, the Train Station and ancilliary buildungs as well. What is not ready is a stupid terminal building.

This is the part that I just cannot wrap my head around. All of the problems are predicated around a ridiculously ostentatious terminal building. As delays continue to mount, one would think there would become a point by which it would be easier and/or cheaper to partially or fully tear down the building and start over.

By comparison, all the roasting that DEN got over opening 16 months late seems unjust!

Noshow wrote:

I fear there is something basically wrong with the building or concept? Otherwise anything should be repaired and ready after several years and billions more. Maybe this is the politicians soft way to say it will never open for some -unknown to the public- major reason? Practical building pace and progress seems to be very low this year. It's not because of lack of money.

There is something basically wrong with the building. The designer didn't like chimneys so he designed an air ventilation system that pushed air sideways, but can't cope with the fact that air rises and in a fire power might be lost. There is something basically wrong with project management. It is being run by politicians and not by specialists.

Reference: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features ... arrassment

But they had years to sort that one out? I think some new ventilation got moved on the rooftops now. But it looks like they don't make ANY progress anymore.
In the meantime what they need changes by passenger numbers (beyound maximum expected) and type of traffic (way more lowcost). It seems there is really everything going wrong that could go wrong.

Whatever is wrong with the building, that could be corrected rather quick.

What is fundamently wrong in Germany is the planning law. There is absolutely no room for flexibility, something like adapting the current Airports in Berlin with real traffic numbers is virtually impossible. Legislature could have changed that 5 years ago, but that law would have been challenged by the NGOs, who are crippling this Country, as well. They take this through 4 ot 5 Courts, up the ladder and don't give a damn what the rest of the world thinks about us.

This has to be changed by the new government at the very beginning of the new legislature period.

There's an interesting book published by BER's Architect Meinhard von Gerkan who was fired when politicians were looking for a culprit. It describes pretty well the desaster and some of the reasons why BER is what it is right now. Unfortunately the book is only available in german.

That is the same gentleman that successfully built both Tegel airport and the Berlin railway main station before. He has a proven record so the BER problem must be something else. I think they messed things up by changing the plans over and over again while they were already working on building the airport. This is how they lost track of everything and now the true status got lost. Nobody knows what's missing and if things are built according to permits.

Skyliner website also now saying Oct 2019 is the BBI opening date.

The BER soap opera continues unabated unabated...

So Air Berlin will never operate from this airport.

KarelXWB wrote:

So Air Berlin will never operate from this airport.

Maybe it will in a new forrm/ownership?

My favorite part of the whole BER saga is this

Schwarz also appointed an emergency task force to propose solutions that would allow the airport to open on time. In March 2012 the group submitted its stopgap: Eight hundred low-paid workers armed with cell phones would take up positions throughout the terminal. If anyone smelled smoke or saw a fire, he would alert the airport fire station and direct passengers toward the exits. Never mind that the region’s cell phone networks were notoriously unreliable, or that some students would be stationed near the smoke evacuation channels, where in a fire temperatures could reach 1,000F.
It was, says Martin Delius, “an idiotic plan.” Delius is a physicist and member of Berlin’s parliament who has conducted an extensive investigation of the airport’s troubled infrastructure. “They thought that this would at least eliminate the need for wiring,” he says, “because [the spotters] could see with their own eyes if there is a mass of smoke lower than 6 feet above the ground.”

From this article: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features ... arrassment

Construction work of the much-delayed Berlin Brandenburg International Airport (BER) is expected to be completed by the end of August 2018. However, intensive testing procedures will be necessary before BER can become fully operational to all airlines. No official opening date has been announced.

What do you think?

Hopefully this is going to happen, finally.

http://atwonline.com/airports-routes/berlin-brandenburg-airport-sets-new-completion-date-2018

I'm not going to hold my breath.

The article is mostly behind a paywall, so I don't know what "official" is giving us the new completion time...but I'll bet it is some politician that is full of himself...and full of BS.

It's quite possible.

When the airport construction was first completed (and already way over budget) that was in the beginning of the economical crisis. We all know the countless number of issues there were with it back then. Of course they could all be fixed, but there was one problem: lack of money. In order to fix those issues they needed money which they didn't have, so they just left the airport as it was without fixing the issues. For years hardly anything was done there, there was no money to do anything. If there had been money the airport could have opened years ago.

Now the economical crisis is over, the economy is well on track and there is money again. Now these issues can finally be fixed. But will it be enough? Anyway, they can make a big step in the right direction.

I recently flew from SXF to BGO and we used one of the new runways for our takeoff, which was parallel to the new BER terminal. This allowed us to get a great view of the building and surrounding facilities. It also led to a 35 minute delay in our departure, as it took that long to taxi around SXF to get to that runway.

What a disaster of an airport. With all the low-cost growth in Berlin, I think that BER will not be able to handle all the passengers that the demand will bring to the airport.

Air Berlin sadly is cutting all long haul routes from BER, so even if the airport opens the home carrier of the city won't fly outside Europe. Sad to here.

Cointrin330 wrote:

I recently flew from SXF to BGO and we used one of the new runways for our takeoff, which was parallel to the new BER terminal. This allowed us to get a great view of the building and surrounding facilities. It also led to a 35 minute delay in our departure, as it took that long to taxi around SXF to get to that runway.

Only one new runway was built which was the one that you used as the original runway at SXF still exists, both are parallel to the terminal building at BER.

I can imagine that once the terminal at BER is finally opened that the terminal at SXF will be retained for low cost airlines and renamed BER Terminal 2, although earlier plans were for the German Air Force government aircraft were to be based there but those plans could easily be changed.

Cunard wrote:

I can imagine that once the terminal at BER is finally opened that the terminal at SXF will be retained for low cost airlines and renamed BER Terminal 2, although earlier plans were for the German Air Force government aircraft were to be based there but those plans could easily be changed.

They should refurbish it first! SXF is a shit hole. That smell coming from the Burger King over half of the terminal and people eating their Whoopers on the floor because there is nowhere to seat. It looks more an hurricane shelter than an airport.

I wonder if that SXF terminal is compliant with health and safety regulations. Overcrowded, smelly... terrible.

I totally agree with you regarding the terminal at SXF and it would definitely need a major refurbishment if it was ever retained as a low cost Terminal 2.

But I was just making a point regarding it's possible future as part of the wider airport at BER.

It is ironic that AB and all of its long haul will be dead and buried.

Could the new airport have helped AB? Irony of life

It would have helped very much. It would have been "their" Hub making the oneworld-membership working better for them. They had the whole southern BER pier plus a lease for some strategic corner lounge with separate VIP-entry.

People should stop talking about BER being an airport. The disaster is the terminal. The airport is operating under the SXF moniker. The south runway is used as it is, because the north runway, the southern of the two original runways, is repaved.

PanHAM wrote:

In short, a 3,5 Million plus surroundings City with a traffic potential of 40 Million p.a. will have totally inadequateairport capacity.

Get more Popcorn and nachos......................

Just like London approving only 1 new runway which would like come online in 20 years if ever... This is government failing its citizens to the max. In truth, Berlin probably would need double the floor space by the time it opens or space for an additional 40 non-contact gates. This shatters every belief around German engineering and precision I had.

By the way, wouldn't be get more schnitzel and sausage?

I humbly propose that they test the effectiveness of the fire suppression / smoke abatement system for the terminal by actually setting the building on fire.
If it works, we know it works, and, if it doesn't work, well, it doesn't work, and we should let the fire to consume it completely.

Either way, it's a win.

hz747300 wrote:

PanHAM wrote:

In short, a 3,5 Million plus surroundings City with a traffic potential of 40 Million p.a. will have totally inadequateairport capacity.

Get more Popcorn and nachos......................

Just like London approving only 1 new runway which would like come online in 20 years if ever... This is government failing its citizens to the max. In truth, Berlin probably would need double the floor space by the time it opens or space for an additional 40 non-contact gates. This shatters every belief around German engineering and precision I had.

By the way, wouldn't be get more schnitzel and sausage?

My very respectful view on German engineering is they are great (and possibly the best) at serial production.

Prototypes (which most buildings are) are not where they excel...for prototypes you need a huge deal of flexibility/compromise/adaption - doesn't come easy if the national expertise is centred around high quality in serial production...

We live in the EU single market, such Projects are subject to EU Tenders. Our public Administration below political Party influence is not bad either. However, once it Comes to political influence, we are dealing with People who are voted into public Office and may have no qualifications whatsoever, The Desaster we are discussing here goes on the account of two such politicians, Wowereit and i forgfot the Name of the other. The main failure goes onto the account of Wowereit, has been mentionedd here numerous times.

German Engineering can be as good as it is, when you put unqualified idiots in Charge of a Company and they run that as a leisure side Job when their main Job actually leaves no room for that, the Desaster is programmed. Don't blame engineers and all People who know about aviation for that. Chosing the moniker BER for a new terminal building at SXF while it acually should stay as a City Designator, like NYC or LON is another example that they did not know what thy are doing. BBI would have been perfect, Standing for Berlin Brandenburg International. Could have been bought from the Indian small City for small Money and would have left all Options open.