Berlin's ill-fated new airport finally ready for take-off

Nine years late and eye-wateringly over budget, the Berlin region's new international airport will finally open on Saturday -- in the middle of a global pandemic that has crippled air travel. "We are ready for take-off!" insists the management team at the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), set to replace the German capital's ageing Tegel and Schoenefeld airports. But the mood is one of relief rather than celebration. Ever since construction began on BER in 2006, the project has been dogged by one failure after another, becoming a financial black hole and a national laughing stock -- not exactly an example of German efficiency. The airport, located in the south-east of the capital, was originally due to open in 2011. Now it is opening its doors in the middle of the worst crisis the aviation industry has ever seen, as Covid-19 restrictions continue to suffocate air travel. And as if that were not enough, there's also the climate crisis: pressure group Extinction Rebellion is planning acts of "civil disobedience" on the opening day to protest against the impact of aviation on global warming. Against that backdrop, "We will simply open, we will not have a party," according to Engelbert Luetke Daldrup, president of the airport's management company. Lufthansa and EasyJet will be the first two airlines to touch down on the tarmac of what will be Germany's third-largest airport, after Frankfurt and Munich. A few days before the opening, around 200 staff were busy disinfecting the 360,000-square-metre Terminal 1. Some 100 alcoholic hand gel dispensers have been installed and robot vacuum cleaners hum over the floors. The airport has been designed to welcome 27m passengers a year, but in November it will see only 20% of usual air traffic thanks to the pandemic. Terminal 2 won't open until spring 2021. Story has more.<br/>