Your Flight has a Nine Year Delay: The Opening of Berlin's New Major Airport is Overshadowed by the Corona Pandemic and Financial Problems

On October 31st 2020, the chaos of construction and planning that has damaged the reputation of German engineering in the world seems to come to an end: The new airport is finished and can be opened. The economy of the capital region should benefit from the new infrastructure, with the Brandenburg region around it already booming before opening of the airport. From 2012 to 2019, the number of passengers in Berlin grew by 41 per cent to 35.6 million, so that the new major airport was heading for a take-off under full load at the beginning of the year. But with the Covid 19 pandemic, air traffic has collapsed and the already difficult financial situation of the mega-project, which has cost 6.5 billion euros until now, threatens to get out of hand. In the books of the airport company, its infrastructure is worth about 5 billion euros - but it is unlikely to be worth much more than half that amount. A recapitalization by the shareholders seems inevitable. The involvement of private investors is possible, but also requires a prior correction of the financial imbalance.