A new twist in the Berlin Brandenburg Airport situation: BusinessWeek and other sources are reporting that the new airport will not open until next spring.
Berlin Brandenburg Willy Brandt Airport, which reportedly cost around $3.2 billion to build, will now begin services on March 17, 2013, following the completion of fire-safety tests that had already led to the postponement of the originally planned June 3, 2012 start date. You can read more about the postponment, and its impact on airlines, here: http://www.travelagentcentral.com/germany/berlin-brandenburg-airport-delay-impacts-airlines-35205
Air Berlin Chief Executive Officer Hartmut Mehdorn released a statement calling the delay unacceptable, and claiming that it would “result in irreparable damage to the image of Berlin as an airport hub...The delay of the opening by many months can’t be explained any more by simple fire-safety measures.”
