The unfinished Willy Brandt Airport needs another financial injection

Berlin - The under-construction Berlin Brandenburg Airport needs another financial injection. Its operators are now requesting a bank loan of 1.1 billion euros (29.7 billion CZK), which would be fully guaranteed by the federal government and the governments of Berlin and Brandenburg. Without additional funds, there is a risk that the airport will not open even by the end of next year.

"We need this money to continue construction," said a spokesman for the airport. According to him, the existing funds will last for several more months, but it is necessary to secure long-term financing as soon as possible. Without additional money, construction may stop, which would lead to further delays in the opening of the airport that was supposed to be operational since 2011.

The loan is expected to be repayable within ten years and will be fully guaranteed by the airport's stakeholders, which are the federal and two state governments. However, due to this guarantee, the financing will also have to be assessed by the European Commission, which is examining whether it constitutes illegal state aid that would disadvantage other airports. Its decision is expected in the summer.

If the airport operators secure the funds, the total project costs will rise to 6.9 billion euros (186.5 billion CZK). Of this, 5.3 billion euros (143 billion CZK) is attributed to the construction itself, while the rest will cover interest payments on loans and maintenance costs, which are particularly high. The airport has had idle baggage claim conveyors and escalators since 2012 because otherwise they would not be operable after such a long downtime.

At the start of construction, the budget estimated the airport construction costs at 2.5 billion euros (67.5 billion CZK). It was originally scheduled to open in 2011, but the date has been postponed four times. One of the main reasons was inadequate fire safety measures.

Berlin Brandenburg Airport is expected to become the third largest air hub in Germany, after Frankfurt am Main and Munich. It should replace the Berlin airports Tegel and Schönefeld, which no longer meet current technical needs. It is expected to handle around 27 million passengers annually. However, aviation experts warn that the airport's capacity will be insufficient by the time it opens, as Tegel and Schönefeld already handle a total of 27 million passengers per year.