Amid Airport Controversy, Berlin’s Mayor Resigns

Berlin’s mayor, Klaus Wowereit, announced his resignation in the wake of criticism over costs-overruns and delays surrounding the Berlin Brandenburg Airport.

After three years and four delays preventing the opening of the Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit announced his resignation Tuesday. Wowereit will officially vacate the office December 11, two years prior to the end of his term.

With declining support from his political party, the Berlin Senate and the public, Wowereit stated he was leaving on his own accord. According to the Deutsche Welle, Wowereit said in a statement to reporters: “I go voluntarily and I am proud of my contribution to the positive development of this city.”

Over 25 million passengers fly into Berlin annually, and traffic is split between Berlin Schoenefeld Airport (SXF) and Berlin Tegel Airport (TXL). BER was designed to act as a solution to the congested traffic in Germany’s third-largest air travel marketplace. Original plans for the new airport date back to 1990, when Berlin became the capital of the reunified Germany.

In anticipation of BER’s pending construction, Berlin Tempelhof Airport (THF) closed in 2008. BER’s ultimate goal is to replace Tegel and Schoenefeld airports completely. Air Berlin, Germanwings and easyJet all signed on early to move their base operations to BER once the airport was functional.

According to the BER website, the new airport will be able to accommodate up to 27 million passengers annually, with expansion options that could increase annual passenger capability to 45 million. When open, BER will also feature a runway nearly 2.5 miles in length and 85 aircraft parking stands.

On an anticipated budget of $3.73 billion, BER was supposed to be open for business by June 2, 2012. However, due to a series of construction failures, mismanagement and other collaborating factors, BER may not open until 2016 at the earliest.

The original opening date was pushed back prior to BER’s topping out ceremony. Project managers announced that deadlines could not be met due to the bankruptcy of the construction planning company. A new opening was set for 2012, with airlines and vendors setting timetables around the date.

Less than a month before the airport was scheduled to open, though, the supervisory committee once again delayed the opening, this time without announcing a new date. Officials blamed concerns over the fire safety and smoke exhaust systems. The botched opening date came at great expense to the airlines and service providers, who had to reverse actions and move equipment back to Berlin’s other airports. By the beginning of 2013, BER’s opening was pushed back indefinitely.

As mayor of Berlin, Wowereit served as head of the airport supervisory council, and was in charge of overseeing the construction and opening of BER. He served as chairman of the committee until January 2013, and he resigned after the fourth postponement was announced.

Due to BER’s construction problems and continued design failures identified through the inspection process, increased scrutiny came from both the public and fellow politicians. Although Wowereit successfully survived a confidence in 2013 — around the same time he resigned from the airport supervisory council — The Guardian reported that his future within the political party was in question.

According to the BBC, Wowereit downplayed the airport being the main factor behind his resignation. “Some still think it was only a question of [the airport],” he said. “But no, we’ve had to get through several difficult times here.”

In an article published by Berlin’s The Local in January, Wowereit said that the airport would not open at all in 2014. Now, billions over budget and with no end in sight, the earliest that BER could be operational is 2015. Comments made by the airport supervisory council to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung suggest it could take even longer, due to major problems in the ventilation systems.

Correction: Over 25 million fly into Berlin airports annually. An earlier version erroneously stated that figure was daily.

[Photo: iStock]