Originally Posted by mattking2000

HKG spent £13 billion to build a third runway by extending the island it's on (through reclamation of 650 hectares), in addition to improving its automated people mover system and increase efficiency of its baggage handling by over 300%. Different countries have different labour rates, material costs, staging/hoarding requirements, ground conditions, etc.

Berlin built a new airport on an unused piece of land in the middle of nowhere disrupting (more or less) no one and nothing, but the construction of an additional runway to complement existing infrastructure requires a more delicate approach