Quote: "BER is not the only farce... whilst DXB extension opened on time, Maskat in Oman was supposed to be open 2012 with a new date of 2014 ($7bil project),

New Doha International Airport in Qatar is now 5 years behind, at the beginning of 2012 the 12th Dec 2012 was the supposed opening date, now it looks like summer 2013 with no firm date."

A lesson here for anyone seriously considering the "Silver Island" option....

Well it depends on how well the project is managed, one good example is HKG (Yes it was delayed one year, but the orginal timeline was far shorter than what could be posibble at the time for a project of that size)

Fairdealfrank
Worked on HKG and yes it was late by 1 year, and as has been stated , there are a number of late running projects world wide concerned with aviation, although I, from my limited experiance of projects of this type would say somtimes the clients programes are a tad unrealistic. However in these times very few contractors will be honest with their clients, as they would possibly lose the job to the contractor who said no problem with dates. Also those in the business know that these projects always have variations / changes which allow extensions to program. Better to win contract, and if a problem 3-5 years down line see you in court if that is the case. Not saying its right, and a Mr Latham argued succesfully against it in the 1990,s when partnering became all the rage, but we are currently back in the sh1t in the old dog eat dog scenario which will result / has led to poor / late bld projects and some unhappy clients. Time to dust of that Latham Report and re invent the wheel again !.:ugh:

Off soap box goodnight all.

Or PTDRUNe! I think there are quite a few of us ferroequineologists here!

BTW, Chiltern certainly operate to "German" punctuality standards, but they have always been one of the leading networks, and iirc SBB where involved at one stage too.

As for BER, it is my understanding the masterplan is for 50m ppa, so there is plenty of room for expansion, which they ought to think about now given the current delays!

Quote: "I'm not entirely sure this is a DB thread (perhaps there should be a new section "Railways, Stations and Routes"!)."

Quote: "Or PTDRUNe! I think there are quite a few of us ferroequineologists here!"

Are we talking integrated transport here?....or is that a flock of pigs flying overhead?

BTW - does anyone know what is actually the problem ?

We have heard about the fire detection & suppression - surely something that can be fixed within a reasonable time frame ? Or is it a conceptual issue (i.e. something that goes beyond execution) ?

Good article (in German) here from Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung - although wonder if they might be slightly biased in favour of Frankfurt airport
Use Google Translate if like me you're German isn't that great

Berliner Flughafen: Die geheime Mängelliste - Flughafen Berlin-Brandenburg - FAZ

Google Translate

BER delayed opening
 

Not a PFI deal is it?

verschlimmbesserung
 

In German there is a word: "verschlimmbesserung" (think that's correctly spelt). It means an improvement that makes things worse.

Currently there's not a politician in the State, City or Federal government in Berlin willing to give a new opening date.

Case of "3 x bitten, 4th time shy"!

BER not before 2014 !
 

Just passed through Berlin this we and was amazed that significant improvement works were underway both in Tegel and Schonefeld. Doesn't bode well for a prompt opening of the new airport !

Delayed opening of BER
 

Shouldn't have been in such a hurry to close THF!

So why the local authorities have been so eagerly destroying all possible alternatives in the entire Brandenburg? As this German article says:The [formerly planned] expansion of the old military airports Neuhardenberg and Eberswalde-Finow for the budget airline Ryanair had been banned by Brandenburg, in order to avoid competition for BER. Eberswalde-Finow is now no longer available for commercial aircraft, because the runway was halved in order to construct a solar power plant there.

What significant improvement works are under way in Schonefeld?

For Tegel see this article.

For SXF some improvements in terminal B (apparently increase of the security check capacity ?):

http://i.imgur.com/eAUPbxfl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/zHDfeKOl.jpg

Lots of money spent on airports that where supposed to be closed years ago...

An interesting article regarding a possible partial opening later this year involving easyJet.

berlin airport brandenburg quick opening 2013

Wing of Berlin Airport BER May Open in October 2013 - SPIEGEL ONLINE

And here also,

It would make sense.. the rumours have been floating around for a while.

Interesting idea but even for Easyjet customers you need to have some services (food & drink, car rental, security, etc) that I would not expect to see duplicated between the new and old buildings... Also why spend money in June (see above pictures) for the "old" Easyjet terminal if it is to move in October - doesn't make much sense in my view...

Heard that keeping the unfinished building in shape is costing approx 20mn€ / month - seems pretty steep even by German standards...

Perhaps a minor consideration, but would politics really allow the big new airport in the new German capital to be launched by a British LCC while Lufthansa / Germanwings and Air Berlin remain at Tegel / Schoenefeld ?

Mehdorn who is now in charge ran Air Berlin and in earlier days Deutsche Bahn, and is not likely to be awed by the politicians, who do not know what to do anyway. So it will be interesting if any other airlines increase their presence at SXF before the official opening.

The road, railway and car park infrastructure does not appear to be the problem, bits of the terminal seem to be the main issue. I can see no reason not to operate charter or ethnic flights from there as well. Obviously Air Berlin cannot operate their hub easily across two airports. But if some of the others like Germanwings moved back to SXF it would reduce the pressure on Tegel.

Mehdorn would like to keep Tegel open for some time in paralel after SXF opens. The politicians oppose this. But if SXF has not really opened then nobody can argue, can they?