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The new Berlin Brandenburg Airport will now open later this year (Photo: Berlin Airports) |
GERMANY. The opening of the new Berlin Brandenburg International Airport has been deferred until later in the year. It was originally set to open on 3 June.
Berlin Airports said that “technical issues concerning fire protection installations” made a deferral necessary. The new airport will now open “after the summer holiday period” though no date was given.
The airport company said in a statement: “Following several crisis meetings over the weekend, the project leadership team has reached the conclusion that the completion and subsequent acceptance tests of certain safety-relevant installations was no longer possible by the planned opening date.
“The airport operating company therefore decided to change course 27 days before the planned opening to prevent any potential shortcomings in the area of safety.”
The new airport will house 150 commercial outlets – including 39 food & beverage concessions and 20 service units.
The key feature of the central airside Market Place will be a 1,800sq m walk-through outlet, operated by Gebr Heinemann.
The retailer reacted to the news of the deferred opening, saying: “We were surprised by the news announcing the delay. Having been a partner of Berlin Airports for many years, we’ll make the best of the situation and adapt to the new plan.
“Our work on the Heinemann Duty Free Shops is on schedule. We are ready to carry out the move at a later date at any time. Until then, we will naturally continue to offer our customers our complete range of services at both of our current airport locations – Berlin Schönefeld and Berlin Tegel.
“Both our existing as well as our newly hired employees in Berlin will be deployed at Schönefeld and Tegel up until the new moving date.”
