It was almost ten years late and far too expensive. But now the German airport Berlin Brandenburg Willy Brandt or BER is finally open. At 2 pm on Saturday, the first plane with passengers landed.

There was no talk of a grand opening with pomp and show. The choice of a quiet opening is not only due to the corona pandemic. The airport construction has been fraught with scandals.

Construction started in 2006 and the airport was actually supposed to be completed in 2011. The idea was that it would cost 2.7 billion euros, equivalent to 28 billion Swedish kronor.

But that's not how it turned out. Everything that could go wrong with a construction project went wrong. And now that the airport is open, the price tag has ballooned to just over seven billion euros.

Some climate activists had also come to protest against air traffic.

The first departures are scheduled for Sunday. BER will replace Tegel, which closes on November 8.

Source: TT