Berlin’s new international airport will finally open next month - but no celebration is expected because it will welcome travellers nearly a decade later than originally planned.
Construction of Berlin Brandenburg Airport began in 2006 and was supposed to be completed in 2011.
However, a series of construction blunders and technical issues pushed the opening date back by nine years, while the project ran billions of euros over budget.
Germans, admired for their efficiency around the world, viewed the airport as a national embarrassment.
They watched in disbelief as a litany of problems were revealed one after the other.
Mishaps included 90km of cable installed incorrectly, 4,000 wrongly-numbered doors, escalators that were too short and a faulty emergency line to the fire department.
Even the airport’s roof was double its authorised weight.
There was also a corruption scandal involving one of the airport’s former construction firms.
Setting an opening date of October 31, airport boss Engelbert Luetke-Daldrup admitted the project had made Berlin a “laughing stock” and said “there’s no reason to boast”.
"There is no big party. We are just going to open,” he said. "We German engineers were ashamed.”
On its first day, German carrier Lufthansa and British no-frills airline EasyJet will take off and land from Terminal 1.
A few shops and a tourism office will also open their doors, but other terminals will have to wait until next year to serve passengers due to a drop in demand because of coronavirus.
While there won’t be a celebration for the new airport, there will be a party for the one it is replacing.
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A visitor takes a picture with a mobile phone in Terminal 2 of Willy Brandt Berlin-Brandenburg Airport (BER) on September 25, 2020 in Schönefeld, Germany. Getty Images -
A brand-new, unused body scanner is seen in the security check area of Terminal 2 at Willy Brandt Berlin-Brandenburg Airport. Getty Images -
A lettering reading 'please stay behind the line' next to a conveyor belt at the arrival area is seen during a press tour at the Terminal 2 of upcoming Willy Brandt Berlin-Brandenburg Airport. EPA -
Aerial view of the future airport Berlin Brandenburg "Willy Brandt". dpa via AP -
A general view from the terminal during a trial run of the baggage system at Berlin Brandenburg Airport on July 28, 2020. Getty Images -
A woman looks at the departure board during a trial run of the baggage system at Berlin Brandenburg Airport. Getty Images -
A general view of the airport terminal during a trial run of the baggage system at Berlin Brandenburg Airport. Getty Images -
Employees work at the unfinished Berlin Brandenburg Airport on May 8, 2019. Getty Images -
Employees work at the unfinished Berlin Brandenburg Airport. Getty Images -
Visitors walk through a wing of the main departures hall at the Berlin Brandenburg Airport on April 10, 2018. Getty Images -
A worker stands on a raised platform inside the main departures hall at the Berlin Brandenburg Airport. Getty Images -
Two workers stand on the tarmac next to the main arrivals and departures hall of the unfinished Berlin Brandenburg Airport on November 4, 2014. Getty Images -
The main terminal of the construction site of the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport stands under rainy weather on April 27, 2013. Getty Images -
The main terminal building of the still-unopened Berlin Brandenburg Airport stands on March 8, 2013. Getty Images -
The entrance place of the construction site of the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport stands at dusk on January 8, 2013. Getty Images -
The Lufthansa first-class lounge and a check-in counter are seen on the construction site of the Berlin Brandenburg Airport on September 11, 2012. Getty Images -
The main terminal and the control tower stand illuminated at the construction site of the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport on August 15, 2012. Getty Images -
A worker installs an awning in the departures area at Berlin Brandenburg Airport on May 4, 2012. Getty Images -
A worker passes boards displaying flight information from nearby airports as a test to make sure they are running correctly in the departures area of Berlin Brandenburg Airport. Getty Images -
An air traffic controller looks out onto the tarmac following the official inauguration of the new control tower at Berlin Brandenburg Airport on April 25, 2012. Getty Images -
A worker walks on the tarmac at Berlin Brandenburg Airport on March 20, 2012. Getty Images -
View of the construction site inside the main terminal of the new Airport Berlin Brandenburg International BBI is pictured on March 2, 2011. Getty Images -
An aircraft shaped crown is lifted by a crane at the main terminal during the roofing ceremony at the new Airport Berlin Brandenburg International BBI on May 7, 2010. Getty Images -
From left: Rainer Schwarz, Hartmut Mehdorn (Deutsche Bahn), Mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit, Brandenburg State Governor Matthias Platzeck, Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee and Thomas Weyer (CEO of BBI) attend the ground-breaking ceremony at the new Berlin-Brandenburg International airport (BBI) at Schoenefeld on September 5, 2006 in Berlin, Germany. Getty Images
Tegel, Berlin’s main airport, will shut on November 8 following the departure of an Air France flight to Paris.
Tegel welcomed more than 24 million passengers in 2019, making it the fourth busiest airport in Germany after Frankfurt, Munich and Dusseldorf.
Beloved for its retro look, it was built in just 90 days by German workers with French and American Allied forces during the Soviet blockade of Berlin in 1948-1949.
Together with Tempelhof airport, which became a public park after it closed in 2008, Tegel supported the Allied airlift operations to supply the population of West Berlin with food.
Berlin will continue to be served by Schoenefeld airport, to the city’s south-east.
