User:Hobbitschuster/Infobox

The BER Saga After reunification it became clear that the existing situation of Berlin airports - owing in part to partition and the situation of West-Berlin as a western aligned "island" in the middle of East German territory - could not stay the way it was. While the British shut down their airfield at Gatow pretty quickly and the theoretically still open but unused since 1952 airfield at Johannisthal was shut down with an official ceremony in 1995, there were still three airport to deal with - Tegel in the former French sector, Tempelhof in the former American sector and Schönefeld just outside the city limits, the former main airport of East Berlin. After a bit of wrangling and numerous proposals for relief airports far out of town (not unlike what Munich was doing in the early 1990s) a compromise involving Berlin, Brandenburg and the federal government was found: All existing airports were to be shut down and a new airport was to be built using the site and some infrastructure of Schönefeld Airport. Sure enough, Tempelhof Airport was shut down in 2008 ignoring a plebiscite to the contrary as it had failed to reach enough turnout. Tegel Airport, which had initially been built hurriedly during the Berlin airlift was to close "half a year after the new airport opens". The new airport - christened at first "Berlin Brandenburg International" but later renamed after former Berlin mayor and German chancellor Willy Brandt and widely known by its future IATA code "BER" - was to open at the latest in 2011. So tickets were sold for flights to BER, Berlin's most important Airline Air Berlin got ready to move to its new hub and guests were invited to a grand opening of BER. Only, the grand opening got cancelled in the last second, because apparently there was a "slight" problem with the smoke management system which would ensure breathable air in case of fire. So the opening date was moved. This was a minor embarrassment but far from the first time some opening date of a major project had to be moved. However, each subsequent date of opening has been likewise moved and while in 2019 the manager of the new airport is adamant that it'll open on time in 2020 many Berliners - scratch that, most Germans - are skeptical. In the meantime, Air Berlin went bankrupt leaving the airport which was to be Germany's third hub without a "home carrier", a referendum "urged" the governing mayor to "do what is in his power" to keep Tegel open indefinitely and the train station underneath BER was finished (a bit later than the original planned opening date, but who's counting?). To ensure that the unused station does not get moldy due to stagnant air, trains now serve the airport empty every once in a while, which also ensures driver familiarity with the route. Meanwhile the "Southern Runway" of BER is already operational and used for flights into Schönefeld, which leads some passengers taxiing to the old outdated and overtaxed SXF terminal built during GDR times to wonder why it says "Berlin Brandenburg Airport" on some of the signage visible from the window. Due to the ongoing delays of construction there is now also doubt whether the terminal will be able to handle the full passenger load once it opens and there have been calls to keep the old, outdated, overtaxed SXF terminal open "for a transitory period". Meanwhile the government planes used for official trips of the government are stationed in Bonn (the former seat of government) and have to fly empty to Berlin because there still isn't a usable government terminal at BER. This of course being another of those "transitory arrangements" which are bound to change any second now as BER will surely open tomorrow. And if not tomorrow, the day after that. This time for realsys.