Czaja urged the German senate to “face up to the new competition” and to quickly finish work on BER (which is meant to be Germany’s flagship airport) and to invest a further EUR 1.1 billion in Tegel airport.
“We still have an advantage over competition from Warsaw,” Czaja told “Berliner Zeitung”. He warned that if Germany closes Tegel and does not complete BER on time, they will lose their advantage.
Czaja proposed that all European flights should take off and land at Tegel. This would let other German airports serve more intercontinental flights. Berlin’s main attractiveness as a business location are its flight connections to Beijing, Shanghai Singapore, Mumbai, New York and Washington D.C.
“Long-distance connections are the condition for the presence of international companies,” Czaja underlined.
Previously, BER was meant to be completed in November 2011. The new deadline is October 2020. Polish Central Airport is planned for 2025-27.
