EU go-ahead for Berlin Brandenburg funding

Left: Berlin's Tegel Airport

The European Commission yesterday (Wednesday 13 May) gave the go-ahead for a 100 percent government loan guarantee for the construction of Berlin Brandenburg International Airport (BBI) to replace three former airports. The Commission also approved a 10 percent guarantee for up to Euro 2.4 billion (US$3.2 billion) from the public shareholder of the airport operator Flughafen Berlin Schoenefeld and Euro 74 million (US$100 million) in an infrastructure grant.

The proposed project would develop a single airport with two parallel runways and an operating capacity of 45 million passengers a year. The total investment cost for the airport is Euro 3.6 billion (US$4.8 billion) and will be only partially financed through capital increases of the public shareholder. The rest of the financing will be made up from the airport’s own resources.

After German reunification Berlin had three airports, Berlin Schoenefeld, Tegel, which will close when the new airport opens and Tempelhof, which was in the city itself but was closed in late 2008. The new airport will be built on the site of Berlin Schoenefeld and will have a new terminal with a starting capacity of 25 million passengers a year.

The Commission said that concentrating aviation activity at one airport outside the city would cut noise and emissions, and there would be no need to fly over densely populated areas. The increased energy efficiency of the new buildings will lead to a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions.

“We welcome today’s decision from Brussels,” said the governing mayor of Berlin and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Berlin Airports, Klaus Wowereit. “The loan guarantee enables Berlin, Brandenburg and the government to secure a line of credit for the most important traffic and development project in the German capital region.”

The CEO of Berlin Airports, Dr Rainer Schwarz, is also delighted at the positive response from Brussels: “The decision gives us and the numerous banks planning security. We now have a reliable basis for concrete negotiations. Our goal to successfully secure funding for BBI in the second half of 2009 remains.”
 

14 May 2009