Swallowing euros by the billions

Berlin's behemoth airport turns itself, slowly but surely, into a money sucking black hole. Berlin Brandenburg Airport officials said the new terminal needs a new 1,1 billion euro funding from tax money.

Initially planned for a grand opening in 2011, it suffered continuous delays due to poor construction management and technical difficulties. BER has to replace the two existing airports in Germany's capital city, the Tegal and the Schonefeld. The whole project was estimated around two billion euros, but the final cost might be five times bigger.

The chief of BER requested recently a 1.1 billion euro funding from the state. Current funds will last until the end of 2014 and if the funding does not come, BER has to suffer further delays. The request must first pass a supervisory committee inquiry and then another local inquiry.

If the funding gets the “go-ahead” Berlin and Brandenburg states they (investors) will have to supply almost 40 percent of the funding (about 405 million euros). The final permission is expected from the European Commission next week.