Berlin Schönefeld progress

The much delayed Willie Brandt International Airport at Berlin, a development of the old East Germany Schönefeld, has passed the fire safety test.

Originally set to open on 3 June 2012, failure to meet fire regulations forced authorities to say it would take a few more months, then to set a new opening date of March 2013.  But even this has been in doubt because of complications in routing smoke from the building through subterranean channels.

Airport authorities said last Wednesday that the system had succeeded in channelling fumes from the building in a simulated power outage a day earlier, with no smoke leakage between different floors according to visual examination.

The long-awaited airport will service Berlin and replace Tegel and the already closed Tempelhof.  It is expected to initially attract 27m annual passengers, making it the third busiest airport in Germany after Frankfurt and Munich.

Airport authorities are still evaluating measurements and video recordings from the safety tests and have not yet released a full report.  Berlin's business community remained doubtful.

Last week’s results are likely to have an important impact on the Board of Directors' final decision on the opening date of the airport, which will be determined on 16 August. www.berlin-airport.de

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