New Berlin Airport Budget- is this why Europe is in a Financial mess?

I have just read an article about the construction of Berlins new airport which according to the report has been under construction since 2005, the "man in charge" is no longer prepared to give a "Finish Date" as they have had to retract so often.

But what got me the most was this: "The cost of the project has also risen from around 2bn euros (£1.7bn) to 4.3bn euros (£3.7bn) - almost double the initial estimate."

How the hell does anyone with even primary school mathematics calculate 2bn Euros ALMOST DOUBLED EQUALS 4.3bn Euros? They have more than doubled the budget! Scary!

Here is the story.

Berlin's troubled new airport has been plagued with delays and now has a fresh technical hang-up - no-one can turn the lights off.

While the German capital has experienced one of the bleakest winters on record, there is no lack of light in Schonefeld where the new airport is being built.

The terminal lights burn around the clock because the workers on site have no means to switch them off, officials have confessed.

"It has to do with the fact that we haven't progressed far enough with our lighting system that we can control it," Horst Amann, the airport's technical director, told Spiegel Online.

Planned to replace Tegel and Schonefeld airports in 2011, Berlin Brandenburg Airport - also to be known as Willy Brandt Airport - has been under construction since September 2005.

But a catalogue of technical glitches, design errors and concerns about safety equipment has delayed its opening to the point where officials dare not give a date for its completion for fear of another deadline being broken.

"I will only name a date when I can take responsibility for it," added Mr Amann.

The cost of the project has also risen from around 2bn euros (£1.7bn) to 4.3bn euros (£3.7bn) - almost double the initial estimate.

The latest glitch has attracted widespread scorn in the German media.

uk.news.yahoo.com...

reply to post by Hopechest


Thank you Hopechest! I am still trying to master quoting off-site content!

reply to post by wiser3


"How the hell does anyone with even primary school mathematics calculate 2bn Euros ALMOST DOUBLED EQUALS 4.3bn Euros? They have more than doubled the budget! Scary!"

They're probably taking the value of the Euro in 2005 when the project started, compared to what its worth now into account

maybe it is because they cannot turn their lights off !

look here

Those energy efficient light bulbs work wonders....... on your yearly budget.