THE ROAD TO OPENING has been rough for Willy Brandt Berlin Brandenburg International Airport. The airport, named for the Nobel Prize-winning former mayor of Berlin, is currently under construction — a state it has been in since 2006. While it was meant to exemplify the destination’s growth and innovation, it has been fraught with financial, political and logistical challenges since it was first proposed in 1991 following German reunification.

Located next to the current Berlin Schönefeld Airport (SXF), 11 miles south of Berlin, Berlin Brandenburg was originally meant to replace the aging and too-small Berlin Tegel Airport (TXL) and build on Schönefeld Airport by extending and adding runways and a new passenger terminal, initially designed to serve 27 million passengers per year, with a future goal of accommodating 50 million. This would make BER the third-busiest airport in Germany, surpassing Düsseldorf (DUS).

Construction began on the airport in 2006 with an initial planned open date of October 2011, but following a series of delays due to governmental roadblocks and cost overruns resulting from poor construction planning, execution and management, the revised timeline sets the completion date as October 2019 — though it has been reported 2020 is a possibility.

In 2006 the construction cost for the airport was budgeted at €2.83 billion, but it became clear quickly the airport would be significantly more expensive. By late 2012 expenditures totaled €4.3 billion, nearly twice the initial estimate. In 2015 those involved and invested in BER’s construction realized the financial concept for the airport was flawed.

While the airport was intended to be a German hub, competition with other European hubs was too stiff, and airports like Frankfurt (FRA) and Heathrow (LHR) would be in a position to pay far more to maintain their passenger shares. It also seemed few airlines would leave their hubs for Berlin — the only one expected to operate primarily out of BER was airberlin, which filed for bankruptcy in August and officially ceased operations in October.

The delays have caused and will likely continue causing legal and financial issues for airport operator Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH. Not only do the significant delays and construction issues raise concerns for interested airlines, but German Railways Deutsche Bahn may also sue for non-usage of the station below the airport.

In the meantime, TXL currently handles the majority of passengers flying into Berlin, and many believe closing it would result in chaos for the city’s travelers. The operating license for the unfinished Brandenburg airport was issued under the condition TXL’s operating license expire within six months of the new airport opening. During this time TXL would support BER during its startup period. However, some believe the legal hurdles required to keep TXL open are further delaying the opening of the new airport and the operation costs for the two airports is too high.

A non-binding referendum initiated by Germany’s Liberal Party in October asked Berlin citizens whether they should “demand the Berlin Senate give up its closure intentions and take all measures necessary to ensure the indefinite operation of [TXL].”

Operations out of SFX have been relatively unaffected by work on BER, with easyJet, Condor and Ryanair — the three largest operators from the airport — expected to continue using it as a base.

With several large issues to be resolved, it remains unclear when BER will be open to travelers.