Anyone who has flown in or out of Berlin’s primary airport, Tegel, would recall a comically outdated experience, in desperate need of an upgrade. Its unusual circular shape means the boarding gates are just metres from the taxi rank.

When it is not busy it is actually an extremely efficient airport as there is minimal walking required. But it has severely limited the city of Berlin’s aviation growth.

So, in 2006 the German government announced the commencement of construction of a new airport to replace Tegel, named Willy Brandt Berlin Brandenburg Airport. Willy Brandt was both the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany and served as Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). The airport construction project is managed by German company Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH (FBB). The construction site is next to the low cost Schonefeld Airport it will also replace and I believe it will use their existing runways. The new airport was expected to overtake Dusseldorf as Germany’s third busiest, behind Frankfurt and Munich.