The airport question

Summary

What new European airport welcomed its inaugural flight in April this year and has since closed its doors for a long winter break? The answer is Kassel in Germany, which gets the hidden europe wooden spoon for the biggest transport flop of the year.

hidden europe 41 / Snippet / By hidden europe

New airports are a touchy topic in Germany. The much-vaunted new airport for Berlin is vastly over budget and years late in opening. Originally scheduled to receive its first flights in 2010, we were looking forward to the much-delayed opening in June 2012. Just three weeks prior to the launch, word came that some minor details still needed attention and the opening would be delayed. Those minor details are evidently not so trivial, for Berliners still have no confirmed opening date for their new airport.

The debacle in Berlin is however not quite as farcical as the events in Kassel (in the German state of Hessen).

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hidden europe 41

The airport question

Summary

Editorial

Feature

Feature

Feature

Feature

Faith

Special spaces

Routes

Perspective

People

Railscan

Snippet

Snippet

Snippet

Preview

At the water's edge: Germany's Wadden Sea

Into the hills: a Bohemian diversion

Rivers of memory: Wrocław