Berlin (dpa) – The German capital's long-awaited Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport (BER), a project beset by years of delays and controversies, may face further disruption due to the coronavirus crisis.
Operators are currently reviewing whether a planned evacuation simulation involving nearly 1,000 participants can still go ahead as planned at the end of April, a spokesperson said on Thursday.
It remains unclear whether the larger test-run of the airport's operating procedures, involving around 20,000 people, can begin at the end of June.
Meanwhile, it also emerged on Thursday that key inspectors had been sent home from the airport construction site as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus.
Staff employed by the German technical inspection association Tuev were now working from home, Business Insider magazine reported.
The inspectors denied this would lead to further delays to the beleaguered project.
"At the moment that will not cause any delay to our activities at BER," a Tuev spokesperson told the magazine.
Operators had wanted to officially announce an end to construction work by the end of the month, but to do so they will need Tuev approval for the cable work in the terminal.
BER's operators announced at the end of last year that the airport would open on October 31 2020, nine years after it was supposed to.
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