Terminal extension at Munich Airport: The costs are getting out of hand - is the ripcord being pulled?

Created: 03/31/2022 05:21

By: Dirk Walter

A top view of the new gate, which is still a shell.

© Herkner

The extension of Terminal 1 (T1) turns out to be a cost trap.

The new gate clearly exceeds the planned 450 million euros.

Employee representatives are pushing to invest elsewhere.

Munich

– 320 meters long, 95,000 square meters of operational and commercial space on three levels, twelve docking positions for aircraft – the new pier, which docks at a 90-degree angle with Terminal 1, is the largest construction project at Munich Airport.

When the supervisory board gave the go-ahead for the new building in June 2018, everyone involved was full of praise.

Bavaria's finance minister, Albert Füracker, as head of the supervisory board, spoke of a project that "takes into account the demands of passengers for comfort and quality of stay".

The airport now has "excellent development prospects," said Michael Kerkloh, the airport boss at the time.

Munich: Terminal 1 more expensive than planned

Four years later, the supervisory board is meeting again this Thursday - the galloping cost development of the half-finished new building, which extends far into the western apron, is on the agenda.

When the airport announced the investment in 2017, there was talk of construction costs of 400 million euros.

In 2018 it was 455 million.

Now it should be a good 100 million more - which will far exceed half a billion.

"The current status of the realization of the new pier for Terminal 1 will be one of the topics at the Supervisory Board meeting of Flughafen München GmbH tomorrow," confirmed airport spokesman Ingo Anspach yesterday.

He is silent on the development of costs.

Munich Airport: Horrendous increases in construction costs

The main reason is the increased costs in the construction sector.

FMG could not foresee the horrendous increase in costs – but it has to deal with it.

According to reports, the management should submit several proposals to the supervisory board for further action - a stop to the construction work cannot be completely ruled out.

Airport boss Jost Lammers recently made it clear, also in an interview with our newspaper, that he prefers the completion of the shell construction.

However, the interior work could be put on hold until the pier is really needed.

The official language so far is that the pier could go into operation "at the earliest in 2023".

However, the airport assumes that the pre-corona level will not be reached again until 2024 - a further postponement of commissioning is therefore likely.

Munich: workers have doubts about Terminal 1

The airport is currently only about half full, but there is a ray of hope in the summer and here first of all the Easter travel, which is expected to increase significantly.

Employee representatives are pushing to cancel the so-called emergency collective agreement completely.

As a result of individual provisions such as a payment for additional benefits, FMG employees sometimes have significant wage losses, even if the three percent reduction in working hours provided for in the collective agreement (with a corresponding wage deduction) is currently not being applied, as the press spokesman emphasizes.

In view of the upward trend in flights and passenger numbers, this is no longer up to date, says works council head Johann Bachmayer.

Members of the "Rat" group, to which Bachmayer also belongs, have started a signature campaign.

They point out that the aircraft handler Aeroground, a 100 percent subsidiary of FMG, is now looking for people in "ramp and baggage handling" (i.e. for loading and unloading the planes).

The requirement by summer 2022 alone should be 100 to 150 people.