A Failure Project: Berlin Brandenburg Airport, Germany

This document provides an analysis of the major reasons for the failure of the Berlin Brandenburg Airport project in Germany. It discusses issues such as tenant problems, location concerns, safety flaws, transportation issues, administrative changes, and check-in delays. The document also explores the role of control systems and the project execution team in managing cost and time overruns. Additionally, it examines the relationship between the identified problems and the need for stakeholder influence.

Running head: A FAILURE PROJECT: BERLIN BRANDENBURG AIRPORT,
GERMANY
A FAILURE PROJECT: Berlin Brandenburg Airport, GERMANY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1A FAILURE PROJECT: BERLIN BRANDENBURG AIRPORT, GERMANY
Table of Contents
Snapshot of the project...............................................................................................................2
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Major reasons for the failure of the project:...............................................................................3
Control systems..........................................................................................................................4
Analysis of the reasons for cost and time over runs...................................................................5
Project execution team considering cost over-run and time over-run....................................6
Relationship between problems.................................................................................................8
Need and influence of the stakeholders.................................................................................8
Analysis of the project management actions..............................................................................9
Description of the 3 step project management actions...........................................................9
Conclusion................................................................................................................................10
Recommendation......................................................................................................................10
Reference..................................................................................................................................12

2A FAILURE PROJECT: BERLIN BRANDENBURG AIRPORT, GERMANY
Snapshot of the project
Sche
Figure 1: Reason behind the failed project
(Source: Wagner 2017)
Introduction
The notable determination of the paper is to focus on the failed project of Berlin
Brandenburg Airport which was supposed to be opened in the year 2011. Located near the
capital of Germany Berlin, this airport was supposed to be the fifth busiest airport in the
world. Different phases of this project suffered major blow for which the project got delayed
(Wagner 2016). All the reasons behind the failure will be critically analysed in this paper in
an organized manner. The prime reasons behind the failure of this project will be discussed in
the ensuing section of the paper.

3A FAILURE PROJECT: BERLIN BRANDENBURG AIRPORT, GERMANY
Major reasons for the failure of the project:
The major reasons behind the failure of this project will be discussed in this unit of
the paper.
 Tenant Issues: One of the biggest tenants of this project Lufthansa opted out their
support from this airport project as they wanted to concentrate more on the Frankfurt
and the Munich Airport. Other tenants of the project such as the Easy jet did not offer
any kinds of connections to the prime stakeholders of this project.
 Location issue: Most of the sponsors of this project were not sure about the location
of this project as they found no reasons to build such a huge airport with advanced
facilities far from the city of Berlin which already have an international airport (Zhou,
Tan and Sedlin 2018). The sponsors of the project identified that the building the
airport will not help its commuters as it us very far from the main city of Berlin. It
was assumed that the formation of this airport could have had a negative impact on
the profitability of the Berlin Airport.
 Safety Concerns: Flaws in the safety control in terms of the smoke control and
exhaust was identified in the year 2017, years after the expected data of completion of
this project. There were other issues which are responsible for the completion of this
project as well in terms of the sprinklers and fire detection facilities in the airport. The
construction cost of this project is increasing everyday which was thought to be seven
billion euros.
 Transportation issues: Fraudulent activities of the stakeholders of this project and
corruption of the management team of this project is the other reason behind this
failed project (Sun and Zhang 2016). There were lots of certification issues associated
with this project which is one of the most significant reason behind this failed project.

4A FAILURE PROJECT: BERLIN BRANDENBURG AIRPORT, GERMANY
Millions of Euros was wasted in the planning phase of this project which can be one
of the other reason behind the delay of the completion phase of this project.
 Administrative changes: The prime stakeholder of this project was the CEO of this
airport was sacked during the planning phase of this airport. Other essential board
members of were involved in corruption charges and bribery cases which is the other
reason behind this failed project (Moodie 2017). The technical director of this airport
Jochen Grossmann was accused of taking a bribe of $680000 USD which is the other
reason behind this failed project.
 Check-in delays: The change in the infrastructure is the reason behind delay of the
project activities by the staff members of this project (Luke et al. 2017). There were
lots of complexities associated with the working schedules and project management
schedules in this project which is the reason behind delay in each of the activities.
 Bankruptcy: Bankruptcy of the construction planning company
Planungsgemeinschaft Berlin-Brandenburg International is the other reason behind
this failed project.
Control systems
Different categories of control systems were used in this project which was very much
beneficial to manage the schedule of the project right from the planning phase to the project
closure phase. All these different categories of control systems which was supposed to help
the stakeholders of the project to complete the project on time was wasted.
 Cost: The role of the cost control system was very much important to manage budget
control of the project. Based on the cost control system which was used in the project
it can be said that it the initial cost of this project which was set at 2.5 billion euros
failed as the budget kept on increasing with time (Lopez, Mascione and Liu 2017).

5A FAILURE PROJECT: BERLIN BRANDENBURG AIRPORT, GERMANY
The cost control systems which were used in this project also considered project
scheduling techniques and Work Breakdown Structure so that the cost of each of the
activities can be managed in an organized manner.
 Schedule: Earned Value Management (EVM) is the type of control system which
were used in this project to manage the entire work schedule of this project. Project
control systems were also used by the working committee of this project to schedule
the activities of each of the internal as well as the external stakeholders of this project
(Kostka and Anzinger 2016). Any sort of deviation of the plan was supposed to a
highlighted from the EVM.
 Scope: The scope of this project was managed using the scope management plan,
most of the possibilities as well as the opportunities were tracked in an organized
manner using the control scope process. The control scope process can be very much
important in this project as it helped the project managers of this project to monitor
the status of the project. The role of the control engineers are very much important
regarding the successful completion of this project (Koseoglu, Sakin and Arayici
2018). The scope management plan which was used in this project was very much
helpful to understand the acceptance of this project. Scope control and scope
validation were a part of this project as well.
 Quality: Quality control system such as the Corrective and preventive action (CAPA)
were used in this project to measure and monitor the quality of service in each phase
of this project. The three levels of quality in terms of the organizational level,
consumer level and process level was maintained by the Quality Control Systems.
Based on the above discussion, the usability of the control systems used in this project
can be identified however, it can be said that these control systems were not very much
effective as it did not manage each phases of this project which resulted in delay in the

6A FAILURE PROJECT: BERLIN BRANDENBURG AIRPORT, GERMANY
completion of this project. It can be said that these control systems should have been
managed and controlled by professional experts who have years of experience working in the
same sector. It can be said that feedback control and concurrent control should have been
considered for the different categories of control system.
Analysis of the reasons for cost and time overruns
The cost and the time management complexities of this project will be discussed in
this section of the paper.
Cost: The cost of the nearby sound proofing homes was increasing each day which
was a huge concern for the project managers of this project. By the end of 2012, the total
budget of this project increased to €4.3 billion. EU commission allocated few additional
funds of €6.9 billion in this project as the airport authority stated that this project would run
out of resources by the end of August 2016 (Kabisch 2015). Additional effort of €132 million
was also obtained from the German government. European Investment bank actively helped
in managing the available financial resources of this project. Additional funds were
sanctioned due to the increase in labour wages and the infrastructure costs (Köhler 2018).
Huge amount of money was needs in the communication between different stakeholders of
the project which were not considered in the planning phase of this project.
The faulty fire protection systems of this project had to be replaced which can be the
other reason behind the increasing cost of this project for which additional cost are required
every now and then (Hurle et al. 2018). The political as well as the bureaucratic obstacles is
the other reason behind the increasing cost of this project.
Time: The primary reason behind the time over running of this project bankruptcy as
it paused all the operations of this project. Each of the activities of this project was delayed
due to bankruptcy. Interruptions such as the changes in the management level can be also one

7A FAILURE PROJECT: BERLIN BRANDENBURG AIRPORT, GERMANY
of the reasons behind the time overrunning of this project. The transportation and the
certification issues are the two time-consuming factors in this project as a result this project
got delayed. Huge amount of time was taken during the tenant issues of this project as the
some of the project partners opted out of this project.
Project execution team considering cost over-run and time over-run
Cost over-run situation: The initial budget of this project was €2.83 billion, but the
budget of the project was intentionally increased to manage the overhead cost of this project.
The external stakeholders of this project allocated an additional budget of €440 million. But
as the project progressed, it was understood that €2.4 billion was not enough to complete the
project on time.
The role of the project execution team is very much important for the successful
completion of the project. Considering this failed project it can be said that the over-running
of the cost of this projects should have been understood by the project execution team
(Hinterleitner 2018). Based on the above discussed scenario the project execution should
have been calculating the cost associated with the project so that the over-running of the cost
could have been monitored.
Time over-run situation: 90000 meters of cable were incorrectly installed in the
airport, the escalator of this airport was way smaller than what was planned. 3000 smoke
detectors went missing from the new facility. There were lots of issues with the 750 display
screens which were installed in the airport facilities (Hilbrandt 2017). The electrical power
consumption is the other issues associated with this project. The freshly planted trees in the
airport facilities were chopped off by a group of intruders. There are complexities in the flight
paths and the sound protection zones as well. The weight of the airport roof was the other
issue for which the project was delayed.

8A FAILURE PROJECT: BERLIN BRANDENBURG AIRPORT, GERMANY
The project execution team should have been identifying the above discussed issues in
the first place. The project execution team should have identifying all these issues using the
risk management plan. The role of the Quality Analysis team of the project was also very
much significant to address the complication of the infrastructure risk of this project in terms
of the issues of the 750 display screens and sound protection zones (Geraldi and Stingl 2016).
The project execution team failed to analyse the issue of missing smoke detectors using the
RFID tags so that overruns of the project can be stopped. This team also failed to secure the
airport zone from the intruders for which the cost of the project increased.
Thus, it can be said that the project execution team is responsible for the cost and time
over-run of this project.
Relationship between problems
Based on the different categories of problems which has been identified in the previous
sections of the paper it can be said that all these problems are related to each other.
The issue of the faulty fire protection systems is one of the main reason behind the
cost over running of this project is directly related with the bankruptcy issues of this project
which is one of the main reason behind the time over running of this project (Geraldi and
Stingl 2016). The cost of the nearby sound proofing homes which is a reason behind the cost
overrunning of this project is directly associated with other issues such as the tenant issues
for which the completion time of this project is getting delayed every time.
Thus, above on the above discussion it can be said that the all the issues which are
responsible for over running of the cost is directly related with the issues which are
responsible for time over-running. Problem solving ability of each of the stakeholders of this
project are very much required to solve these identified problems. At the same time, it can

9A FAILURE PROJECT: BERLIN BRANDENBURG AIRPORT, GERMANY
also be said the role of the stakeholders could have been much more useful to address these
identify issues.
Need and influence of the stakeholders
The primary stakeholder of this project had no influence of the on the identified
problems of this project. Stakeholder management plan was not considered in this project as a
result there was a wide gap between approaches of each stakeholders of this project (Fiedler
and Wendler 2016). The primary stakeholders of this project could not lead by example
which can be one of the major reason behind the problems which were identified in this
project. The influence of the organizational leaders is very much missing in this project as it
could have avoided the quality issues of the project in terms of the faulty fire protection
systems as well as the missing 3000 smoke detectors. All the business decisions of this
project could have been improved with the help of the stakeholders of this project. The senior
stakeholders of the project should have been much more influential to resolve the problem
which were identified from the project.
Analysis of the project management actions
Project management actions such as the 3-step action plan could have been taken as it
can be very much beneficial for the stakeholders of this project to increase the chances of
successful completion of the project considering most of the probable disruptions.
Description of the 3 step project management actions
Steps Description
Step 1: Identify tasks All the activities of this project must be
brainstormed so that the activities of each of
the phases of this project can be monitored,
progress of each level can be also be
checked by the airport management
authority using Brain storming procedure
(Bjorvatn and Wald 2018).
Steps 2: Analyse and delegate the tasks Resource management, setting up the

10A FAILURE PROJECT: BERLIN BRANDENBURG AIRPORT, GERMANY
priorities and deadlines for each of the
activities of the entire project from the
planning phase to the closure phase must be
considered to improve the chances of
successful completion of this project (Elbaz
and Spang 2018).
Step 3: Align the activities with the project
plan document and SCHEMES
Space, Cash, Helpers, Equipment’s,
Materials, Expertise and Systems are the
prime parameters which should have been
considered in this project to increase the
chance of successful completion of the
project (Fiedler and Wendler 2016).
Table 1: Analysis of project management actions
(Source: Created by the author)
Thus, it can be said that the 3 step project management action should have been used
in this project as it could have increased the chances of successful completion of this project.
Conclusion
The paper helps in concluding the major reasons behind the failed project of Berlin
Brandenburg Airport such as the tenant issues, locations issues, safety concerns,
transportation issues, administrative changes and bankruptcy. The range of the control
systems which are used in this project has also been identified from this paper such as the
EVM which was used for schedule management, cost control system which were used to
Analysis if the manage the budget of the issue, scope management plan was used to manage
the scope of this project. The reason behind the time and cost overrun in this project can also
be identified in this project in terms of the faulty fire protection system and the bankruptcy.
Analysis of the relationship between the identified problems can also be identified from the
paper. This paper helps in the identification of the 3 step project management actions which
could have increased the chances of completing this project within the estimated timeline
which was planned in the initial phase of this project. The recommendation to complete the
project within estimated deadline is listed in the following section of the paper.

11A FAILURE PROJECT: BERLIN BRANDENBURG AIRPORT, GERMANY
Recommendation
1. Critical Success Factors such as the leadership, management planning, planning,
personnel and development should have been considered in this project to avoid the
delay in each of the phases.
2. The role of the organizational leaders could have been improved the adverse business
situations.
3. Project management methodologies such as waterfall project management
methodology and project management tools such as the Logic network is very much
recommended to minimise the sequence of activities in this project.

12A FAILURE PROJECT: BERLIN BRANDENBURG AIRPORT, GERMANY
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