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).