The European Investment Bank (EIB) is granting a EUR 1 billion loan for the construction of Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport. A further EUR 1.4 billion is being provided by KfW IPEX-Bank, Investitionsbank Berlin IBB, Investitionsbank des Landes Brandenburg ILB, Landesbank Berlin, Nord LB, DZ Bank and Berliner Volksbank.
This is the biggest infrastructure financing operation in Europe.
In the words of EIB Vice-President Matthias Kollatz-Ahnen: “The new Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport (BBI) is a key German unity project financed by the EIB. As the airport of Germany’s capital and the greater Berlin-Brandenburg region, and as part of the trans-European networks, the EIB has accorded BBI particular priority.
BBI will provide the necessary capacity to meet the expected growth in air traffic over the next few years. At the same time, it will concentrate air traffic in a single location outside the city, bringing environmental benefits and improving the safety of the people of Berlin and Brandenburg.
We anticipate that BBI will impact positively on the economic development of other parts of eastern Germany, which as convergence regions within the EU receive particular attention from the EIB. These regions will benefit from improved accessibility by air and direct and indirect job creation.
The EIB’s appraisal established the project’s economic viability on the basis of cautious traffic growth assumptions and taking into account the planned introduction of trading in the CO2 emissions of civil aircraft (an environmental control measure that makes air traffic more expensive). The EIB’s financing of other European airports is also subject to these strict criteria.
The EIB has been supporting this major project since December 2007 with a credit line whose size and maturity (EUR 1 billion, up to 25 years) is tailored to the large scale and long useful life of the airport."