Berlin's Tegel Airport. Berliners have voted to keep open the Cold War-era city airport Tegel, threatening political turbulence in the German capital and more trouble for Chancellor Angela Merkel after a bruising election victory. Tegel or TXL has long been marked for closure, but an embarrassing years-long delay in opening its larger replacement airport BER led to a popular push to keep operating it after all as the capital's second airport. But the two natural allies failed to garner enough votes for a parliamentary majority on Sunday, and may have to enter into a coalition government with the Green party, which campaigned against Tegel airport. At the core of it all is the scandal-plagued BER airport project, now delayed five years with no opening date in sight and a laughing stock in a country known for engineering prowess and punctuality.

Source: The Local September 25, 2017 06:56 UTC