What is it with Berlin and airports? First came Tempelhof, once a repository for Nazi megalomania, later the site of the Berlin airlift, an early cold-war drama, and now a vast and unusual city park.(先是滕珀尔霍夫，曾经是纳粹自大狂的仓库，后来是柏林空运的场地，早期冷战大戏，现在是一个巨大独特的城市公园。) Then it was Tegel, a charming spot adored by locals but bursting at the seams(挤得满满当当，不堪重负) by the end of its life. Finally came the tragicomedy of Berlin Brandenburg Airport, or ber. It opened in 2020, nine years late, €5bn over budget and a homage(致敬，表示敬意的事物) to Germany’s mishandling of megaprojects.
柏林和机场之间到底是怎么回事？先是滕珀尔霍夫，曾经是纳粹自大狂的集中体现，后来成为柏林空运的所在地——一场早期的冷战大戏，如今则是一个巨大而奇特的城市公园。接着是泰格尔，一个深受当地人喜爱的迷人地点，但在其运营末期已经不堪重负。最后登场的是柏林-勃兰登堡机场（BER）的悲喜剧。它于2020年开通，延误了九年，超支50亿欧元，堪称德国大型项目处理不善的写照。
That should have been that. But locals flocking to ber as the summer holidays began last week may still have felt short-changed.(但是上周暑假开始时涌向BER的当地人可能仍然觉得吃亏了。) The airport currently has flights to just five long-haul(长途的（尤指航班）) destinations. Heathrow(伦敦希思罗机场，英国主要国际枢纽) has around 100; even Warsaw has close to 20. Passengers flying beyond Europe must usually transfer elsewhere. “Berlin doesn’t have a capital-city airport,” said Tim Clark, president of Emirates, during a visit last month. “It’s a really sad situation.”
本来应该到此为止了。但上周暑假开始后涌向柏林的当地人可能仍然觉得上当受骗。该机场目前只有五个长途目的地。希思罗机场有大约100个；连华沙都有接近20个。飞往欧洲以外的乘客通常必须在其他地方转机。“柏林没有一个首都级机场，”阿联酋航空总裁蒂姆·克拉克上个月访问时表示。“这真的很可悲。”
Germany’s most populous(人口稠密的) city remains the only big European capital without a home-based long-haul airline. And attempts to entice the likes of Emirates to ber have been grounded by lobbying by Frankfurt-based Lufthansa, Germany’s biggest airline, which says its Gulf rivals are unfairly subsidised.(而吸引像阿联酋航空这样的公司来BER的努力，已被总部在法兰克福的德国最大航空公司汉莎航空的游说所阻止，汉莎声称其海湾竞争对手受到不公平补贴。) Berlin’s champions regard this as protectionist(保护主义的) tosh, but have lost the argument.
德国人口最多的城市仍然是唯一一个没有本土长途航空公司的欧洲大首都。而吸引像阿联酋航空这样的公司来BER的努力，已被总部位于法兰克福的德国最大航空公司汉莎航空的游说所阻止。汉莎声称其海湾竞争对手受到了不公平的补贴。柏林的拥护者认为这是保护主义的胡扯，但在争论中失败了。