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Messe Berlin Withdraws From Tegel Arrival Centre Rebuild

Berlin must now appoint a new builder to meet its deadline for converting the former airport into a 2,600-place arrival centre

Overview

  • Messe Berlin has announced it will withdraw from planning the 2026 rebuild of the Tegel refugee shelter while overseeing the site’s dismantling.
  • A Berlin Audit Office audit flagged roughly €100 million in security invoices from 2022 and 2023 as insufficiently checked and criticized a missed re-tendering of a framework contract.
  • Messe Berlin denies the audit’s findings, asserting it subjects every invoice to a thorough multi-stage approval process.
  • The Senatsverwaltung für Integration and Landesamt für Flüchtlingsangelegenheiten are tasked with appointing a new build contractor to keep the conversion on schedule.
  • Authorities plan to clear the remaining occupants by year-end and reopen Tegel in 2026 as a centrally managed arrival centre for 2,600 asylum-seekers under EU-aligned procedures.