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Berlin Tegel "Otto Lilienthal" Airport (german: link=no, Flughafen Berlin-Tegel „Otto Lilienthal“) was the primary
international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...
of
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, the federal capital of Germany. The airport was named after aviation pioneer
Otto Lilienthal Karl Wilhelm Otto Lilienthal (23 May 1848 – 10 August 1896) was a German pioneer of aviation who became known as the "flying man". He was the first person to make well-documented, repeated, successful flights with gliders, therefore making ...
and was the fourth busiest airport in Germany, with over 24 million passengers in 2019. In 2016, Tegel handled over 60% of all airline passenger traffic in Berlin. The airport served as a base for
Eurowings Eurowings GmbH is a German low-cost carrier headquartered in Düsseldorf and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group. Founded in 1996, it serves a network of domestic and European destinations and formerly also operated some long-haul ...
,
Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier founded in 1984. It is headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland and has its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. It forms the largest part of the Ryanair Holdings family ...
as well as
easyJet EasyJet plc (styled as easyJet) is a British multinational low-cost airline group headquartered at London Luton Airport. It operates domestic and international scheduled services on 927 routes in more than 34 countries via its affiliate airli ...
. It featured flights to several European metropolitan and leisure destinations as well as some intercontinental routes. It was situated in
Tegel Tegel () is a locality (''Ortsteil'') in the Berlin borough of Reinickendorf on the shore of Lake Tegel. The Tegel locality, the second largest in area (after Köpenick) of the 96 Berlin districts, also includes the neighbourhood of ''Saatwinkel'' ...
, a section of the northern
borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...
of
Reinickendorf Reinickendorf () is the twelfth borough of Berlin. It encompasses the northwest of the city area, including the Berlin Tegel Airport, Lake Tegel, spacious settlements of detached houses as well as housing estates like Märkisches Viertel. Subdivi ...
, northwest of the city centre of Berlin. Tegel Airport was notable for its hexagonal main terminal building around an open square, which made walking distances as short as from the aircraft to the terminal exit. TXL saw its last flight on 8 November 2020 after all traffic had been transferred gradually to the new
Berlin Brandenburg Airport Berlin Brandenburg Airport ''Willy Brandt'' (german: Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg "Willy Brandt", , ) is an international airport in Schönefeld, just south of the Germany, German capital Berlin in the state of Brandenburg. Named after the f ...
until that date.rbb24.de - "Airport stays open until November"
(German) 3 June 2020
aerotelegraph.com - "Moving schedule"
(German) 1 October 2020
It was legally decommissioned as an airfield after a mandatory transitional period on 4 May 2021. All government flights were also relocated to the new airport with the exception of helicopter operations which will stay at a separate area on the northern side of Tegel Airport until 2029.
(German) 21 October 2020
The airport's grounds are due to be redeveloped into a new city quarter dedicated to scientific and industrial research named ''Urban Tech Republic'' which is to retain the airport's main building and tower as a repurposed landmark.


History


The beginnings

The area of today's airport originally was part of the
Jungfernheide Jungfernheide () is an area of forest and heathland located in Berlin in the present-day district of Charlottenburg-Nord, a locality of the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Formerly a large forested area, it was progressively reduced in s ...
forest, which served as a hunting ground for the
Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
n nobility. During the 19th century, it was used as an
artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
firing range A shooting range, firing range, gun range or shooting ground is a specialized facility, venue or field designed specifically for firearm usage qualifications, training, practice or competitions. Some shooting ranges are operated by military ...
.
Aviation history The history of aviation extends for more than two thousand years, from the earliest forms of aviation such as kites and attempts at tower jumping to supersonic and hypersonic flight by powered, heavier-than-air jets. Kite flying in China ...
dates back to the early 20th century, when the Royal Prussian
Airship An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air. In early ...
battalion was based there and the area became known as ''Luftschiffhafen Reinickendorf''. In 1906, a
hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...
was built for testing of Groß-Basenach and Parseval type airships. Soon after the outbreak of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, on 20 August 1914, the area was dedicated to military training of
aerial reconnaissance Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance for a military or strategic purpose that is conducted using reconnaissance aircraft. The role of reconnaissance can fulfil a variety of requirements including artillery spotting, the collection of ima ...
crews. Following the
war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
, all aviation industry was removed as a consequence of the
Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
, which prohibited Germany from having any armed aircraft. On 27 September 1930,
Rudolf Nebel Rudolf Nebel (21 March 1894 – 18 September 1978) was a spaceflight advocate active in Germany's amateur rocket group, the ''Verein für Raumschiffahrt'' (VfR – "Spaceflight Society") in the 1930s and in rebuilding German rocketry following Wor ...
launched an experimental
rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...
testing and research facility on the site. It became known as ''Raketenschießplatz Tegel'' and attracted a small group of eminent
aerospace engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is si ...
s, which included German rocket pioneer
Wernher von Braun Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun ( , ; 23 March 191216 June 1977) was a German and American aerospace engineer and space architect. He was a member of the Nazi Party and Allgemeine SS, as well as the leading figure in the develop ...
. In 1937, the rocket pioneers left Tegel in favour of the secret
Peenemünde Peenemünde (, en, "Peene iverMouth") is a municipality on the Baltic Sea island of Usedom in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is part of the ''Amt'' (collective municipality) of Usedom-Nord. The communi ...
army research centre. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the area served once again as a military training area, mostly for
Flak Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
troops. It was destroyed in Allied air raids.


Cold War era (1948–1990)


Berlin Airlift

Plans for converting the area into
allotment gardens An allotment (British English), or in North America, a community garden, is a plot of land made available for individual, non-commercial gardening or growing food plants, so forming a kitchen garden away from the residence of the user. Such plot ...
were shelved due to the
Berlin Blockade The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road ...
, which began on 24 June 1948. In the ensuing US-led
Berlin Airlift The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road ...
, it quickly turned out that Berlin's existing main airport at
Tempelhof Tempelhof () is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg. It is the location of the former Tempelhof Airport, one of the earliest commercial airports in the world. The former airport and surroundings are now a park called ...
was not big enough to accommodate all relief aircraft. As a consequence, the French military authorities in charge of Tegel at that time ordered the construction of a long runway, the longest in Europe at the time, as well as provisional airport buildings and basic infrastructure. Groundbreaking took place on 5 August 1948, and only 90 days later, on 5 November, a
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
(USAF)
Douglas C-54 Skymaster The Douglas C-54 Skymaster is a four-engined transport aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces in World War II and the Korean War. Like the Douglas C-47 Skytrain derived from the DC-3, the C-54 Skymaster was derived from a civilian a ...
became the first aircraft to land at the new airport. The
United States Air Forces in Europe United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...
(USAFE) commander-in-chief, General Cannon, and the
chief-of-staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...
of the
Anglo Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to, or descent from, the Angles, England, English culture, the English people or the English language, such as in the term '' Anglosphere''. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people ...
-American airlift, General Tunner, arrived at Tegel on this aircraft.''La base aérienne 165 de Berlin–Tegel''
British
Dakota Dakota may refer to: * Dakota people, a sub-tribe of the Sioux ** Dakota language, their language Dakota may also refer to: Places United States * Dakota, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Dakota, Illinois, a town * Dakota, Minnesota, a ...
and
Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
aircraft carrying essential goods and raw materials began using Tegel on a regular basis from 17 November 1948. Generally, the former carried food and fuel while the latter were loaded with coal. Regular cargo flights with American
C-54 The Douglas C-54 Skymaster is a four-engined transport aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces in World War II and the Korean War. Like the Douglas C-47 Skytrain derived from the DC-3, the C-54 Skymaster was derived from a civilian a ...
s followed from 14 December 1948. December 1948 also saw three ''Armée de l'Air''
Junkers Ju 52 The Junkers Ju 52/3m (nicknamed ''Tante Ju'' ("Aunt Ju") and ''Iron Annie'') is a transport aircraft that was designed and manufactured by German aviation company Junkers. Development of the Ju 52 commenced during 1930, headed by German Aeros ...
/3m transport planes participating in the airlift for the first time. However, the ''Armée de l'Air'' contributed to the overall airlift effort in a very small and symbolic way only. As a result of committing the French transport fleet to the growing war effort in
Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...
, as well as the joint Anglo-American decision to employ only four-engined planes for the remainder of the airlift to increase the number of flights and the amount of cargo carried on each flight by taking advantage of those aircraft's higher speeds and greater capacities, the French participation ceased.


Base aérienne 165 Berlin Tegel

Following the end of the Berlin Airlift in May 1949, Tegel became the Berlin base of the ''Armée de l'Air'', eventually leading to the establishment of Base aérienne 165 at Berlin Tegel on 1 August 1964. (The end of the
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
and
German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
resulted in the deactivation of the
Western Allies The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during the Second World War (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers, led by Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Fascist Italy. ...
' armed forces in Berlin in July 1994. This in turn led to the decommissioning of Base aérienne 165 the same year.). Tegel was home to a small detachment of the
French Army Light Aviation The French Army Light Aviation (french: Aviation légère de l’armée de Terre, ALAT, , Land Army Light Aviation (the army is officially called the 'Land Army' because the air force is officially called the 'Air Army')) is the Army aviation serv ...
, which used single engined
Cessna O-1 Bird Dog The Cessna L-19/O-1 Bird Dog is a liaison and observation aircraft. It was the first all-metal fixed-wing aircraft ordered for and by the United States Army following the Army Air Forces' separation from it in 1947. The Bird Dog had a lengthy ...
from 1968 to 1993, and Sud-Ouest Alouette III Helicopters from May 1987 until June 1994. The Armée de l'Air had a single Max Holste MH1521 Broussard until 1988, which was replaced by a DeHavilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter for liaison and surveillance flights.


Commercial operations

In the late 1950s, the runways at
West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
's city centre
Tempelhof Airport Berlin Tempelhof Airport (german: Flughafen Berlin-Tempelhof) was one of the first airports in Berlin, Germany. Situated in the south-central Berlin borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg, the airport ceased operating in 2008 amid controversy, leav ...
had become too short to accommodate the new-generation
jet aircraft A jet aircraft (or simply jet) is an aircraft (nearly always a fixed-wing aircraft) propelled by jet engines. Whereas the engines in propeller-powered aircraft generally achieve their maximum efficiency at much lower speeds and altitudes, je ...
such as the Aérospatiale Caravelle,
Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first flew on December 20, ...
,
de Havilland Comet The de Havilland DH.106 Comet was the world's first commercial jet airliner. Developed and manufactured by de Havilland in the United Kingdom, the Comet 1 prototype first flew in 1949. It featured an aerodynamically clean design with four d ...
,except the 4B series, which could operate viably at Tempelhof with a restricted payload and
Douglas DC-8 The Douglas DC-8 (sometimes McDonnell Douglas DC-8) is a long-range narrow-body airliner built by the American Douglas Aircraft Company. After losing the May 1954 US Air Force tanker competition to the Boeing KC-135, Douglas announced in Ju ...
, without imposing
payload Payload is the object or the entity which is being carried by an aircraft or launch vehicle. Sometimes payload also refers to the carrying capacity of an aircraft or launch vehicle, usually measured in terms of weight. Depending on the nature of ...
or
range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...
restrictions that made commercial operations unviable. West Berlin's special legal status during the Cold War era (1945–1990) meant that all air traffic through the Allied air corridors linking the
exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...
with
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
was restricted to airlines headquartered in the United States, the United Kingdom, or France – three of the four victorious powers of World War II. In addition, all flightdeck crewpilots,
flight engineer A flight engineer (FE), also sometimes called an air engineer, is the member of an aircraft's flight crew who monitors and operates its complex aircraft systems. In the early era of aviation, the position was sometimes referred to as the "air me ...
s, and
navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's primar ...
s
flying aircraft into and out of West Berlin were required to hold American, British, or French passports. During that period, the majority of Tegel's regular commercial flights served West German domestic routes, hub airports in
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
,
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
,
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
,
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
, points in the United States, and popular holiday resorts in the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
and
Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...
.''Berlin Airport Company, April and August 1968 Monthly Timetable Booklets for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports'', Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1968 Initially, all commercial flights used the original terminal building (a pre-fabricated shed), which was situated to the North of the runway, at what is today the military part of the airport. In 1988, Berlin Tegel was named after German
aviation pioneer Aviation pioneers are people directly and indirectly responsible for the advancement of flight, including people who worked to achieve manned flight before the invention of aircraft, as well as others who achieved significant "firsts" in aviation a ...
Otto Lilienthal Karl Wilhelm Otto Lilienthal (23 May 1848 – 10 August 1896) was a German pioneer of aviation who became known as the "flying man". He was the first person to make well-documented, repeated, successful flights with gliders, therefore making ...
.


Air France

Air France was the first airline to commence regular commercial operations at Tegel on 2 January 1960.''Berlin Airport Company – Airline Portrait – Air France, March 1975 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports'', Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1975 On that day, Air France, which had served
Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...
, Frankfurt,
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
,
Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
, and its main base at Paris Le Bourget/
Orly Orly () is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. It is located from the center of Paris. The name of Orly came from Latin ''Aureliacum'', "the villa of Aurelius". Orly Airport partially lies on the territory of the comm ...
during the previous decade from
Tempelhof Tempelhof () is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg. It is the location of the former Tempelhof Airport, one of the earliest commercial airports in the world. The former airport and surroundings are now a park called ...
with
Douglas DC-4 The Douglas DC-4 is an American four-engined (piston), propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Military versions of the plane, the C-54 and R5D, served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960s ...
,
Sud-Est Languedoc The SNCASE SE.161 Languedoc was a French four-engined airliner produced by SNCASE (Sud-Est). Developed from the Bloch MB.160 and known in the late 1930s as the (SNCSO) Bloch MB.161, the SE.161 was in service with Air France and the French milita ...
, and
Lockheed Constellation The Lockheed Constellation ("Connie") is a propeller-driven, four-engined airliner built by Lockheed Corporation starting in 1943. The Constellation series was the first pressurized-cabin civil airliner series to go into widespread use. Its press ...
/
Super Constellation The Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation is an American aircraft, a member of the Lockheed Constellation aircraft line. The L-1049 was Lockheed's response to the successful Douglas DC-6 airliner, first flying in 1950. The aircraft was also produc ...
piston equipment, shifted its entire Berlin operation to Tegel because Tempelhof's runways were too short to permit the introduction of the
Sud-Aviation Caravelle The Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle is a French jet airliner produced by Sud Aviation. It was developed by SNCASE in the early 1950s and made its maiden flight on 27 May 1955. It included some de Havilland designs and components developed for th ...
, the French
flag carrier A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by the government for international operations. Hist ...
's new short-haul jet, with a viable payload.''Aeroplane – Pan Am and the IGS'', Vol. 116, No. 2972, p. 5, Temple Press, London, 2 October 1968 (Air France's Caravelle IIIs lacked
thrust reverser Thrust reversal, also called reverse thrust, is the temporary diversion of an aircraft engine's thrust for it to act against the forward travel of the aircraft, providing deceleration. Thrust reverser systems are featured on many jet aircraft ...
s that would have permitted them to land safely on Tempelhof's short runways with a full commercial payload.) Following the move to Tegel, Air France initially used Lockheed Super Constellation piston equipment on all Berlin flights. On 24 February 1960, Air France became the first airline to introduce jet aircraft on its Berlin routes when the new Caravelles began replacing the Super Constellations. It also became the first and at the time the only one to offer two classesincluding a 16-seat first class section on Caravelles (in addition to a 64-seat
economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...
section)
on short-haul flights serving West Berlin.Bonjour Deutschland – Luftverkehr unter Nachbarn: Air France in Berlin, p. 15
Following the mid- to late 1960s' introduction by
Pan American World Airways Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...
(Pan Am) and
British European Airways British European Airways (BEA), formally British European Airways Corporation, was a British airline which existed from 1946 until 1974. BEA operated to Europe, North Africa and the Middle East from airports around the United Kingdom. The a ...
(BEA) of jet aircraft with short-field capabilities that were not payload-restricted on Tempelhof's short runways, Air France experienced a traffic decline on those routes where it competed with Pan Am and BEA, mainly as a result of Tegel's greater distance and poorer accessibility from West Berlin's city centre. Over this period, the French airline's market share halved from 9% to less than 5%, despite having withdrawn from Tegel–Düsseldorf in summer 1964 and concentrating its limited resources on Tegel–Frankfurt and Tegel–Munich to maximise the competitive impact on the latter two routes (Air France had already discontinued Berlin–Nuremberg services prior to its move to Tegel). To reverse growing losses on its Berlin routes resulting from load factors as low as 30%, Air France decided to withdraw from the internal German market entirely. This reduced its presence at Tegel to direct scheduled services from/to
Paris Orly Paris Orly Airport (french: Aéroport de Paris-Orly), commonly referred to as Orly , is one of two international airports serving the French capital, Paris, the other one being Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). It is located partially in Orly ...
only. (Initially, Air France continued serving Tegel twice daily from Orly, with one service routing via Frankfurt and the other operating non-stop. The one-stop service was subsequently dropped. This further reduced the airline's presence at Tegel to a single daily, non-stop return flight to/from Paris Orly.''Aeroplane – Commercial, BEA German services'', Vol. 116, No. 2972, p. 10, Temple Press, London, 2 October 1968) In spring 1969, Air France entered into a joint venture with BEA. This arrangement entailed BEA taking over Air France's two remaining German domestic routes to Frankfurt and Munich and operating these with its own aircraft and flightdeck crews from Tempelhof. The Air France-BEA joint venture terminated in autumn 1972.''Berlin Airport Company, November 1972 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports'', Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1972 From 1 November 1972, the daily Air France service between Orly and Tegel routed via
Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
in both directions to maintain the airline's internal German traffic rights from/to Berlin. On 1 April 1973, Air France re-introduced a daily non-stop Orly–Tegel rotation to complement the daily service via Cologne. The additional daily service consisted of an evening inbound and early morning outbound flight, which included a night stop for both aircraft and crew in Berlin. To improve
capacity utilisation Capacity utilization or capacity utilisation is the extent to which a firm or nation employs its installed productive capacity. It is the relationship between output that ''is'' produced with the installed equipment, and the potential output whic ...
on its Berlin services and cut down on aircraft parking as well as crew accommodation costs, from 1 April 1974, Air France routed both of its daily Orly–Tegel services via Cologne, with aircraft and crew returning to their base at Paris Orly the same day. From 1 November that year, Air France's Berlin flights switched to the French capital's then new Charles de Gaulle (CDG) Airport.''Berlin Airport Company, April 1974 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports'', Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1974 ''Berlin Airport Company, November 1974 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports'', Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1974 The arrival at Berlin Tegel of an Air France
Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde () is a retired Franco-British supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France an ...
on 17 January 1976 marked the Berlin debut of the Anglo-French
supersonic airliner A supersonic transport (SST) or a supersonic airliner is a civilian supersonic aircraft designed to transport passengers at speeds greater than the speed of sound. To date, the only SSTs to see regular service have been Concorde and the Tupol ...
. Two-and-a-half months later, at the start of the 1976 summer timetable, Air France introduced a third daily CDG–Tegel frequency. The new night-stopping service routed via Düsseldorf and utilised the
Boeing 727-200 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airpor ...
, a bigger aircraft than the Caravelles used on the company's other services from/to Berlin.''Berlin Airport Company, April 1976 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tegel Airport'', Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1976 Air France subsequently routed all of its CDG–Tegel flights via Düsseldorf and standardised the aircraft equipment on the 727-200/200 Adv. The 727-200/200 Adv continued to operate most of Air France's Berlin services until the end of the 1980s, when they were gradually replaced with state-of-the-art
Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air F ...
s and more modern
Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two un ...
s.


Pan American World Airways

Pan Am followed Air France into Tegel in May 1964, with a year-round, thrice-weekly direct service to
New York JFK John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the Ne ...
, which was operated with Boeing 707s or Douglas DC-8s. These aircraft could not operate from Tempelhof – the airline's West Berlin base at the time – with a viable payload. Launched with
DC-8 The Douglas DC-8 (sometimes McDonnell Douglas DC-8) is a long-range narrow-body airliner built by the American Douglas Aircraft Company. After losing the May 1954 US Air Force tanker competition to the Boeing KC-135, Douglas announced in July ...
equipment routing through Glasgow Prestwick in Scotland, frequency subsequently increased to four flights a week, while the intermediate stop was cut out. Following the introduction in April 1971 of a daily Berlin Tempelhof– Hamburg FuhlsbüttelLondon–Heathrow 727 feeder flight that connected with the airline's transatlantic services at the latter airport, Pan Am withdrew its non-stop Tegel–
JFK John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...
service at the end of the summer timetable, in October of that year. Following the cessation of direct Tegel–New York City scheduled services, Pan Am continued to operate Caledonian Airways#Attaining market leadership in transatlantic affinity group charters, affinity group/Advance Booking Charter (ABC) flights from Tegel to the US on an ''ad hoc'' basis.''Berlin Airport Company, August 1972 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports'', Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1972 ''Berlin Airport Company, August 1973 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports'', Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1973 ''Berlin Airport Company, October 1974 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports'', Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1974 From the start of the 1974–75 winter season, Pan Am began operating a series of short- and medium-haul week-end charter flights from Tegel under contract to a leading West German tour operator. These flights served popular resorts in the Alps, Alpine region and the Mediterranean. Following a major reduction in the airline's scheduled activities at Tempelhof as a result of co-ordinating its flight times with British Airways (rather than operating competitive schedules), this helped increase utilisation of the 727s based at that airport, especially on weekends. In addition to operating a limited number of commercial flights from Tegel prior to its Berlin Tempelhof Airport#Postwar commercial use, move from Tempelhof on 1 September 1975, Pan Am used it as a diversion airport, diversion airfield.''Aeroplane – World Transport Affairs, B.E.A. leases B.O.A.C. DC-7Cs for Berlin flights'', Vol. 104, No. 2669, p. 11, Temple Press, London, 13 December 1962''Berlin Airport Company – Summary of 1969 Annual Report, February 1970 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports'', Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1970 The move from Tempelhof to Tegel resulted in all of Pan Am's Berlin operations being concentrated at the latter.''Berlin Airport Company, September and October 1975 Monthly Timetable Booklets for Berlin Tegel Airport'', Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1975 1976 was the first year since 1972 the steady decline in scheduled domestic air traffic from and to West Berlin was arrested and reversed. The first expansion in Pan Am's Berlin operation since the move to Tegel occurred during that year's Easter festival period, when the airline temporarily stationed a Boeing 707#707-320B, Boeing 707-320B at the airport to cope with the seasonal rush on the prime Berlin–Frankfurt route. From late 1979, Pan Am began updating its Berlin fleet. This entailed phasing out all Boeing 727#727-100, 727-100s by 1983. The first stage involved replacing two of the 13 German-based aircraft with a pair of stretched Boeing 727-200s originally destined for Ozark Air Lines to add more capacity to Berlin–Frankfurt. This was followed by an order for eight additional 727-200s, with deliveries slated to begin in October 1981. After initially cancelling the order due to the airline's Pan Am#Disposal of non-core assets and operational cutbacks, deteriorating finances and economic environment, it was subsequently reinstated, with deliveries due to commence in December 1981. In the interim, a number of Boeing 737#737-200, Boeing 737-200/200 Adv were aircraft lease, leased from 1982. The largest-ever expansion of Pan Am's scheduled internal German services occurred during summer 1984, when the airline's aircraft movements at Tegel increased by 20%. This coincided with the relocation of the US carrier's German and Central European headquarters from Frankfurt to Berlin on 1 May 1984. Pan Am began introducing wide-body aircraft on its Berlin routes in the Pan Am#Fleet restructuring, mid-1980s. Up to four Airbus A300s replaced 727-200s on Berlin–Frankfurt. The A300s were subsequently replaced with Airbus A310s. The longer-range Airbus A310#A310-300, A310-300s that joined Pan Am's fleet from 1987 enabled reintroduction of non-stop, daily Tegel–JFK scheduled services. Ransome Airlines, Pan Am Express, the Pan Am#Establishment of local feeder networks, regional commuter arm of Pan Am, began operating from Berlin Tegel in November 1987 with two ATR 42 commuter turboprops. It operated year-round scheduled services to secondary and tertiary destinations that could not be viably served with Pan Am's Tegel-based "mainline" fleet of Boeing 727-200s and Airbus A310s. These included Basle, Bremen, Dortmund, Hanover, Innsbruck, Kassel, Kiel, Milan, Salzburg, Stockholm and Vienna. In addition, Pan Am Express also helped Pan Am increase the number of flights on some of the other scheduled routes it used to serve from Berlin such as Tegel–Zürich by operating additional off-peak frequencies.


British Airways

British Airways was the last of West Berlin's three main scheduled carriers to commence regular operations from Tegel following the move from Tempelhof on 1 September 1975. However, like Pan Am, it and its predecessor BEA had used the airport as a diversion airfield before.''Berlin Airport Company – Airline Portrait – British Airways, February 1975 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports'', Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1975 Initially, all British Airways services from Tegel—with the exception of the daily non-stop service to London Heathrow—continued to be operated by BAC One-Eleven#The One-Eleven 500, 510ED and 475, BAC One-Eleven 500s. The daily London–Heathrow non-stop was operated with Hawker Siddeley Trident#Trident 2E, Hawker Siddeley Trident 2E/Hawker Siddeley Trident#Trident 3B, 3B equipment based at that airport until the end of the 1975 summer season. (It subsequently reverted to a One-Eleven 500 operation.) From 1983, British Airways began updating its Berlin fleet. This entailed phasing out the ageing One-Elevens, which were replaced with new Boeing 737-200 Adv. During the second half of the 1980s, British Airways augmented its Berlin 737s with regional airliners. These initially comprised Hawker Siddeley 748, British Aerospace (BAe) 748s (from 1986) and subsequently BAe ATPs (from 1989). The introduction of these turboprops enabled the airline to serve shorter and thinner regional domestic routes from Berlin more economically. It also permitted a frequency increase, thereby enhancing competitiveness.


Other operators

From 1966 until 1968, UK independent Lloyd International Airways, Lloyd International was contracted by Neckermann und Reisen, the tour operator of West German mail-order concern Arcandor, Neckermann, to launch a series of inclusive tour (IT) flights from Tegel. These flights were operated with Bristol Britannia turboprops. They served principal European holiday resorts in the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands. From April 1968, all non-scheduled services, i.e. primarily the rapidly growing number of IT holiday flights that several UK independentindependent from government-owned corporations airlines as well as a number of US supplemental carriersholders of supplemental air carrier certificates authorised to operate non-scheduled passenger and cargo services to supplement the scheduled operations of certificated route air carriers; airlines holding supplemental air carrier certificates are also known as "nonskeds" in the US had mainly operated from Tempelhof since the early 1960s under contract to West Berlin's leading package tour operators, were concentrated at Tegel. This traffic redistribution between West Berlin's two commercial airports was intended to alleviate Tempelhof's increasing congestion and to make better use of Tegel, which was underutilised at the time. During that period, the Allied charter airline, charter carriers had begun replacing their obsolete propliners with contemporary turboprop and jet aircraft types, which suffered payload and range restrictions on Tempelhof's short runways. The absence of such restrictions at Tegel gave airlines greater operational flexibility regarding aircraft types and destinations. This was the reason charter carriers favoured Tegel despite being less popular than Tempelhof because of its greater distance from West Berlin's city centre and poor public transport links. A new passenger handling facility exclusively dedicated to charter airline passengers was opened to accommodate the additional traffic. Both this facility (a wooden shed) and the original terminal used by Air France's and Pan Am's scheduled passengers were located on the airport's north side. Following the transfer of all charter traffic to Tegel, British Eagle#Waning prospects, British Eagle, Dan-Air#Overseas expansion, Dan-Air Services, Invicta International Airlines, Laker Airways#An overseas base, Laker Airways and Modern Air Transport#Establishment and growth of West Berlin operation, Modern Air Transport began stationing several of their jets at the airport.''Flying to the sun – A history of Britain's holiday airlines: 6. Into the jet age – British Eagle International Airlines'', Woodley, C., The History Press, Stroud, 2016, p. 101''Flying to the sun – A history of Britain's holiday airlines: 6. Into the jet age – British Eagle International Airlines'', Woodley, C., The History Press, Stroud, 2016, pp. 99/100 While British Eagle's and Invicta's presence at Tegel lasted only for the 1968 summer season, Dan-Air, Laker Airways, and Modern Air were present at the airport for a number of years. In March 1971, Channel Airways#The 1970s and closure, Channel Airways began stationing aircraft at Tegel as well; however, its presence at the airport lasted only until the end of that year's summer season. Channel Airways#The 1970s and closure, Channel Airways's collapse in early 1972 provided the impetus for Dan-Air to take over the failed carrier's charter contracts and to expand its own operations at Tegel. Dan-Air, one of Britain's foremost wholly private, independent airlines during the 1970s and 80s, eventually became the third-biggest operator at Tegel Airport, ahead of Air France. In addition to firmly establishing itself as the airport's and West Berlin's leading charter airline, it also operated scheduled services linking Tegel with Schiphol, Amsterdam Schiphol, Saarbrücken and Gatwick Airport, London–Gatwick, its main operating base. By the time that airline was taken over by British Airways at the end of October 1992, it had served Tegel Airport for a quarter of a century. Modern Air Transport#Deteriorating business environment, Modern Air's departure in October 1974 coincided with Aeroamerica#Establishment of West Berlin base, Aeroamerica's arrival. Aeroamerica#Closure of West Berlin base, That carrier's departure following the end of the 1979 summer season was followed by Air Berlin#1978–1989: First years of air charter operations, Air Berlin USA's arrival. Laker Airways's decision to replace its Tegel-based BAC One-Eleven fleet with one of its newly acquired Airbus A300 B4 widebodies from the 1981 summer season resulted in Monarch Airlines#1980–1989, Monarch Airlines taking over that airline's long-standing charter contract with Flug-Union Berlin, one of West Berlin's leading contemporary tour operators. In the late 1980s, Monarch Airlines provided the aircraft as well as the flightdeck crew and maintenance support for Euroberlin France, a Tegel-based scheduled airline headquartered in Paris, France. Euroberlin was jointly owned by Air France and Lufthansa, with the former holding a 51% majority stake, thereby making it a French legal entity and enabling it to conduct commercial airline operations in West Berlin. The following airlines operated regular services to/from Tegel Airport during the Cold War era as well: * Court Line, Court Line Aviation was a major British independent airline of the early 1970s that served Berlin Tegel with a series of regular charter flights from its base at Luton Airport, London–Luton and Paris Le Bourget Airport between 1970 and 1974 under contract to the students travel company of Berlin's Technical University of Berlin, Technical University. * TAT (French airline), Touraine Air Transport was a French regional airline serving Berlin Tegel from Saarbrücken several times a day on a year-round basis from late 1978 until early 1984. * Berlin European UK was a Berlin-based UK regional airline founded in 1986 as Berlin Regional UK by a former British Airways general manager for that airline's Berlin operation to begin domestic and international regional scheduled services to destinations not served by any of West Berlin's contemporary scheduled operators from April 1987, utilising Handley Page Jetstream, BAe Jetstream commuter turboprop planes. * Trans World Airlines (TWA), the other major US flag carrier of that era, used to operate affinity group/ABC flights from Tegel to the USA on an ''ad hoc'' basis during the early 1970s. When it entered the West Berlin scheduled market in the late 1980s, it initially served Brussels twice daily from Berlin Tegel (from 2 August 1987). Daily flights to Frankfurt Airport followed (from 1989). Eventually, Berlin Tegel became an important airline hub, spoke for TWA in Europe, following the launch of additional services to Zürich (via Stuttgart) and Amsterdam (via Hamburg). The Berlin Boeing 727#727-100, Boeing 727-100s connected with transatlantic Boeing 747, 747s and Lockheed L-1011 Tristar, L-1011s at Brussels, Frankfurt, Zürich and Amsterdam. In addition to the aforementioned airlines, a host of others – mainly British independents and US supplementals – were frequent visitors to Berlin Tegel, especially during the early 1970s. These included Britannia Airways, British Airtours, British United Airways, British United, Caledonian Airways, Caledonian, British Caledonian in the 1970s#Inception, Caledonian/BUA / British Caledonian, Capitol Air Lines, Capitol International Airways, Overseas National Airways, Saturn Airways, Trans International Airlines, Transamerica Airlines and World Airways. During that period, the airport scene at Berlin Tegel could be very colourful, with Air France Caravelles, the UK independents' BAC One-Elevens, de Havilland Comets, and Hawker Siddeley Tridents as well as the US supplementals' Boeing 707s, Convair CV-990, Convair Coronados and Douglas DC-8s congregating on its ramp. During 1974 alone, 22 airlines were operating at Tegel Airport.''Berlin Airport Company – Summary of 1974 Annual Report, February 1975 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports'', Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1975


Tegel's new terminal takes shape

Construction of a new, hexagonally shaped terminal complex on the airport's south side began during the 1960s. This coincided with the lengthening of the runways to permit fully laden widebodied aircraft to take off and land without restricting their range and construction of a motorway and access road linking the new terminal to the city centre. It became operational on 1 November 1974. A British Airways L-1011 Tristar 1, a Laker Airways McDonnell-Douglas DC-10#Original variants, McDonnell-Douglas DC-10-10, a Pan Am Boeing 747-100 and an Air France Airbus A300 B2 were among the widebodied aircraft specially flown in for a pre-inauguration of the new terminal on 23 October 1974.''Berlin Airport Company – News, December 1974 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports'', Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1974 Dan-Air operated the first commercial flight to arrive at the airport's new terminal at 06.00 am local time with a BAC One-Eleven that was inbound from Tenerife.


Tegel becomes West Berlin's main airport

Following Pan Am's and British Airways's move from Tempelhof to Tegel on 1 September 1975, the latter replaced Tempelhof as the main airport of West Berlin.


Early post-reunification era (1990–1995)

Following Germany's German reunification, reunification on 3 October 1990, all access restrictions to the former West Berlin airports were lifted. Lufthansa resumed flights to Berlin on 28 October 1990, initially operating twelve daily pairs of flights on a limited number of routes, including Tegel–Cologne, Tegel–Frankfurt and Tegel–London Gatwick. To facilitate the German flag carrier's resumption of services from/to Berlin, it purchased Pan American World Airways#Internal German Services (IGS) and other operations, Pan Am's Internal German Services (IGS) division''Aeroplane – Pan Am and the IGS'', Vol. 116, No. 2972, pp. 4–8, Temple Press, London, 2 October 1968 for US$150 million. This included Pan Am's internal German traffic rights as well as its gates and airport slots, slots at Tegel. This agreement, under which Lufthansa contracted up to seven of Pan Am's Tegel-based Boeing 727-200s operated by that airline's flightdeck and cabin crews to ply its scheduled routes to Munich, Nuremberg and Stuttgart until mid-1991, also facilitated Pan Am's orderly exit from the internal German air transport market after 40 years' uninterrupted service as European Union (EU) legislation prevented it from participating in the internal air transport market of the EU/European Economic Area (EEA) as a non-EU/EEA headquartered carrier. However, Pan Am continued operating its non-stop Tegel–JFK service until Delta Air Lines assumed most of Pan Am's transatlantic scheduled services in November 1991. Pan Am Express, which was not included in Pan Am's IGS sale to Lufthansa, continued operating all of its domestic and international regional scheduled routes from Tegel as an independent legal entity until its acquisition by TWA in 1991. Following TWA's takeover of Pan Am Express, the former Pan Am Express Berlin operations were closed. Until December 1994, Lufthansa also contracted Euroberlin to operate some of its internal German flights from its new Tegel base, making use of that airline's gates and slots at Tegel as well. As a US-registered airline, Air Berlin found itself in the same situation as Pan Am following German reunification. It chose to reconstitute itself as a Air Berlin#1990–1999: Growth after German reunification, German company. These were the days when liberalisation of the EU/EEA internal air transport market was still in progress and when domestic traffic rights were reserved for each member country's own airlines. The German government therefore insisted that all non-German EU/EEA carriers either withdraw their internal German scheduled services from Berlin or transfer them to majority German-owned subsidiary, subsidiaries by the end of 1992. It also wanted the bulk of all charter flights from Berlin to be operated by German airlines. These measures were squarely aimed at UK carriers with a major presence in the internal German air transport market from Berlin as well as the city's charter market, specifically British Airways and Dan-Air. Lufthansa and other German airlines reportedly lobbied their government to curtail British Airways's and Dan-Air's activities in Berlin, arguing that German airlines enjoyed no equivalent rights in the UK. This resulted in British Airways taking a 49% stake in Friedrichshafen-based German regional airline DBA (airline), Delta Air, renaming it DBA (airline), Deutsche BA (DBA) and transferring its internal German traffic rights to the new airline. BA also replaced the commuter aircraft DBA had inherited from Delta Air with new Boeing 737-300s. These in turn replaced the Boeing 737-200 Adv and BAe ATP airliners British Airways had used on its internal German scheduled services from Berlin. At the time of German reunification, Dan-Air's Berlin fleet numbered five aircraft, comprising three Boeing 737s (one Boeing 737 Classic#737-400, −400, one Boeing 737 Classic#737-300, −300 and one 200 Adv) and two Hawker Siddeley 748, HS 748s.''Chairman's progress report on implementation of Dan-Air#Causes of commercial decline, Dan-Air's scheduled service strategy'', James, D.N., 1991 EGM, Gatwick Hilton Hotel, October 1991 The former were used to fly locally based holidaymakers from Tegel to overseas resorts on IT flights under contract to German package tour operators. The latter operated the airline's scheduled routes linking Tegel with Amsterdam and Saarbrücken. Dan-Air#Scheduled service developments, Dan-Air discontinued its charter operations from Berlin on behalf of German tour operators at the end of the 1990–91 winter season and replaced the ageing Hawker Siddeley 748, 748 turboprop it had used on its Amsterdam schedule since the mid-1980s with larger, more advanced BAe 146 100 series jets. It also introduced new direct scheduled air links from Berlin to Manchester and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Newcastle via Amsterdam. The Saarbrücken route was withdrawn at the end of the 1991 summer season, while the Amsterdam route was gradually taken over by NLM Cityhopper, the contemporary regional arm of Dutch flag carrier KLM. This reduced Dan-Air's presence in Berlin to a single daily scheduled service as well as up to four weekly charter flights linking the airline's Gatwick base with its former overseas base at Tegel. Flights were operated by Gatwick aircraft and crews until the firm's takeover by British Airways at the end of October 1992. The restructuring of Dan-Air's long-established Berlin operation was not only the result of political changes. It was also driven by its own corporate restructuring, which aimed to refocus the airline as a Gatwick-based short-haul "mainline" scheduled operator and involved phasing out its smaller aircraft and thinner routes. Other airlines that commenced/resumed scheduled operations from Berlin Tegel at the beginning of the post-reunification era included Aero Lloyd, Alitalia, American Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines, SAS ''Eurolink'', Swissair, TWA and United Airlines.''Berlin Airport Company, October 1990 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports'', Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1990 Aero Lloyd, Germania (airline), Germania and Condor Flugdienst, Condor Berlin began operating charter flights from Berlin Tegel during that period.


1995 onwards

The events of the early post-reunification years (1990–1995) were followed by further, high-profile international route launches and growing consolidation among German airlines with a major presence at Tegel. Amongst the former were the December 2005 launch of Tegel Airport's first-ever scheduled service to the Qatari capital Doha by Qatar Airways, operated non-stop at an initial frequency of four flights a week, and Air Berlin's November 2010 launch of non-stop, thrice-weekly Tegel–Dubai flights (another first). This was followed by the latter's May 2011 launch of a non-stop, four-times-a-week Tegel–JFK service. The latter began with British Airways mid-2003 sale for a symbolic €1 (72Pound sterling, p) of its German subsidiary DBA to Intro Verwaltungsgesellschaft, a Nuremberg-based consultancy and investment company headed by German entrepreneur Hans Rudolf Wöhrl who founded German charter airline
Eurowings Eurowings GmbH is a German low-cost carrier headquartered in Düsseldorf and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group. Founded in 1996, it serves a network of domestic and European destinations and formerly also operated some long-haul ...
and also was a former DBA board member. Further consolidation among Tegel's German airlines took place when Air Berlin entered into an agreement to assume Germania's management shortly before the death of that airline's founder, took over DBA and gained control of LTU International, LTU. These events occurred in November 2005, August 2006 and March 2007, respectively. On 9 October 2017, Air Berlin announced termination of all of its own operations, excluding wetleases, by the end of the monthaero.de – "Air Berlin starts descent"
(German) 9 October 2017
leading to the loss of the airport's largest customer. On 28 October 2017,
easyJet EasyJet plc (styled as easyJet) is a British multinational low-cost airline group headquartered at London Luton Airport. It operates domestic and international scheduled services on 927 routes in more than 34 countries via its affiliate airli ...
announced it would take over some of bankrupt Air Berlin's former assets at Tegel Airport to gradually start its own base operations there on 7 January 2018. Previously, it only served Berlin Schönefeld Airport, which is already an easyJet base.routesonline.com – easyJet outlines Berlin Tegel network from Jan 2018
6 December 2017
As a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany, passenger numbers at Tegel declined significantly.dfnionline.com - "Berlin airports see ‘drastic slump’ in passenger numbers"
/ref> On 29 April 2020, airport management announced plans to close Tegel temporarily from 1 June 2020.
/ref> However, shortly after this plan was cancelled with the airport remaining operational until early November 2020.


Closure and legacy of Tegel Airport

On 1 October 2020, the new airport received final approval for opening on 31 October 2020, meaning a closure of Tegel shortly after.berliner-kurier.de
1 October 2020
In the days leading up to Tegel's closure, many airlines and their aircraft received water salutes before entering the runway for the last time. At this point, the tower and the main terminal were lit up in red with the #DankeTXL hashtag projected on them at night. The final scheduled flight to leave the airport was operated by Air France to Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris–Charles de Gaulle on 8 November 2020. Lufthansa concluded their Tegel operations on 7 November 2020 with the last scheduled flight to Munich, specially operated by an Airbus A350-900 to mark the occasion. Sundair also operated a special commemorative flight from Tegel to the new
Berlin Brandenburg Airport Berlin Brandenburg Airport ''Willy Brandt'' (german: Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg "Willy Brandt", , ) is an international airport in Schönefeld, just south of the Germany, German capital Berlin in the state of Brandenburg. Named after the f ...
using an Airbus A320 that still had the base colours of Air Berlin. Many former Air Berlin employees also came to the airport in their old Air Berlin uniforms. Due to legal and safety reasons, Tegel had been held operational for air traffic for another six months without handling any scheduled services before being decommissioned as an aviation facility.berliner-woche.de
(German) 10 October 2020
The separate minor military area on the northern side of Tegel (''Tegel Nord'') will still be used for governmental helicopter flights until 2029. The airport was decommissioned on 4 May 2021.
(German) 4 May 2021
At the same time, the first facilities, including interim terminal C2 and baggage halls have been already torn down while the main terminal, which will be kept, had been emptied of most facilities. The airport terminal building was used as a COVID-19 vaccine, COVID-19 vaccination centre during the coronavirus pandemic. In March 2022, the former airport was converted into temporary shelters for 2022 Ukrainian refugee crisis, refugees fleeing Ukraine.


Future development

The airport was scheduled to close in June 2012 after
Berlin Brandenburg Airport Berlin Brandenburg Airport ''Willy Brandt'' (german: Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg "Willy Brandt", , ) is an international airport in Schönefeld, just south of the Germany, German capital Berlin in the state of Brandenburg. Named after the f ...
(BER) opened. Due to the delays with BER, the future of Tegel had long remained uncertain. A campaign was launched to keep Tegel Airport open, which gathered signatures for a referendum for voters to decide on the future of the airport. In September 2017, a public quorum was held parallel to the German federal election to decide whether Tegel Airport should remain open once
Berlin Brandenburg Airport Berlin Brandenburg Airport ''Willy Brandt'' (german: Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg "Willy Brandt", , ) is an international airport in Schönefeld, just south of the Germany, German capital Berlin in the state of Brandenburg. Named after the f ...
starts its operations. The majority of voters voted in favour of Tegel remaining open; however, the federal authorities and the state of Brandenburg, which together hold a majority against Berlin over the airport's ownership, overrode the vote shortly afterwards, leading to the shutdown of Tegel.aero.de – "German federal state not to move away from Tegel closure"
(German) 26 October 2017
Future plans also involve the redevelopment of Berlin Tegel Airport into the ''Urban Tech Republic'', of building land will be available for up to 800 companies with some 17,500 employees in the Research and Industrial Park alone. In the central airport terminal, which is to be kept, the Berliner Hochschule für Technik, Berlin University of Applied Sciences and Technology will establish the scientific core of the new technology park, with up to 2,500 students. It is envisaged that the adjoining areas will be used both for research and development and for manufacturing companies. Berlin TXL will also make available for industrial use – the largest single inner-city development area in Berlin.


Terminals

Tegel consisted of five terminals. As the airport was small compared to other major airports handling the same number of passengers, these terminals might be regarded as "halls" or "boarding areas"; nevertheless, they are officially referred to as "terminals", even if most of them shared the same building. Tegel Airport was originally planned to have a second hexagonal terminal like the main building right next to it. The second terminal ring was never built because of Berlin municipal budgetary constraints and the post-reunification decision to replace the former West Berlin airports with the new
Berlin Brandenburg Airport Berlin Brandenburg Airport ''Willy Brandt'' (german: Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg "Willy Brandt", , ) is an international airport in Schönefeld, just south of the Germany, German capital Berlin in the state of Brandenburg. Named after the f ...
.


Terminals A and B

The main building was the original part of the airport. It consisted of two parts: * Terminal A was a hexagon-shaped ring concourse with a parking area, taxi stands and bus stops in its middle. It featured 14 jet bridges which correspond to 16 respective check-in counters (A00–A15), with jetways 1 and 14 each serving two check-in counters. There was no transit zone, which means that each gate has its own security clearance checkpoint and exit for arriving passengers. Therefore, direct flight connections without leaving the airside area were not possible. Most major airlines arrived and departed here, especially "prestigious" flights like intercontinental services or flights to the busy European hub airports; for example United Airlines flights to Newark Liberty International Airport, Newark and Lufthansa services to Munich Airport, Munich and
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
were handled here. The whole rooftop worked as a visitor platform. Terminal A was capable of handling wide-bodied aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 767-400ER or Airbus A330-300 on two positions but with only one jet bridge attached to each. The short distance from street to aircraft also put the airport at a disadvantage regarding its extra income as shops and restaurants were restricted to few and small spaces. The last flight from the airport, Air France flight AF1235, operated by an
Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air F ...
(F-GKXP), departed from Terminal A, and its parking location is marked by a short gate centreline with a plaque-like sign beneath it: ''08.11.2020 letzter Flug AF1235 TXL-CDG AIR FRANCE''. * Terminal B (also called "Nebel-Hall" after German spaceflight pioneer
Rudolf Nebel Rudolf Nebel (21 March 1894 – 18 September 1978) was a spaceflight advocate active in Germany's amateur rocket group, the ''Verein für Raumschiffahrt'' (VfR – "Spaceflight Society") in the 1930s and in rebuilding German rocketry following Wor ...
) was a converted former waiting area in a side wing of the main building and featured check-in counters B20–B39. There was only one walk-boarding aircraft stand directly serving it. This single stand, however, could have handled widebody aircraft up to the size of the Boeing 777-300ER – operated into Tegel by Qatar Airways – and Boeing 747-400, which were not regular visitors.


Terminal C

Terminal C was opened in May 2007 as a temporary solution because all other terminals were operating at their maximum capacity. It was largely used by Air Berlin until its demise. It featured 26 check-in counters and gates numbered C38-C51, C60–C67 (Section C2), and C80-C89 (in the newest addition Section C3). From 2008 until August 2009, 5 additional aircraft stands were constructed and the building was expanded by approximately 50% of its original size, in order to handle another 1.5 million passengers per year. The extended terminal housed a transit zone for connecting passengers which did not exist at any other terminal at Tegel Airport. Due to noise protection treaties, the overall number of aircraft stands at the airport was restricted, thus aircraft stands on the apron (serving Terminals A and D) had to be removed for compensation.''Tegel Airport to be expanded before BBI inauguration'' (translated article title), ''Town Planning'' (translated section title), ''Berliner Morgenpost'' (German newspaper), 3 December 2008
Terminal C was able to handle widebody-aircraft like Air Berlin's former Airbus A330-200s up to the size of a Boeing 747-400 but featured no jet bridges.


Terminal D

Terminal D was opened in 2001 and is a converted car park. It featured 22 check-in counters (D70–D91), with one bus-boarding gate and two walk-boarding gates. Most passengers of airlines operating smaller aircraft (like Embraer 190s for example) were brought to the remote aircraft stands by bus from here. Terminal D was the only part of the airport that remained open all night long. The lower level arrival area was called Terminal E (Gates E16-E18).


Former airlines and destinations

Tegel was the primary airport of Berlin and therefore saw flights by most major European airlines including British Airways and Air France to many large European cities as well as frequent services to leisure routes mainly around the Mediterranean. After the demise of Air Berlin, which maintained a hub here, Tegel served as a base for
easyJet EasyJet plc (styled as easyJet) is a British multinational low-cost airline group headquartered at London Luton Airport. It operates domestic and international scheduled services on 927 routes in more than 34 countries via its affiliate airli ...
and
Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier founded in 1984. It is headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland and has its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. It forms the largest part of the Ryanair Holdings family ...
— which both also operated out of Berlin Schönefeld Airport — alongside
Eurowings Eurowings GmbH is a German low-cost carrier headquartered in Düsseldorf and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group. Founded in 1996, it serves a network of domestic and European destinations and formerly also operated some long-haul ...
. German flag carrier Lufthansa however only maintained two routes to connect their hubs in
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
and Munich Airport, Munich with several flights per day. Despite the size and importance of Berlin as one of Europe's largest capital cities, Tegel handled only eight long-haul routes prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, several of them seasonal — most notably by Qatar Airways to Hamad International Airport, Doha, United Airlines to Newark Liberty International Airport, Newark and Scoot to Changi Airport, Singapore.


Statistics


Annual passenger traffic


Busiest routes


Ground transportation

Tegel Airport did not have a direct rail connection, but was served by several bus routes and motorways. An underground station directly serving Tegel Airport had been planned since the 1960s, but was never built. Note that the Alt-Tegel (Berlin U-Bahn), Alt-Tegel U-Bahn station and Berlin-Tegel railway station, Tegel S-Bahn station do not serve Tegel Airport, but rather the Tegel, Tegel-quarter of Berlin. Extensions of the Trams in Berlin, tram system from Berlin Hauptbahnhof, Hauptbahnhof and the U6 (Berlin U-Bahn), U6 branch from Kurt-Schumacher Platz to the airport were discussed, but not implemented before its closure.


Car

The airport has a direct connection to Bundesautobahn 111, motorway A111 (Exit ''Flughafen Tegel'') which further links it to motorways A10, A110 and A115 (via A110) reaching out in all directions. Taxis and car hire were available at the airport.


Bus

The airport was linked by several Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe, BVG Bus transport in Berlin, bus lines, which offered connection to the Berlin U-Bahn, U-Bahn and Berlin S-Bahn, S-Bahn, as well as to Regional-Express, Regional Express trains and Deutsche Bahn, long-distance trains: * The ''TXL'' express bus ran to Berlin Beusselstraße railway station, Beusselstraße S-Bahn station, Berlin Hauptbahnhof, Berlin Central station (within 20 minutes), with frequent departures between 7 am and 10 pm. * The ''X9'' express bus ran to Jakob-Kaiser-Platz (Berlin U-Bahn), Jakob-Kaiser Platz U-Bahn station (within 5 minutes), Berlin Jungfernheide railway station, Jungfernheide S-Bahn and Regional Express station, and Berlin Zoologischer Garten railway station, Zoologischer Garten U-Bahn/S-Bahn/Regional Express station (within 20 minutes). * The ''109'' bus ran to Jakob-Kaiser-Platz (Berlin U-Bahn), Jakob-Kaiser Platz U-Bahn station, Berlin-Charlottenburg station, Charlottenburg S-Bahn and Regional Express station (within 20 minutes), and Berlin Zoologischer Garten railway station, Zoologischer Garten U-Bahn/S-Bahn/Regional Express station (within 30 minutes) (runs via Kurfürstendamm). * The ''128'' bus ran to Kurt-Schumacher-Platz (Berlin U-Bahn), Kurt-Schumacher-Platz U-Bahn station (within 10 minutes) and Osloer Strasse (Berlin U-Bahn), Osloer Straße U-Bahn station (within 25 minutes). Tegel Airport was in the Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg's Berlin B fare zone, with no additional fare for BVG services to and from the airport.


Incidents and accidents

There are no recorded fatal accidents involving commercial airline operations at Berlin Tegel itself. However, two commercial flights, one of which was due to arrive at Tegel Airport and the other of which had departed the airport, were involved in fatal accidents. These accidents are listed below: * On 15 November 1966, ''Clipper München'', a Pan Am Boeing 727#727-100, Boeing 727-21 (registration N317PA) operating the return leg of the airline's daily cargo flight to Berlin from Frankfurt Rhein-Main Airport (Pan Am Flight 708, flight number PA 708) was due to land that night at Tegel Airport, rather than Tempelhof, due to runway resurfacing work taking place at that time at the latter. Berlin Control had cleared flight 708 for an Instrument Landing System (ILS) approach to Tegel Airport's runway 08, soon after the crew had begun its visual flight (airplanes), descent from Flight Level (FL) 090 to FL 030 before entering the southwest air corridor over German Democratic Republic, East Germany on the last stretch of its journey to Berlin. The aircraft impacted the ground near Dallgow-Döberitz, Dallgow, East Germany, almost immediately after the crew had acknowledged further instructions received from Berlin Control, just from Tegel Airport. All three crew members died in this accident. Visibility was poor, and it was snowing at the time of the accident. Following the accident, the Soviet military authorities in East Germany returned only half of the aircraft's wreckage to their US counterparts in West Berlin. This excluded vital parts, such as the flight data recorder (FDR), the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) as well as the plane's Aircraft flight control system, flight control systems, its air navigation, navigation and communication equipment. The subsequent National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) accident report, investigation report concluded that the aircraft's descent below its altitude clearance limit was the accident's probable cause. However, the NTSB was unable to establish the factors that had caused the crew to descent (aircraft), descend below its cleared minimum altitude. The following notable, non-fatal incidents involving airline operations occurred at Tegel. These include commercial flights that were about to depart or had actually departed/arrived as well as unscheduled stopovers: * Between 1969 and 1982, Berlin Tegel was the destination of several aircraft hijackings involving LOT Polish Airlines domestic flights within Poland. The hijackings were a means of forcing the authorities in communist Poland to let the hijackers emigrate from the Eastern Bloc. Once the aircraft had landed at Tegel, the French military authorities in charge of the airport during the Cold War era let the hijackers and anyone else who did not wish to return to Poland disembark and claim political asylum in West Berlin. The aircraft, its crew and those passengers who did not want to disembark were subsequently returned to Poland. * Upon completing the repair and run-up (aviation), run-up of the faulty engine that had caused a rejected takeoff due to an engine oil warning at Berlin Tegel during the late 1980s, a Dan-Air Boeing 727#727-200, Boeing 727-200 Adv collided with a jetway at the airport's terminal building while maintenance engineers taxied the aircraft back to its stand. This badly injured the ground crew member manning the jetway and ruptured the fully refuelled aircraft's centre wing tank at the left wing root. As a result, a large quantity of jet fuel spilled onto the tarmac. The maintenance engineers' failure to pressurise the aircraft's hydraulics had resulted in a complete loss of hydraulic pressure just before reaching the stand, making it impossible to steer the aircraft and rendering the brakes ineffective. *On 7 January 1997, Austrian Airlines flight 104, a McDonnell Douglas MD-87 en route to Vienna International Airport, was hijacked shortly after takeoff from Tegel Airport by a Bosnian male carrying a knife (which was small enough to be allowed on board under then valid safety regulations). The pilots were forced to return to Berlin, where the perpetrator was overpowered by German police forces. * On 6 November 1997, an Air France Boeing 737 Classic#737-500, Boeing 737-500 skidded off the runway while landing at Berlin Tegel due to a suspected brake defect. There were no injuries. There were also two Cold war era incidents relating to an American and a British airliner that had departed Tegel on international non-scheduled passenger services. Both of these occurred in Bulgarian airspace. The former was a charter flight carrying German holidaymakers to the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, the latter a migrant workers, migrant charter flight, charter en route to Turkey: * On 28 May 1971, a Modern Air Convair CV-990, CV-990A with 45 passengers on board en route from Berlin Tegel to Bulgaria was unexpectedly denied permission to enter Bulgarian airspace, as a result of a new policy adopted by that country's then-communist government to deny any aircraft whose flight had originated or was going to terminate at a West Berlin airport the right to take off and land at any of its airports. This resulted in the aircraft having to turn back to Berlin, where it landed safely at the city's Tegel Airport. * The same year, a Dan-Air de Havilland Comet, Comet carrying Turkish migrant workers from Berlin Tegel to Istanbul was "escorted" by Bulgarian fighter aircraft, fighter planes into Sofia. The crew flying the aircraft was attempting to take the shortest route to Istanbul when leaving Yugoslavia, Yugoslav airspace by entering Bulgarian airspace, instead of taking the longer route through Greek airspace. They were not aware of the then communist government of Bulgaria's decision not to let any aircraft enter its airspace whose flight had originated or was going to terminate at a West Berlin airport, without stopping en route at another airport outside West Berlin. The aircraft landed safely at Sofia. It was released along with its crew and passengers when the flight's commander paid with the company's credit card the fine the Bulgarian authorities had imposed for violating their country's airspace.''The Spirit of Dan-Air'', Simons, G.M., GMS Enterprises, Peterborough, 1993, p. 54


See also

*
Berlin Brandenburg Airport Berlin Brandenburg Airport ''Willy Brandt'' (german: Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg "Willy Brandt", , ) is an international airport in Schönefeld, just south of the Germany, German capital Berlin in the state of Brandenburg. Named after the f ...
* Berlin Schönefeld Airport * Berlin Tempelhof Airport *
Otto Lilienthal Karl Wilhelm Otto Lilienthal (23 May 1848 – 10 August 1896) was a German pioneer of aviation who became known as the "flying man". He was the first person to make well-documented, repeated, successful flights with gliders, therefore making ...
, the aviator after whom the airport is named * Flughafensee * List of airports in Germany * Transport in Germany


References


Notes


Citations


Bibliography

* * (various backdated issues relating to commercial air transport at Berlin Tegel) * (October 1990 until December 1994) * * * * *


Further reading

* William Durie, "The United States Garrison Berlin 1945-1994", Aug 2014, .
Bonjour Deutschland – Luftverkehr unter Nachbarn: 1926–2006


External links

* * *

(CNN) {{Authority control Airports in Berlin, Tegel Airport Buildings and structures in Reinickendorf, Tegel Airport Airports established in 1906 Airports disestablished in 2020 Otto Lilienthal 1906 establishments in Germany 2020 disestablishments in Germany