Berlin once had three major airports, which were Tempelhof, Schönefeld and Tegel Airport. It was decided to consolidate these into a single airport for the city, with Tempelhof closing first back in 2008. I had the pleasure of flying there, and landing was some experience as you used to fly right over residential buildings immediately before the runway.
The southern runway of Schönefeld Airport became the new northern runway for Berlin Brandenburg Airport, with the rest of that facility closing in 2020. Tegel Airport, which was beloved by many for its passenger centric convenient design, saw its last flight on 8 November 2020.
Tegel Airport Repurposed
Tempelhof Airport became Tempelhofer Feld, a large park for the people of Berlin. You can do guided tours of the terminal building, which was built during the years the Nazi party was in power in Germany. Meanwhile, here’s a video of what is happening at Tegel.
Happily they will be keeping a lot of the striking architecture, which is very nice. Using the space for a lot of modern and sustainable housing is smart, as is using all the space for the various startups. It’s all quite interesting to see what happens to an old airport, especially when so much space is available.
Overall Thoughts
While the story of the horrendous construction issues with Berlin Brandenburg Airport will be studied into the future as an example of what not to do, at one time German designers got it right. Tegel Airport minimised walking for passengers, and a person could go from the curb to the gate with very few steps indeed. I passed through here once and found it rather convenient.
Making good use of the space in a decommissioned airport makes a lot of sense. The decision to reduce three airports to one was a sound one, but I have a feeling the new airport won’t be remembered as well as the old ones.
Did you ever fly through Tegel Airport? What was it like? Do you have any thoughts on what they will be doing with the space now? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image by Hans Knips via Wikimedia Commons.
Tegel years ago… NOt bad to get thru…
Agreed!
Flew through Tegel in 2008. I found it a very easy airport to navigate, both arriving and departing. Perhaps I was lucky but was through security and to my gate about 8 minutes after arriving on the bus from Zoological station.
One question: Since rail transport did not go directly to Tegel, with the building of 5000 living units and all the other uses (commercial, education, etc) are there plans to extend the U or S-bahns directly to the site?
That’s true, I think I remember getting a taxi to Tegel because of that very reason regarding the lack of a rail connection. A quick Google shows that “the area will be served by a sustainable mobility transport network made up of electric buses, light rail, and bike paths.” Since it’s going to take a decade or more to get it all done, anything could happen in the meantime.
Last time I flew to Berlin was before the pandemic and I recall arriving to Tegel wasn’t that bad.
However, departing from Tegel was a nightmare. Very very long queues for security where you really have to get there early to ensure you don’t miss your flight. Perhaps when I went in 2018 it was just at over capacity or perhaps there was a shortage of staff but you can read a lot of similar experiences at flyertalk.
Ahh yes, I do recall that was the main issue that people complained about when it came to Tegel. It was designed before security screening was such a thing, so there wasn’t really appropriate space for it. A good point!