Huge airport that handled 24m passengers a year closed forever

One of Europe’s most famous airports, which handled more than 24 million passengers a year, closed down forever. Berlin Tegel Airport served the German capital for more than 70 years before shutting down in 2020.

At its peak, the airport welcomed 24.2 million passengers a year, despite originally being designed to handle only a small fraction of that number. The airport became increasingly overcrowded as passenger numbers continued to rise, eventually leading to the decision to close it and move flights elsewhere.

The airport was originally built in 1948 during the Berlin Airlift after the Soviet Union blocked road, rail and water access into West Berlin, cutting the city off from vital supplies.

With existing airports struggling to cope, French authorities ordered the construction of a new airfield at Tegel.

More than 19,000 Berliners helped build the airport, many of them women who had already helped with clearing and rebuilding the city after the war.

Construction began on August 5, 1948. Just 90 days later, on November 5, the first aircraft landed at the new airport carrying essential supplies for West Berlin.

Workers used rubble from bombed buildings across the city to help build the runway because construction materials were in short supply. At 2,428 metres long, it was the longest runway in Europe at the time.

The airport remained in use after the Berlin Airlift and gradually became more and more popular with airlines.

Commercial flights started in 1960 when Air France launched scheduled services from the airport.

However, during the Cold War, only airlines from Britain, France and the United States were allowed to operate flights into West Berlin.

It was only following German reunification in 1990 that German airlines were finally allowed to use the airport.

Air Berlin later made Tegel its main hub, and the airport continued expanding its network of destinations. Passengers could fly from Tegel to cities including London, Paris, Frankfurt, Zurich, New York and Miami.

Although the airport remained popular, it was never designed for huge numbers of passengers. By 2019, Tegel recorded its busiest year with 24.2 million passengers.

Many parts of the airport had become outdated, while space for security checks, baggage handling and passenger facilities was increasingly limited.

As a result, commercial passenger flights officially ended on November 8, 2020.

In a fitting tribute to the airport’s commercial history, the final departure was an Air France flight to Paris.

Tegel was officially decommissioned on May 4, 2021. Today, the former airport site is being transformed into one of Europe’s largest redevelopment projects.

The site, now known as Berlin TXL, will include a technology and research centre inside parts of the former terminal buildings.

More than 5,000 new homes are also planned for the area, with enough space for more than 10,000 residents.

Large sections of the former airfield are also being turned into public green spaces and nature reserves.