TXL to be closed "temporarily" on June 15th – is that good-bye EDDT?

[txl]

Shareholders of Flughafengesellschaft Berlin today decided to close Berlin Tegel airport and let Schönefeld (SXF) handle the low number of flights during the current Covid–19 crisis. Berlin and Brandenburg governments as well as the federal government voted to temporarily lift Tegel's operation obligation. According to reports, TXL will cease operations on June 15th. All parties involved stress that is is supposed to be "preliminary".

But is it? With BER finally set to open on October 31, it's hard to see that Tegel will come back online at all. As you might guess from my handle on this humble forum, that is a sad day for me.

News report (German) (https://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/flugverkehr-in-coronakrise-eingebrochen-berlin-tegel-wird-am-15-juni-voruebergehend-geschlossen/25846154.html)

[Airbubba]

I have fond memories of operating out of TXL flying the PAA IGS. No speed limits in the three corridors. :ok:

[Less Hair]

The closing of Tegel will be final. This way they can use Corona to force airlines out of Tegel that wouldn't want to move otherwise.
SXF is cramped and run down and harder to reach than Tegel during rush hours except by train.
It's a strategic error to close all those airports for what will be two runways at EDDB for all the traffic including general aviation.

[Spunk]

The closing of Tegel will be final.

I agree. It's not an economic decission, it's a political decission.

[advent]

It is eventually, the correct decision..

[what next]

It is eventually, the correct decision..

In which sense? Closing Tegel will leave an agglomeration of 5 million people with single airport and alternates that are half an hour away. This must be unique in the world.

[fantom]

Ah, the weeks in TXL and all those beers and headaches...

[tubby linton]

I have fond memories of operating out of TXL flying the PAA IGS. No speed limits in the three corridors. :ok: The Panam 727 used to get annoyed when a 737 got in their way. They also used to fly contact approaches in atrocious weather but admittedly they knew where every chimney was.

[lederhosen]

Well one did crash on approach to TXL in the sixties. I think PAA usually flew to Templehof at that time, at least that's where I went with them. I was based there for a while, to be honest not my favourite place. TXL had character, particularly the architecture, but also not always in a good way. The ground handling was at times a nightmare and taxy routes could be tiresome particularly by way of the bridge, which had quite an interesting incline.

[txl]

Tegel was set to be closed the moment the second runway of BER was in operation – that had been decided years ago. This can be expected on November 8th. What I thought is peculiar that they insist on the closure being "temporary" now, when everybody with a sane mind knows it's probably time for last rites.

Or would it make sense to re-open the airport for a couple of weeks? I don't see airline travel recovering to a point that SXF couldn't handle the load anytime soon. There are around 2000 passengers per day traveling through TXL and SXF combined right now.

[BEA 71]

Well one did crash on approach to TXL in the sixties. I think PAA usually flew to Templehof at that time, at least that's where I went with them. I was based there for a while, to be honest not my favourite place. TXL had character, particularly the architecture, but also not always in a good way. The ground handling was at times a nightmare and taxy routes could be tiresome particularly by way of the bridge, which had quite an interesting incline.

The 727 which crashed was most likely shot down, it was a mail service without passengers. In well over 40 years of IGS operation no passenger lost his/her life. The safety record was second to none. Tempelhof was served by Pan American and British European Airways, also by Air France, which moved to ( the old ) Tegel Airport with the introduction of the Caravelle. All charter flights - Modern Air etc. - operated from the old Tegel Airport. I think the old site, the other side of the airfield, is now used by the Luftwaffe Flugbereitschaft. Unless there is a express line serving SXF or BER, the trip there is a nightmare. Done the trip once, and thought I never get there.

[Less Hair]

TXL is the only working airport in Berlin that can handle the full capacity needed. If they now close it before BER is open they again gamble. If this goes wrong again they are f......and well deserved. TXL Airlines must be pissed to move at least one more time now. This can so much backfire. I hope they get BER going finally.

[Airbubba]

A Tegel incident a little before my time but I later knew and/or flew with every one of the players. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

And I recently corresponded with an TXL flight ops office worker who was also onboard. She said the trainee at the controls was somewhat less arrogant after the episode when he came in to file his hypo tax paperwork.

Now, this is no s**t. Or, should I say, once upon a time... ;)

Three [and a half] decades ago a U.S. airline was doing a captain's rating ride in a steam driven 737 in Berlin. The instructor was the head 737 check airman and the FAA was on the jumpseat observing. Due to the restricted Cold War airspace the required airwork was done in a tight pattern near TXL. A reject, a V1 cut and some bounces back at Tegel went well and the crew set up for the traditional no-flap full stop landing to complete the ride.

The gear warning horn circuit breaker was pulled and the trap was set.

They forgot to lower the gear as the check airman pointed out how difficult it was to decelerate on path in the low drag flapless configuration even with idle thrust.

The PF in the left seat realized in the flare that the already nose high picture was settling too low and pushed the power up just as things started to scrape. Hydraulic components were torn off the bottoms of the JT-8D engine nacelles and they did a manual reversion missed approach. And manual gear extension followed by landing with pneumatic braking.

The FAA guy was a furloughee from the airline so the incident was handled locally with discretion in the pre-social media era to protect the careers of all concerned.

Years later I worked with the PF's training partner, Dale C., who was riding back in the cabin during the gear up touch and go. He was of the opinion that there was little deceleration during the runway contact and if they had not gone flying again they would have ended up in a fireball in the congested area east of the runway.

[Gipsy Queen]

All charter flights - Modern Air etc. - operated from the old Tegel Airport.
.

Went there years ago with Air America.

[Adambrau]

I have fond memories of operating out of TXL flying the PAA IGS. No speed limits in the three corridors. :ok:

LOVE the memories.

PA102 JFK-LHR-HAM-TXL
PA91 TXL-STR-ZRH-JFK

And all the other combos...

[777xxcp]

Maybe it's the correct decision, but crews who were based here know that TXL is the best in this city.
We will miss this place :-(

[ozbiggles]

When romance meets reality, reality should win. Seems like a perfect time in an imperfect world to do it. Billions of dollars are being lost every week, a common sense decision this is.

[Loose rivets]

Berlin had its moments. Last seconds of a flight and a glance right to a woman beating her rug on the brickwork of her verandah. Focuses the mind, that does.

Bullets trump CB's. Stay on centreline. (we can still say, trump, can't we?)

[Airbubba]

Well one did crash on approach to TXL in the sixties. I think PAA usually flew to Templehof at that time, at least that's where I went with them.

Correct, Clipper 708 was operating out of Tegel due to runway work at Templehof.

From the NTSB accident report:

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1311x479/paa_708_ce0270fa88df5d79166a8a48ff7f29fda956fab6.jpg

[Denti]

Probably the worst possible timing for the "temporary" closure. BER is not ready yet, however the airlines are beginning to restart their service beginning in june, which of course will play havoc with those servicing TXL. SXF is a mess to begin with. A real temporary closure would have made sense in april and may, but the relevant minister was against it, precisely to keep the military side working as that is used to provide transportation to the government and other political staff.

Anyway, at the moment the closure is not a finite thing yet, it is just a possibility. One thing is for sure, the civil side will close latest on November 8th anyway, the transition to BER was planned to start at October 31st. BER terminal 1 is certified now, but is not yet ready for opening, not to mention the public transport plans to the new terminal as well as other infrastructure still needs a few months until they operate normally.

That said, in a referendum the majority of berlin inhabitants were very much in favor of keeping TXL open even after BER opens, as one airport is not really enough for the city. I know airline planners have a major headache about mass diversions in case of a closure of BER, as the alternate situation, especially close to the night curfew, is not all that easy.

[Less Hair]

Leipzig or Hannover might be the alternates of choice in the future whenever EDDB is unable to accept landings. Mind you they now have only one single working runway.

[Denti]

Leipzig or Hannover might be the alternates of choice in the future whenever EDDB is unable to accept landings. Mind you they now have only one single working runway.
Leipzig is not open to passenger traffic at night. And therefore cannot be legally planned as alternate close to the night curfew.

[BEA 71]

It is a bit off topic, but it would have been the best solution to built a new airport in the centre of the Berlin-Dresden-Leipzig triangle, serving all three cities and connect them to the airport with high speed trains. This would have been possible in the early 90´s, but patchwork came out in the end. Like a mini bus shuttle from Dresden to Leipzig to connect with the daily British Airways London-Heathrow Service.

[Less Hair]

That's due to the federal states and their different interests and rivalries. Something like Jüterbog halfway between Berlin and very populated Leipzig/Halle area next to the railway line would have been perfect and almost ready to use. There are, even today, huge deserted former soviet military tank firing ranges available for redevelopment. But this would have been the next Frankfurt airport and national hub that none of the old players wanted.
Combined with local narrow minded state politicians they ended up with the - too close to the city - BER site.

[Denti]

Well, that discussion is about 30 years too late by now.

[Less Hair]

Correct but this 30 year old misjudgment will only now become everybody's daily pain.

[atakacs]

Have many (fond) memories of TXL - definitely one of the very last "different" airports remaining in Europe. Just as THF I will definitely mourn its passing, but such is life, nothing lasts forever. Just sad that they could not organize a proper "farewell" party...

As others have pointed out the move is certainly rational but also risky - they are putting themselves against the wall... but if anywhere I guess that's the place where they know how to handle such situations :O.

Interesting points about the lack of diversion. Leipzig would be the obvious choice and could be arranged quite nicely with proper collaboration... so won't happen. Wonder what is the "official" plan at the moment ?

[Alpine Flyer]

The closure of Tegel is as sensible as the closure of Tempelhof was, moving the airport further from the city again and sacrifying accessibility in search of a grandeur and "global reach" airport that BER will not become. I had the luck to fly to THF a couple of times and leaving the terminal landside onto a city square was quite unique (as the terminal architecture which luckily we'll continue to be able to enjoy as it's a listed building).

[Less Hair]

Tempelhof is now finally to become some aviation museum: Museum für Verkehr und Technik and Alliiertenmuseum are seriously planning to display aviation stuff there. After major remodeling of the main hangar bay. And possibly Bundeswehr from Luftwaffenmuseum at Gatow will move in one day too? Not sure about the latter. It would be some fantastic place for their Cold War collection from both east and west.

Tegel is said to become partly some housing area and the terminal is planned to be converted to become some technical higher school or similar. However Bundeswehr's own VIP-helicopter squadron at Tegel Air Base will remain there at least until 2029. Only VIP-aircraft will move to Schönefeld's new built government terminal. In the very north not close to the BER site.

[EcamSurprise]

Tempelhof is now finally to become some aviation museum: Museum für Verkehr und Technik and Alliiertenmuseum are seriously planning to display aviation stuff there. After major remodeling of the main hangar bay. And possibly Bundeswehr from Luftwaffenmuseum at Gatow will move in one day too? Not sure about the latter. It would be some fantastic place for their Cold War collection from both east and west.

Tegel is said to become partly some housing area and the terminal is planned to be converted to become some technical higher school or similar. However Bundeswehr's own VIP-helicopter squadron at Tegel Air Base will remain there at least until 2029. Only VIP-aircraft will move to Schönefeld's new built government terminal. In the very north not close to the BER site.

If by not close you mean on the other side of the runway..

[Less Hair]

West of the Schönfeld site not at the BER site itself.

[atakacs]

Tempelhof is now finally to become some aviation museum: Museum für Verkehr und Technik and Alliiertenmuseum are seriously planning to display aviation stuff there. After major remodeling of the main hangar bay.

Wonder if they will have a look to the flooded basement...

[BEA 71]

Planning for a new aviation museum at this time is probably a joke. Our friends in the East of the nation, who have burned billions of Euro already, should first of all make sure their " BER " is running properly and become a modest international airport. BER will never become a intercontinental airport, no matter what people dream of, for as long as I can remember, all attempts to operate intercontinental services from Berlin have failed. As a former Lufthansa sales manager, based in Berlin, once said, the whole East is a cheap ticket market. It is rather suited to carriers like Easyjet, which already is sort of a flag carrier in the region.

[Less Hair]

Not anymore. There are a lot of small companies in Berlin that have passed the startup phase and are now profitable, growing and generate business travel especially to the US. IT companies especially. Even Siemens is moving back to Siemensstadt their prewar HQ now.
I don't see Berlin becoming a global hub but there will be business routes viable especially to Asia. They are closer to Asia compared to western Europe. Berlin still needs to catch up with tens of years of lost development when it was divided and isolated. But it does recover surprisingly fast. Finally not by state aid programs only but more and more by private investments. There are MANY new asian company people in Berlin now, it is dynamic so to say. Give it another twenty years and it's a global business place again.

[BEA 71]

Î hope you are right, Less Hair, your judgment regarding 20 years sounds realistic. What is forgotten very often is the fact that to make a long haul route profitable you have to fill 200 seats or more every day, depending on the size of aircraft, 365 days every year. You can only achieve this with a feeder service, which, in this case, would mean to divert feeder traffic from Frankfurt and from Munich. I doubt they would surrender a single passenger to BER.

[lederhosen]

As posted above intercontinental flights work best with a hub. Lufthansa group already has two in Germany, and three more nearby if you count Brussels, Vienna and Zurich. Flights to other airline's hubs for example in the Middle East and USA will almost certainly be a feature of Berlin. But Lufthansa ditching Munich to hub and spoke in Berlin looks highly improbable, particularly as Munich is much closer to Italy which has been a major feeder of transfer passengers. The upside with SXF over TXL should be the integration of better onward travel links particularly long distance rail. TXL was pretty limited with only bus transport into the city or to the nearest underground station, which was a few kilometres away.

[Less Hair]

LH will not do it. That's no surprise. They prefer to route Berlin passengers through their own existing hubs.

However this leaves some of the few developing markets in Germany to other competitors. At least the airport to do it will finally be there now. It will not be a formal legacy airline fortress hub it will be p-t-p flights by different players. But with spoke routes connecting throughout Europe. And this is what makes LH nervous. Remember when EK wanted traffic rights to fly to Berlin?

[Denti]

Indeed. Berlin already had direct connections to Beijing and Singapore before Corona, as well as a few US flights. I do agree that there won't be a hub in Berlin, there is neither an airline willing to make the case nor really the terminal for that, the new BER is already too small if measured at 2018 traffic levels, even with the hastily developed Terminal 4 and the decision to keep the old SXF terminals open for ryanair and wizzair (complete lunacy, but then, it is berlin...). And yes, of course part of that is the tourist and party crowd, but an increasing amount of passengers is there for business reasons, after all berlin has a very vibrant startup and IT scene right now, it is not really a surprise that Tesla opens its european design and development center in the city, not to mention the new factory right outside of it (and very close to BER).

But of course, the city still has a lot of catching up to do, after all it was basically closed down for business for around 40 years.

[Toryu]

Planning for a new aviation museum at this time is probably a joke. Our friends in the East of the nation, who have burned billions of Euro already, should first of all make sure their " BER " is running properly and become a modest international airport. BER will never become a intercontinental airport, no matter what people dream of, for as long as I can remember, all attempts to operate intercontinental services from Berlin have failed. As a former Lufthansa sales manager, based in Berlin, once said, the whole East is a cheap ticket market. It is rather suited to carriers like Easyjet, which already is sort of a flag carrier in the region.

You seem to have a pretty short memory then. Connections to MIA, JFK and ORD have been quite sucessful under Air Berlin. The latter two had a sizeable amount of polish passengers aboard.
Then again, I'd label the connections to China, Qatar and the UAE (Aby Dhabi, by AB) as pretty "intercontinental", too. Then there is the EWR-flights by UA and YYZ (seasonally) by Rouge.

Tegel lacks the parking-space for more intercontinental jets, which is the main constraint for long-haul.

[lederhosen]

Toryu the Qatar and United routes are the flights to other airline's hubs I mentioned earlier. The Air Berlin flights may have had reasonable load factors, but their yield is unknown. Given Air Berlin's losses over the years it is unclear how much money these and a lot of other routes were making. It is irrelevant now because there is no equivalent German airline likely to step in. Norwegian or someone similar might have given it a go in different times. But right now everyone is just scrambling to survive and starting a lot of new services is likely postponed to the indeterminate future.

[Toryu]

That's what you are assuming. The polish passengers arrived by car (the drive to Berlin is much shorter than the drive to Warsaw), rail and by air (AB feeding themselves out of several polish cities, including Warsaw).
Yes some tickets might have been a bit cheeper than on LOT*, but there have been parallel flights by UA to EWR and (before that) by DL to JFK. A recent flight from TXL to EWR has shown me there's still a good share of Poles using this opportunity.
On top, AB was feeding AA's focus in JFK and hubs in MIA and ORD, much like UA was feeding their own hub at EWR.
Hainan to Beijing wasn't too shabby either - just like Qatar and Scoot.

There have been succesful intercontinental routes for years and they're still persisting. Whether those were daily, daily-double or just once a week is of lesser importance. It's a lower-volume market that FRA or MUC, yes. It still works out, though. In fact, AA was quite happy being served by AB. That lasted until AB started selling tickets into DFW without prior consulting AA.

Berlin was and still is severely limited by a couple of external and self-made problems. One of them is the lack of industrial and economical strength, which is very slowly recovering**.
The next is the lack of available hub-connections possible, which is self-imposed by the BER-clusterduck. Fun-fact: TXL was supposed to have a subway-station below the connection between it's first and second hexagon. The second hexagon (and the subway-tunnel) never materialised. There was going to be BER, right? Well, Terminal C had to take up the slack and now serves EZY.

Another one is the already mentioned lack of parking-space on an airport that had never been designed to facilitate long-haul connections during peak times. Shuffling any amount of connecting pax through this ancient airport for intercontinental transits has been a major pain in the butt, as well as a monetary isue for AB. The amount of lost baggage is mind-boggling. I once had the chance of claiming a lost bag (fortunately I had an airport-badge) and visiting the lost-baggage area. An absolute horror-picture: Thousands (!) of lost bags waiting to be sent forward to their owners. Some of them half a world away...

Last but certainly not least is the comedic ground-handling.
Want a GPU? Wait for half an hour. Want a working GPU? Well, beats me...


* AB's yield management was one of their demises.
** With the city-state's government, I wouldn't placy any bets on it, though...

[lederhosen]

Another fun fact was the amount of hotel accommodation Air Berlin used for transit passengers that missed their connection. The de-icing could also barely cope with a large aircraft, I remember waiting for them to deal with a Hainan A330 as the runway conditions deteriorated and time counted down to the curfew, happy days not! The check in could also be a a law unto themselves. My crew and I were positioning (after a day's flying) in uniform back to base in plenty of time on a company machine. I had to call a fellow captain who was flying and get him to explain to them that he was going nowhere till they let us on. I have happy memories too like breaking out of the low overcast into the early morning sun and seeing the TV tower poking out of the fog. The female tower controller with the sexy voice was a plus as well. I really hope things finally work out for Berlin and it is third time lucky with its airports (at least in my flying career) and that SXF is a big success.

[Less Hair]

They still don't tell the airlines when to move and where to move from Tegel.

[atakacs]

They still don't tell the airlines when to move and where to move from Tegel.

Do you mean that the currently serviced routes from TXL will simply stop ? No more Lufthansa flight from / to Berlin ??

[Less Hair]

No, the Berlin airport to fly to is just not decided about yet. The Berlin airport group wants to close Tegel ("temporarily") and move all traffic to Schönefeld. However that traffic might again be moved to parts of BER which is not opened yet as we all know. And the date to move is unknown as is if this whole plan is still meant to happen. Pretty strange way to do business is it?

[His dudeness]

Pretty strange way to do business is it?

There much more really strange in Berlin. Its a third world place pretending to be the capital of a first world country. "poor but sexy" the former major once said.

[733driver]

There much more really strange in Berlin. Its a third world place pretending to be the capital of a first world country.

Seriously? I mean it's not perfect but third world? Maybe your humor is lost on me this time, but I know we have all been to third world places and Berlin isn't one of them.

[EcamSurprise]

West of the Schönfeld site not at the BER site itself.

You make it sound like it’s miles away. It’s literally the other side of the runway to BER. You could argue it’s closer to BER than SXF is!

[atakacs]

No, the Berlin airport to fly to is just not decided about yet. The Berlin airport group wants to close Tegel ("temporarily") and move all traffic to Schönefeld. However that traffic might again be moved to parts of BER which is not opened yet as we all know. And the date to move is unknown as is if this whole plan is still meant to happen. Pretty strange way to do business is it?
I muss say I am confused. Are the current (admittedly limited) flights services from TXL going to SXF?

[Denti]

I muss say I am confused. Are the current (admittedly limited) flights services from TXL going to SXF?
Nobody knows yet, in fact, nobody knows if they actually close TXL in June or not, they just made it possible to close it which required agreement between different levels of government and different government authorities (federal, state etc). If demand picks up, which it could do as more airlines restart to operate, they might actually not close it at all until november (and even then it will only close the civil side, the military will remain open for quite some time).

Seriously? I mean it's not perfect but third world? Maybe your humor is lost on me this time, but I know we have all been to third world places and Berlin isn't one of them.

Just the usual southern german attitude towards berlin.

[CaptainProp]

In which sense? Closing Tegel will leave an agglomeration of 5 million people with single airport and alternates that are half an hour away. This must be unique in the world.

Yes, but that train left the station many years ago as the decision to build BER was taken. Keeping TXL open was never a real option as the entire political deal to even build a new airport came with the forced closure of THF and TXL.

CP

[CaptainProp]

Expecting all traffic in and out of Berlin to be served by SXF. If SXF is not able to manage the volumes later this summer they’ll open up parts of BER and slowly get it ready for full opening later in the year.

CP

[golfyankeesierra]

The female tower controller with the sexy voice was a plus as well.

Wasn’t it a ground controller with the very sexy voice? I remember pilots so distracted they taxied the wrong way or just forgot the routing she assigned to them, if it was their first time to TXL.. How many times she would have heard “say again”?😀
I also remember tuning in to Tegel GND just for fun when passing overhead and being very disappointed she wasn’t on duty..

[lederhosen]

Wasn’t it a ground controller with the very sexy voice? I remember pilots so distracted they taxied the wrong way or just forgot the routing she assigned to them, if it was their first time to TXL.. How many times she would have heard “say again”?😀
I also remember tuning in to Tegel GND just for fun when passing overhead and being very disappointed she wasn’t on duty..
You may well be right. Though what she looked like in reality I have no idea. There was a guy with a very strong German American accent I remember too, as well as the strong admonition on ATIS not to cross the very close parallel runway without clearance. Ferry flights to SXF were also fun. The decision by Wowereit not to go with the turnkey option, but try and save money by self managing the build of SXF will probably go down as one of the most expensive mistakes of all time.

[Denti]

ATCOs in TXL do both tower and ground duties, and at times even clearance delivery although that is usually done by a flight data worker. So you can have encountered her, and other, on both frequencies. I believe that is quite common for DFS run german tower/ground frequencies. Only apron, if it does exist, is run by a different unit. TXL doesn't have an apron frequency or unit. Since there is basically only one taxiway everything that is done on the "apron" as it is, has an effect on the rest of the airport.

[misd-agin]

Wasn’t it a ground controller with the very sexy voice? I remember pilots so distracted they taxied the wrong way or just forgot the routing she assigned to them, if it was their first time to TXL.. How many times she would have heard “say again”?😀
I also remember tuning in to Tegel GND just for fun when passing overhead and being very disappointed she wasn’t on duty..

I wonder if she transferred in from Hanover? My father said they (PAA IGS 727) had a mechanical delay in Hanover so the single F/E went up to meet the very nice sounding ground controller. Afterwards the F/E doesn't say anything. Finally after a couple of legs my dad, or the Captain, ask him. Big lady.

[BEA 71]

I wonder if she transferred in from Hanover? My father said they (PAA IGS 727) had a mechanical delay in Hanover so the single F/E went up to meet the very nice sounding ground controller. Afterwards the F/E doesn't say anything. Finally after a couple of legs my dad, or the Captain, ask him. Big lady.
To my knowledge there was only one female controller, a red hair with freckles, in Hannover, her sister worked at the BEA ( BA) ticket desk. I doubt she went to Berlin, however, our pilots frequently talked about the TXL lady controller, she was a lady of great fame.

[BEA 71]

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1845x1209/ham_oct_90_2__27495dbe89f15ebd71cd2c06de2e98032c14ed71.jpg
misd-agin - I thought you like this. A Pan Am 727 in " strange " company. A rare shot. I had seen Interflug 134 just two or three weeks earlier at Leipzig, still with the
" GDR " registration. Took this one in October 1990, while temporarily working at HAM.

[Denti]

Against what has been previously reported, TXL will not close on june 15th. As the papers got it wrong in the first place (only the legal possibility to close was created), and demand is starting to slowly pick up again, that is not really a big surprise after all.

The announcement was done today on a press conference and on the official twitter account (german only) of the airport company. The official reason is to enable the required social distancing in all terminals and for that both SXF and TXL are required until BER opens on halloween.

[Less Hair]

Nobody got anything wrong except maybe you? The airport wanted to use corona as a tool to have all airlines unwilling to move evicted from Tegel by government ordered disease closure and not let them back afterwards until BER opens. In between all traffic would have to be moved to old East German Schönefeld main airport. With corona ending now and summer holiday high season coming up right away they did not have the capacity at SXF alone to serve all Berlin traffic. This is why TXL now has to remain open until late October or early November when BER is finally said to be operational.