On November 7, 2020, our only inner-city airport Berlin-Tegel permanently closes its gates with the last flight ceremoniously taking off on November 8. An Air France flight will take off at 3 pm CET, as Air France also operated the first civil flight to Tegel on January 2, 1960.
For the month of October Berliners had the chance to say goodbye, while the airport opened its observation deck one last time to visitors.
Berliners love their city airport and many fought to keep it alive until the last instance. CNN called it “the airport that wouldn’t die/refuses to die”. But this time the gates close for good.
Tegel. They don’t make them like this anymore. The close location to the city center and the short walking distances from the terminal to the airplane due to Tegel’s unique hexagon design around an open square make it a pleasant breezy airport experience. With no long walks to the gates, Tegel is the opposite of the modern airport, aka big-box shopping mall-like, thanks to its retro, efficient and functional design with small boutiques and little to no screens that loop the same commercials over and over again. It’s a big city airport, but with a small-town touch. Tegel is where nostalgia met present excitement.
This was the airport, where I took my first flight. It was the starting point to many of my life-changing trips and adventures, like moving to Istanbul and to New York, going on a solo trip through Southeast Asia, finally heading off to India, traveling to Italy, Ireland, the UK. Many great memories started here. It was my gateway to the world.
The saying “I love airports because the rules of society just don't apply” couldn’t be truer than to Tegel. And that included not just your eating, drinking, and dressing habits, but also prejudices were taken with a grain of salt. Stereotypes were most of the time humorous matters here, not discriminatory issues. I always felt safe and comfortable. Maybe because the whole world was here, people from all walks of life - together, charmingly and harmoniously.
Thank you for the memories, Tegel! I will certainly miss you.
Watch the whole photo series here: