LondonElite

Not all. UA and DL for example boarded theirs from the usual gates. I think the QR and EK ones as well. The LH 747s that operated to FRA immediately after AB went bust couldn't line up with the gates, so they were boarded by foot.

offerendum

Thanks, impressive! I never made it to Tegel. When I once had a flight it was canceled and otherwise I always take the train (under 4 hours is faster than a flight if you consider the journey to and from the airport) or my car.

LondonElite

Drove past it today and there were more curious tourists of the abandoned sites variety than visible police.

lhrpete

Thanks for the great pics.

Other than LHR, my home airport, TXL is the place I've flown from and too most with the first trip in 1976 on a BA Trident and the last one in January this year on a BA A320 with many other airlines, routes and types in the middle.

I can see the downsides from the point of view of others but for me it has always been an efficient and friendly place to arrive and depart. Yes, it's a bit run down now but from the plane door opening to down town even by the X9 rather than a taxi in just on thirty minutes is still an excellent journey. BER will be a drag in comparison no matter how smart it looks. MUC T2 is very smart but TXL was much more efficient.

I'm not going to be able to visit again and I'm sad, I should have been there last week so now it will just have to be happy memories.

Antonio8069

I last flew into TXL in February. Loved the old place. Entering the Schengen zone was easy compared to (say) FRA or MUC. The staff @ the BVG ticket desk were always helpful. And the bus transfer to the CBD were incredibly easy.

What I will not miss are these incredible gratuitous attacks on the staff. I read another FT (you?) who said they should all be let go. What an arrogant, obnoxious, and dismissive comment directed at workers. Have you ever directed your wrath at the secuirity company? IMO, no. In other words, your comments are Trumpesque - drive-by insults of zero validity. No place for this on FT, please.

BobBHX

You are the one who is being vitriolic. My comments wer3 not gratuitous, they were based on my experience flying from TXL about 3 or 4 times a year since 1990. Many of the security staff were very good but some were not.

You are being Trumpesque by trying to stop genuine comment based on fact.

LondonElite

There was one check-in person who will always stand out for me. He is quite rough-looking with tattoos on his neck and arms, the sort of person you'd cross the street from at night, but wow, what a nice guy. He almost always worked the UA flight premier zone, and I got to know him after a while. We would joke around and wish each other a nice day and so on. On my last flight our of TXL, flying with two of my children to our ski holiday, we arrived very late due to my son forgetting something important at home and having to go back. The queue for the LH gate was massive (this was a mixed gate where three gates merged) and I was getting ready for the walk of shame to the front with plenty of 'sorries'. He spots me walking toward the gate and asks me where I'm flying. I said at this rate probably nowhere, so he says 'come with me' and walks me to another door for the same gate pairs that was locked. He opens it and we walk right to the front of the security scanner. I hope he makes it over to BER!

adampenrith

The memories of flying into Berlin in the 70's when I lived there for a few years ......

an_asker

That's too bad. Bye, TXL. Sorry I never got to know you. The one time we flew into Berlin - on Norwegian - was to Schonefelde (sp?).

nilsrtw

Wow would love to hear some stories from 70s Berlin - must have been a very special place back then.

Living near LEJ, TXL was always my choice for more options. Yes it's run down, most staff has a very berlin attitude and the TXL/X9 is an experience - but I'll still miss it. Can't beat stepping out of the bus with a bad hangover 10mins before boarding and still having time for a coffee in the senator lounge .
I might have an essential trip to HEL coming up next week, would love to say goodbye - even if it's just terminal C.

angeloedades

I am going to miss TXL so bad!

warakorn

I think these attacks were not meant against individual workers, but moreover against the company Wisag.

elephantiger

Don't write TXL off just yet... some are starting to realise that opening up for summer travel within Europe with just Schönefeld might not be so clever.

view

Very interesting photo essay, thank you for sharing!

londonfog

You must have read my mind. My first trip to Berlin was on a Pan Am 727 to Tempelhof, my last trip to Berlin (so far) was on a BA flight to Tegel. In between there is an Easyjet trip to Schonefeld that, actually, was/is the farthest thing from Schon (No umlaut in my English keyboard ) I could think of!