The_Mileonaire

This might be a different "trip" report, but may interesting for some here. Today it was announced that Berlin Tegel (TXL) will close its doors (almost certainly forever) in June. As I've been flying in and out of TXL so often, I wanted to pay it a last visit and photograph the deserted, empty airport during COVID-19 for my Instagram (shameless plug: www.instagram.com/haelt_). As the closure of the airport makes me quite sentimental, I thought I'd share the photos here as well as they might be interesting to some of you here.

The whole place felt super weird, as there was NO ONE around at the main terminal (remaining flights are done via Terminal C) besides 2 security guards and a police car circling around every now and then. A place where you normally have hundreds of cars trying to find a spot to pick up/drop off passengers was now completely empty and silent - a pretty fascinating experience to be honest. I don't know about you, but even I as someone who never really like TXL (too small, not well maintained, no proper public transportation, old lounges, cramped boarding areas,...) I'll miss it.

Anyway, here are the pics of a deserted Berlin Airport:

Gardyloo

Wow. Terrific.

EZE

Great photos! Thanks

LondonElite

Nice photographs!

SKT-DK

Great Photos! The first one looks particularly spooky with the dark clouds

My oldest memories of flying into Berlin are from Tempelhof, and now the second oldest will be history too

Dover2Golf

Excellent, I for one will miss TXL and now I won't get to make a final visit.

Happy memories!

hkskyline

Nice photos. How many years ago was it supposed to close?

enviroian

Great pics! I flew into there for the first time in 2015. When I fly out a few days later it felt like I was at MCI due to the security per gate banks.

dlnewbie

That definitely looks spooky in its state of desertion. Glad that I was able to make through TXL once while it was operating normally. I guess all things eventually come to an end, and looking forward to the new BER once this pandemic is over. I wonder if there will be a currywurst stand outsife of BER like Tegel.

The_Mileonaire

I just hope they move the "Currywurst S-Bahn" 1:1 to BER, but I doubt it :/

BobBHX

I will definitely miss TXL. What I won’t miss are the massive security queues and many unpleasant security staff.

warakorn

Did you manage to physically get into Terminal A or did you just take the photos through the outside glases?

The_Mileonaire

Terminal A was completely closed sadly, no chance to get in. Security guards were the only people around, doors were locked. The photos were taken by putting the lens directly on the windows.

LondonElite

Haha, almost a decade ago!

The_Mileonaire

Yep, and no money was put into TXL in the last years (due to BER "opening" at some point)...and that clearly showed in the last years:

• oarding gates were always way too small
• Longhaul flights (the few ones that existed) had to be boarded by foot (weird feeling to walk across the tarmac to board an A330 via stairs)
• Lounges had super old seats with lots of wear
• Check-in areas were super crowded with lines spanning across multiple gates (everyone basically standing in the major walkway)
• No effort to improve public transportation (you had to use a crowded bus to get to the airport...which sometimes didnt even pick you up at the train station for 45 mins if it was e.g. raining or so)
• The added terminal is basically a makeshift building
• ...and the list goes on

Still, I would've loved to keep TXL as a second airport for national or continental flights. Nothing could've beaten it as a small city airport with less flights to main European destinations, especially as you could arrive via cab directly in front of your gate.