Inside Berlin's Tegel airport three years after it closed - BBC News 

0:08 to 0:13 doesn't show Tegel airport but the even older airport in Tempelhof. It originally took up business in 1923 although the main building shown here ("Zentralflughafen") was only finished in 1941. This airport was closed in 2008.

I’ve flown into Tegel many times as a pilot and always found it extremely efficient. It had a huge amount of character with its unique layout, architecture and history. It was a joy. Unfortunately the new Brandenburg airport lacks so much of that, especially efficiency. I still remain extremely dubious that drones will do home deliveries. So much of sci-fi collapses on contact with reality.

The distance from gate to curb was ridiculously efficient. I had a co-worker who walked right out the first time he landed not realizing that he had already passed the baggage carousel, it was so compact.

I was born in Berlin and remember the Tegel Airport being part of regular life. I've always liked it. Thank you 😊

When I lived in Westend, Tegel was much more convenient for me than Schönefeld. An awful lot of Berliners are going to really miss that airport.

As a Berliner I miss Tegel's efficency, the gates were small, but easy to reach. The new airport is far away from the city centre, and has had lots of problems, and has been delayed for ages.

The airport at 0:18 isn't Tegel, it's Tempelhof.

Interesting to see how the former airport Berlin-Tegel has changed in the last 3 years. As a Berliner, I flew from there a few times. For me personally, the (former) Berlin-Tegel airport remains a symbol of how little politics is interested in the opinion of the people. You should never forget the referendum of 2017, where a clear majority of over 55% voted for the preservation of the airport. The Berlin government at the time was not interested at all and they simply continued with their plan to close the airport.

The old footage at the start is Tempelhof airfield

What a cool idea. The development of those futuristic homes looks very cool too. If only all people could afford to live in communities like that.

You included images of 1930ies Tempelhof airport in the beginning. Tegel was the 1970ies successor

Back in the Cold War, Berlin TXL Airport was the main international air gateway to West Berlin. Berlin SXF Airport was East Berlin's main airport. In its history, I wonder what were the busiest flights from TXL and how many destinations it links to.

An airport is a communal space where people connect. It would be cool if it retained that.

I’m glad I had the opportunity to fly in and out of Tegal in 2019.

An interesting look at the current state of Tegel. But why did you feel it necessary to splice footage of Tempelhof Airport (which has its own interesting story and development) into a video about Tegel. That is a move I would only expect from content factory hacks but not the BBC.

I miss taking the bus to Tegel. It was a 15 minute ride. Now I have to go over an hour on transit to go to Brandenburg for a flight

Tegel was a great airport. The critical voices always forget what it was constructed for: an airport for West Berlin, with very limited traffic and only three airlines (one each for the western allies USA, UK, and France) allowed to fly there. It was efficient and user-friendly, with very short distances from car/bus to check-in to plane. And it had plenty of character. It should have been kept working as a city airport, a bad decision that is going to be mourned about much in the future.

You sometimes display the wrong airport, namely Tempelhof. Otherwise, it's so sad that all the airports in Berlin have been closed. 😢

Went to Berlin in 2019, never knew this airport had even closed until now

Tegel is iconic not only to Berliners, but many of us visitors as well. Perhaps... that makes me a true berliner?

I had no idea Tegel had closed. I last used it in 2016 when I was in Berlin for a few days on a mini-vacation from my larger London adventure.

This project is a challenge, but so interesting! Great ideas already in place. Good luck, the world is watching with respect👍🏼👏🏼

0:08 that's not Tegel Airport. That's Tempelhof Airport which is now a Park and big Event Location located in central Berlin.

Listening to these people we can be assured that the future will be very safe, clean and healthy. It really sounds like one of those advertisements for dental paste where the user is always very good looking, or a beauty cream.

would be so cool as a massive festival ground, especially for somewhere like Berlin

Shame about the airport they replaced it with. Flew into Berlin Brandenburg a few times and each time not been a great experience

I'm surprised how many people here believe in their ingenuity. I wish nothing but a successful project to be done in Berlin, especially this one. But please ask people who live in Berlin how things are managed here and how projects very often don't even get started. One question to ask yourself as a testimony of what I just wrote is why and how the new airport in Berlin/Brandenburg took so long to finish and still has many flaws when comparing it to another modern airports which are older.

Berlin is blessed to have multiple airports that are no longer in use.. next video on templehofr feld please...😊

I flew to this airport the first time I traveled internationally, in 2019.

0:08 That’s Tempelhof Airport, Not Tegel.

You might want to re-do the report, because many of the clips show the wrong airport. You're reporting on Tegel, but often show Tempelhof.

Crazy to think this is the second Berlin airport to close in less than 30 years.

Germany genius is irrepressible. Much love from England.

VERY cool. ❤ mixing old, current AND future! Didn't hear much on 'community'.. Innovaters/artists/inventors often thrive far more when surrounded by common passions [even in very different fields] & collaboration opportunity is around every corner!

The only problem is that Tegel has a competitor. The old airport Tempelhof which was even built during the times of Nazi Germany is also going to be a hub for Startup companies and future developments.

Why are there shots of Templehof intermixed with Tegel at the start of the video?

Ahh Berlin Tegel, still sad that it's not in use anymore, but glad it'll have a second life

The shots from 0:08 are of Tempelhof airport.

Ridiculous that they forced it's closer. Brandenburg is a dump lacks the efficiency of Tegel.

Its a great model for eco friendly world. How to use the none use land for sustainable development we can also follow this model for an eco friendly world.

TXL was so nice...if a little worn

Tegel was great, from curb to plan in minutes, and close to the city. Brandenburg is certainly modern, and huge, but it's so far from the city and does not have the charm and convenience that Tegel did.

You're mixing up airports. The intro uses footage from the Tempelhof airport.

Some of the first Pictures were Berlin-Tempelhof!

Now the local fire dept rented some buildings, while they are on construction.

It will be a great technical museum. Personally at my first visit In 2011 I found a swastika at a terminal d bathroom and I remember C as being a hastely build sports hall

My first international stamp on passport was from Tegel.

I can see why that Tegal Airport to the northwest of Berlin has closed and been replaced by the new Brandenburg Airport to the Southeast of Berlin. Maybe new development could be built including new homes, buildings, schools, hospital and many more. Rather than leaving the former airport as it is.

Closed for good. Never liked the security for the A gates and the landslide lounge. The airberlin terminal was like a DIY store.

I’ve see 0 mention of incorporating a delivery system utalizing the existing baggage infrastructure space, it would make a lot of sense if you could have deliveries of food or goods be delivered to your business or resident like a dumbwaiter of sorts. I’ve never understood why companies have never considered this! Restaurants/ stores in the “smart city” could have goods sent to you real time and if it broke down it is close enough to easily deliver on foot.

fantastic what a great idea

Forget Tegel - I prefer Chillingbourne.

Hey BBC, Berlin Tempelhof Airport is not Tegel Airport. 00:18 xD

Alasdair: You need to work out more.

Exciting

That's pretty smart.

I love BBC team from India 🙏

Am Anfang ist es der falsche Flughafen…

Be sure that according to german standards, it will take them 50 years to build there.

Good use than new apartments

Watching from Cambodia

I wonder why there was no mention of the fact that Tegel Airport is currently (still) being used to house many Ukrainian refugees in makeshift shelters bc Berlin has been unable to organize better housing for them, despite only expecting Tegel to be a temporary solution

@BBCNews @alasdairkeano Showing THF airport while speaking about TXL in the beginning (twice). Not sure what your editing standards are, but this is just sad and lazy.

All 3 airports, Tegel, Tempelhof and Schonefeldt have been closed, replaced with Berlin Brandenberg which utilises Schonefeldt runways.

I predict in the future Berlin will need a new airport.

Real estate developers must surely drool over this big plot of land 🤣

Does anyone know why has Tegel airport shut down? It didn't explain in the video. It's a shame because it looks a nice large airport. Could easily upgrade to more modern look or better technology?

Can’t believe you used Templehof shots on a piece about Tegel. Piss poor.

Bad editing, lazy journalism : Please don't confuse and show the iconic 1930's Tempelhof building in the middle of the city when talking about Tegel in the north west of the city. Tegel is also a design classic - but 1970s. The State government had more than TEN YEARS to come up with a concept and "only now startups are moving in"...Waste of time, waste of energy, waste of money. It was a brilliant airport, used best as an airport. 200m from plane to taxi. Underground line prepared for but never finished. The new BER is a design disaster and an economic nightmare. You have a great reputation, but this video falls far below your standards.

haven't they used it for a formula E race??

Ridiculous.

Perfect airship landing zone.

SO GLAD it’s gone. Lived there until 2019. The other airport was literally on the opposite side of the city and the amount of times I heard people going the wrong airport was crazy. Also the airport was so ill equipped ugly and small, was so embarrassing that one of the world’s largest economies capital cities looked like it. Lastly the only way to reach it was with bus from the end of a train line. Now, you can take a train directly to BER. The new BER is 1000x better

several hundred thousand of the swiss decided to migrate but Rome said that is not allowed

1:33 für was war der gang darüber? also on top

Airports are contaminated with PFAs from fire fighting foam in soils and other heavy metals from the days of lead in aviation fuel. Turning the outdoor space into people spaces is a bad idea.

Check out what Austin, Texas did since 1999 with its old Mueller airport - a master-planned community of 700 acres (140 acres of which are spectacular parkland / ponds) 🌿 ⭐ 🌿

God it was ugly. I remember being at that building at night in the mid 2010's and just thinking I was in a Cold War film it had that look of 70's spy films. Weirdest ambience of any airport I've ever been to.

Spiders everywhere...

Thanks

Why not tear this place down and build something nice!

It was the worst decision to close this airport and on top a hit against democracy. Before closing it down there was a vote by the people, that with 56,4% wanted to keep it as an airport. The Berlin government afterwards stated, that this official vote was not legally binding and closed the airport anyways. To me it a shame that politicians do what they want and don't obey the desire of the people.

Oh deary me, BBC, as some commenters have pointed out, the first images you used were of a completely different airport that hat nothing to do with this report. Sigh. Standards, people. Otherwise, an ok report…

Make the autonomous car charlatans pay triple rent. And tell them they won't get a second lease unless they can operate on a road covered in a centimeter of snow with the lines obscured.

Are they creating a 15 minute community?

Worst airport ive been at lol

It's very sad. The former Berlin Tegel Airport still unused after more than three years. The same applies to Tempelhof. So much potential and nothing realized yet. Bad Berlin, bad Germany.

Several clips at the beginning are of Berlin Templehof rather than Berlin Tegal. It's thing's like that which really annoys me. It put me off watching the rest of the show. Part of that early footage even shows the 1930s Berlin Templehof terminal building with it's name in large letters. The editorial team should have taken note of this very obvious error.

TECH START UPS MEAN UNEMPLOYMENT I KNOW

No talk of affordable homes just more "tech bro" bullshit.

This is ridiculous! They should demolish it and built something new.

💙💙💙👏👏👌

There is no green hydrogen because there never will be. Most is made from natural gas. And unless it is liquid the tank is the equivalent to one fifth or less capacity of petrol. A 40 liter petrol car becomes a 10 liter hydrogen car by design. Unless you want most of the interior space to be the tank. With one seat and a dozen high pressure tanks packing your giant car you can get the same range as the petrol tank in a hatchback. And the flammability range for hydrogen in air is like 3 to 97% compared to natural gas which is more like 4 to 17%. Basically that means natural gas gets too rich to burn at high concentration. Things like torches need to pull in air and mix it for the gas to burn. That isn't a thing with hydrogen. It burns in almost all situations. Petrol is a mixed bag. The vapor is explosive and probably the most dangerous thing you encounter daily but liquid petrol you can put a cigarette out in without fear. Diesel is safer still. There's a reason the military and school busses are, not a big deal to get covered in it in a wreck. I'm rambling... point is; none of this stuff will never be more than marginally feasible and it is a drain on taxpayers. Everybody acts like the next thing is gonna be like the first iPhone. It's not. We've been doing hydrogen cars for over 40 years and have nothing to show for it. Most of the "research " needs to be defunded.

employ the Parthian against germany

in Scotland people do not eat around homosexuals

Hi Looking for a job for driving car

The artists impressions are misleading and lacking diversity as it fails to include any people in headscarves and hijabs that are the future of Berlin

The new airport is Crap, Should have kept Tegel open.

This is perfect for a movie company to buy and create some great movies and chance to destroy it for a war movie

Loved that airport. Went there and it was easy to get to my uncle's house. FUCKKKKKKKK