View source for Berlin Tempelhof Airport

{{Short description|Former airport of Berlin, Germany (1923–2008)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox airport
| name                   = Berlin Tempelhof Airport
| nativename             = {{lang|de|Flughafen Berlin-Tempelhof}}
| image                  = Berlin_Tempelhof_Airport_Logo.svg
| image-width            = 250
| image2                 = Berlin - Flughafen Tempelhof - 2016.jpg
| image2-width           = 250
| caption2               = Aerial view of Tempelhof Airport
| IATA                   = THF
| ICAO                   = EDDI
| type                   = Defunct
| owner                  = [[Institute for Federal Real Estate]]<br>[[Federal State of Berlin]]<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090424000812/http://www.bundesimmobilien.de/Dateien/Image-Broschuere_eng.pdf Institute for Federal Real Estate], September 2008. Page 9.</ref>
| operator               = Berlin Airports
| opened                 = {{start date|1923|10|08|df=yes}}
| closed                 = {{end date|2008|10|30|df=yes}}
| city-served            = {{ubl|class=nowrap
  | [[West Berlin]] {{small|(1948–1990)}}
  | [[Berlin]] {{small|(1923–1948; 1990–2008)}}}}
| location               = [[Tempelhof-Schöneberg]], Berlin, Germany
| hub                    = {{ubl|class=nowrap
  | [[Deutsche Luft Hansa]] (1926–1945)
  | [[American Overseas Airlines]] (1948–1950)
  | [[Pan Am]] (1950–1975)
  | [[Air France]] (1950–1959)
  | [[British European Airways]] (1951–1974)
  | [[Airlift International|Riddle Airlines]] (1960s)
  | [[Capitol Air|Capitol Int'l Airways]] (1960s)
  | [[Saturn Airways]] (1964–1967)
  | [[Court Line#Autair|Autair]] (1960s)
  | Overseas Aviation (early 1960s)
  | [[British Airways]] (1974–1975)
  | [[Tempelhof Airways]] (1981–1990)
  | [[Hamburg Airlines]] (1990–1997)
  | Conti-Flug (1990–1994)
  | [[Lufthansa CityLine]] (1990–1992)
  | [[Cirrus Airlines]] (2001–2008)}}
| elevation-f            = 164
| elevation-m            = 50
| coordinates            = {{coord|52|28|25|N|013|24|06|E|region:DE|display=inline,title}}
| website                = {{URL|www.thf-berlin.de}}
| pushpin_map            = Germany Berlin
| pushpin_label_position = 
| pushpin_label          = '''THF'''/EDDI
| pushpin_map_alt        = 
| pushpin_mapsize        = 
| pushpin_image          = 
| pushpin_map_caption    = Location within Berlin
| metric-elev            = 
| metric-rwy             = 
| r1-number              = 09L/27R
| r1-length-f            = 6,870
| r1-length-m            = 2,094
| r1-surface             = [[Asphalt concrete|Asphalt]] (Closed)
| r2-number              = 09R/27L
| r2-length-f            = 6,037
| r2-length-m            = 1,840
| r2-surface             = [[Asphalt concrete|Asphalt]] (Closed)
| stat-year              = 
| stat1-header           = 
| stat1-data             = 
| stat2-header           = 
| stat2-data             = 
| footnotes              = Source: German [[Aeronautical Information Publication|AIP]] at [[European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation|EUROCONTROL]]<ref name="AIP">{{cite web|url=http://www.ead.eurocontrol.int/publicuser/protect/pu/main.jsp|title=EAD Basic – Error Page|work=eurocontrol.int|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref>
}}

'''Berlin Tempelhof Airport''' ({{langx|de|Flughafen Berlin-Tempelhof}}) {{airport codes|THF|EDDI}} was [[Airports in Berlin|one of the first airports]] in [[Berlin]], Germany. Situated in the south-central [[Boroughs of Berlin|Berlin borough]] of [[Tempelhof-Schöneberg]], the airport ceased operating in 2008 amid controversy. This left [[Berlin Tegel Airport|Tegel]] and [[Berlin Schönefeld Airport|Schönefeld]] as the two main airports serving the city for another twelve years until both were replaced by [[Berlin Brandenburg Airport]] in 2020.<ref name="mat20">{{cite news |title=TXL-Schließung am 8. November: Der letzte Flug von Tegel geht mit Air France nach Paris |trans-title=Closure on November 8th: The last flight from Tegel is with Air France to Paris |date=2020-09-29 |first=Bernd |last=Matthies |work=Der Tagesspiegel |url=https://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/txl-schliessung-am-8-november-der-letzte-flug-von-tegel-geht-mit-air-france-nach-paris/26229460.html |language=de |access-date=2020-11-02 }}</ref>

Tempelhof was designated as an airport by the [[Reich Ministry of Transport]] on 8 October 1923. The old terminal was originally constructed in 1927. In anticipation of increasing air traffic, the [[Nazi Party|Nazi government]] began an enormous reconstruction in the mid-1930s. While it was occasionally cited as the world's oldest operating commercial airport, the title was disputed by [[Airport#History and development|several other airports]], and is no longer an issue since its closure.

Tempelhof was one of Europe's three iconic pre-[[World War II]] airports, the others being [[London]]'s now defunct [[Croydon Airport]] and the old [[Paris–Le Bourget Airport]]. It acquired a further iconic status as the centre of the [[Berlin Airlift]] of 1948–49.  One of the airport's most distinctive features is its huge, [[canopy (building)|canopy]]-style roof extending over the apron, able to accommodate most contemporary airliners in the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s, protecting passengers from the elements. Tempelhof Airport's main building was once among the twenty largest buildings on earth, but it also formerly contained the world's smallest [[duty-free shop]].<ref name="AirInt">''Airports International''. June 1975.</ref>

Tempelhof Airport closed all operations on 30 October 2008, despite the efforts of some protesters to prevent the closure.<ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/31/world/europe/31berlin.html|title=Crowds Bid Farewell to Airport That Saved Berlin|first=Nicholas|last=Kulish|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=30 October 2008|access-date=20 June 2017}}</ref> A non-binding [[referendum]] was held on 27 April 2008 against the impending closure but failed due to low voter turnout. The former airfield has subsequently been used as a recreational space known as ''[[Tempelhofer Feld]]''.<ref>{{cite news|title=How Berliners refused to give Tempelhof airport over to developers |url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/mar/05/how-berliners-refused-to-give-tempelhof-airport-over-to-developers|date=5 March 2015|first=Ciarán|last=Fahey|access-date=1 May 2016|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> In September 2015, it was announced that Tempelhof would also become an emergency [[refugee camp]].<ref name="DailyTelegraph">{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/11863246/Refugee-crisis-EU-ministers-Germany-border-control-Austria-army-live.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/11863246/Refugee-crisis-EU-ministers-Germany-border-control-Austria-army-live.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Refugee crisis: Europe's borders unravelling as Austria and Slovakia impose frontier controls – live |last1=Akkoc |first1=Raziye |date=14 September 2015 |website=www.telegraph.co.uk |access-date=14 September 2015 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>

==Function==
Tempelhof was often called the "City Airport". In its later years, it mostly had commuter flights to other parts of Germany and neighbouring countries; but it had in the past received long-haul, [[wide-body|wide-bodied]] [[airliners]], such as the [[Boeing 747]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.airliners.net/photo/Pan-Am/Boeing-747-121/1230780/L/|title=Photos: Boeing 747-121 Aircraft Pictures - Airliners.net|work=airliners.net|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref> the [[Lockheed L-1011|Lockheed L-1011 Tristar]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.airliners.net/photo/BEA---British/Lockheed-L-1011-385-1-TriStar/1235689/L/|title=Photos: Lockheed L-1011-385-1 TriStar 1 Aircraft Pictures - Airliners.net|work=airliners.net|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref> and the [[Lockheed Galaxy|Lockheed C-5A Galaxy]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.airliners.net/photo/USA---Air/Lockheed-C-5A-Galaxy/1265848/L/|title=Photos: Lockheed C-5A Galaxy (L-500) Aircraft Pictures - Airliners.net|work=airliners.net|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref> The first of these three first appeared at Tempelhof on 18 September 1976, when [[Pan American World Airways]] (Pan Am) flew in [[Boeing 747SP]] ''Clipper Great Republic'' to participate in the static exhibition of contemporary military, non-combat and civil aircraft at the annual [[AFN Berlin|"Day of Open House"]] of the [[United States Air Force]] (USAF) at the airport.

The Galaxy had its first appearance at Tempelhof on 17 September 1971, when an aircraft of the USAF's [[436th Airlift Wing|436th Military Airlift Wing]] flew in from [[Dover Air Force Base]] in [[Delaware]], United States, to participate in that year's "Day of Open House" static exhibition. These events respectively marked the debut at Tempelhof of the largest aircraft in commercial airline service at the time and the then-largest aircraft overall.<ref name="THFColdWarChronology">{{citation |url=http://www.coldwar.org/text_files/ColdwartimesFeb2009.pdf |title=Cold War Times |volume=9 |number=1 |page=7 |date=February 2009 |access-date=10 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916042319/http://www.coldwar.org/text_files/ColdwartimesFeb2009.pdf |archive-date=16 September 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Tempelhof, compared to [[Brandenburg Airport]] and [[Tegel Airport]], wasn't a particularly large airport. The layout of the airport was relatively simple - two parallel runways oriented east–west (09/27 L/R), with a single oval taxiway around the airport, with the main terminal on the north-western segment of the airport. The runways are not comparatively long, either - versus Brandenburg's 3600m and 4000m runways which can easily handle intercontinental airliners like the [[Boeing 747]], Tempelhof has two runways at 2094m (09R/27L) and 1840m (09L/27R), which can, at most, handle [[Boeing 757]] and [[Airbus A320]]-size aircraft.

Other possible uses for Tempelhof have been discussed, and many people are trying to keep the airport buildings preserved.<ref name="Take a Tour Through the Mother of All Airports">{{citation |url=https://gizmodo.com/take-a-tour-through-the-mother-of-all-airports-1541397622 |title=Take a Tour Through the Mother of All Airports |date=March 2014}}</ref> 

In September 2015, in the midst of the [[European migrant crisis|2015 European migrant crisis]], it was announced by the Berlin state government that Tempelhof would become an 'emergency refugee shelter', holding at least 1,200 people in two former hangars.<ref name="DailyTelegraph"/> 

As the airport has been listed as a historic monument since 1995, preservation work has been routinely carried out, even after its closure; this includes the development of a preservation plan between 2012 and 2015, which outlined methods for maintaining the site whilst allowing for future development in the area.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tempelhof airport monument preservation plan |url=https://www.thf-berlin.de/en/service/monument-preservation-plan |access-date=2025-02-06 |website=www.thf-berlin.de}}</ref>
{{wide image|Flughafen Tempelhof Pano Berlin (47772950062).jpg|1000|Tempelhof Airport Berlin panorama (2019)
|alt=Panorama of the old Berlin airport}}

==History==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-14081, Berlin-Tempelhof, Hitler, Göring u. Röhm.jpg|thumb|Adolf Hitler at Zentralflughafen Tempelhof-Berlin, 1932]]
The site of the airport was originally [[Knights Templar]] land in medieval Berlin, and from this beginning came the name ''Tempelhof''. Later, the site was used as a parade field by the [[Prussian Army|Prussian army]] from 1720 to the start of [[World War I]]. In 1909, French aviator Armand Zipfel made the first flight demonstration in Tempelhof, followed by [[Orville Wright]] later that same year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Wright_Bros/Military_Flyer/WR11G1.htm|title=''U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission''|website=centennialofflight.gov|access-date=20 June 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051126020648/http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Wright_Bros/Military_Flyer/WR11G1.htm|archive-date=26 November 2005}}</ref> Tempelhof was first officially designated as an airport on 8 October 1923. [[Deutsche Luft Hansa]] was founded in Tempelhof on 6 January 1926. The airport's first permanent terminal building was completed in 1929.<ref name="heeb">Christine Heeb, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110719100831/http://www-docs.tu-cottbus.de/alumniplus/public/files/master_theses/christine_heeb.pdf "A multifaceted monument - the complex heritage of Tempelhof Central Airport"], Master of Arts thesis in World Heritage Studies, [[Brandenburg Technical University|Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus]], 2007 (pdf), p.18.</ref>

As part of [[Albert Speer]]'s plan for the reconstruction of Berlin during the Nazi era, Prof. [[Ernst Sagebiel]] was ordered to replace the old terminal with a new terminal building in 1934. The airport halls and the adjoining buildings, intended to become the gateway to Europe and a symbol of Hitler's "world capital" [[Welthauptstadt Germania|Germania]], are still known as one of the largest built entities worldwide, and have been described by British architect [[Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank|Sir Norman Foster]] as "the mother of all airports".
With its façades of [[limestone|shell limestone]], the terminal building, built between 1936 and 1941, forms a {{convert|1.2|km|mi|adj=mid|-long}} [[Quadrant (architecture)|quadrant]]. Arriving passengers walked through [[customs]] controls to the reception hall. Tempelhof was served by the [[U6 (Berlin U-Bahn)|U6 U-Bahn line]] along [[Mehringdamm]] and up [[Friedrichstraße]] ([[Platz der Luftbrücke (Berlin U-Bahn)|Platz der Luftbrücke station]]).

Zentralflughafen Tempelhof-Berlin had the advantage of a central location just minutes from the Berlin city centre and quickly became one of the world's busiest airports. Tempelhof saw its greatest pre-war days during 1938–1939, when up to 52 foreign and 40 domestic flights arrived and departed daily from the old terminal while the new one was still under construction.

[[File:BAe 146, Brussels Airlines, Airport Berlin Tempelhof, 2004.JPG|230px|thumb|right|A 2004 view of the curved shape, and overhanging awning to protect passengers from the weather, of the new air terminal that started construction in 1936, with completion delayed by WWII]]
The new air terminal was designed as headquarters for Deutsche Luft Hansa (moved in 1938), the German [[flag carrier|national airline]] at that time. As a forerunner of today's modern airports, the building was designed with many unique features, including giant arc-shaped [[hangar|aircraft hangars]]. Although under construction for more than ten years, it was never finished because of [[World War II]]. For passengers and freight, the 1927-built terminal stayed in use until 24 April 1945.

The building complex was designed to resemble an eagle in flight with semicircular hangars forming the bird's spread wings. A {{convert|1|mi|km|order=flip|adj=mid|-long}} hangar roof was to have been laid in tiers to form a stadium for spectators at air and ground demonstrations. [[Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank|Norman Foster]] called Tempelhof "one of the really great buildings of the modern age".<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/06/05/t-magazine/architects-libeskind-zaha-hadid-selldorf-norman-foster.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0|title=Seven Leading Architects Defend the World's Most Hated Buildings|last=Lange|first=Alexandra|date=5 June 2015|magazine=[[The New York Times Magazine]]|access-date=8 June 2015}}</ref>

===World War II===
[[File:Heinkel at Tempelhof Airport in Berlin, Germany 1937.jpg|thumb|right|The airport in 1937, at the 1927-built terminal building]]

Fearing [[Strategic bombing during World War II|Allied bombing]] of airports, all German civil aviation was halted on 2 September 1939, but gradually restarted from 1 November.<ref name="Demps Paeschke 1998 68">Laurenz Demps and Carl-Ludwig Paeschke, ''Flughafen Tempelhof: Die Geschichte einer Legende'', Berlin: Ullstein, 1998, p. 68. {{ISBN|3-550-06973-1}}.</ref> However, the 1927-built terminal remained closed to all civil aviation, and all civilian aircraft movements to and from Berlin were transferred to an airfield in [[Rangsdorf]] until 7 March 1940, when the 1927 terminal was reopened and civil aviation continued until 24 April 1945.<ref name="Demps Paeschke 1998 68"/>

From January 1940 until early 1944, [[Weser Flugzeugbau]] assembled [[Junkers Ju 87]] "Stuka" dive bombers; thereafter, it assembled [[Focke-Wulf Fw 190]] fighter planes in the still unfurnished main hall and hangars 3 to 7 of the new terminal, which were supplied by a railway and trucks via a connecting tunnel.<ref name="Demps Paeschke 1998 69seqq">Laurenz Demps and Carl-Ludwig Paeschke, ''Flughafen Tempelhof: Die Geschichte einer Legende'', Berlin: Ullstein, 1998, pp. 69seqq. {{ISBN|3-550-06973-1}}.</ref> Hangars 1 and 2 were not used to assemble aircraft as these were already used by Luft Hansa for its own planes. Aircraft parts were brought in from all over the city while complete aircraft engines were trucked to Tempelhof. Once the airframes were complete and the engines had been installed, the finished aircraft were flown out. The Luftwaffe did not use Tempelhof as a military airfield during World War II, except for occasional emergency landings by fighter aircraft.

On 21 April 1945, Deutsche Luft Hansa operated its last scheduled flights, and over the coming days laid on additional non-scheduled flights from [[Johannisthal Air Field]] which stopped over at Tempelhof to take on freight en route to [[Travemünde]] and [[Munich]], where Luft Hansa had relocated its headquarters.<ref name="Demps Paeschke 1998 78seq">Laurenz Demps and Carl-Ludwig Paeschke, ''Flughafen Tempelhof: Die Geschichte einer Legende'', Berlin: Ullstein, 1998, pp. 78seq. {{ISBN|3-550-06973-1}}.</ref> Two days later, on 23 April, the airline's last-ever flight to depart Tempelhof left for [[Madrid]], but was later shot down over [[Southern Germany]].<ref name="Demps Paeschke 1998 79">Laurenz Demps and Carl-Ludwig Paeschke, ''Flughafen Tempelhof: Die Geschichte einer Legende'', Berlin: Ullstein, 1998, p. 79. {{ISBN|3-550-06973-1}}.</ref>

Tempelhof's German commander, ''Oberst'' Rudolf Böttger, refused to carry out orders to blow up the base, choosing instead to kill himself. [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] forces took Tempelhof in the [[Battle of Berlin]] on 28 and 29 April 1945 in the closing days of the war in Europe.<ref name="Demps Paeschke 1998 79"/> Soviet forces combed through the old and the new terminal searching for treasures, hidden places and documents, opening all rooms.

During their search, they blew up the fortified entrance to a three-level bomb shelter for celluloid films of the Hansa Luftbild GmbH, a Luft Hansa subsidiary specialising in aerial photography. The explosion immediately ignited the celluloid, turning the film shelter under the northern office wing of the new terminal into a furnace and making it impossible to enter for several weeks. The raging inferno led the Soviet commander to order the lower levels to be flooded with water. With no functioning water supply in war-torn Berlin, this was only possible because the new terminal, which had suffered only slight war damage, had its own electricity and groundwater utility with underground reservoirs under the northerly forecourt of the new terminal close to the film shelter.

On 8 May 1945, Western Allied and German signatories of the [[German Instrument of Surrender#Definitive surrender document in Berlin|German Surrender in Berlin]] and their entourage landed at Tempelhof airport.<ref name="Demps Paeschke 1998 80">Laurenz Demps and Carl-Ludwig Paeschke, ''Flughafen Tempelhof: Die Geschichte einer Legende'', Berlin: Ullstein, 1998, p. 80. {{ISBN|3-550-06973-1}}.</ref> At the beginning of May, Weser Flugzeugbau opened a workshop in hangar 7 to repair [[tram|streetcars]].<ref name="Demps Paeschke 1998 80"/> In the following weeks, Berliners raided all unguarded parts of the opened buildings searching for food or anything else useful in bartering in the black market. In accordance with the [[Yalta Conference|Yalta agreements]], Zentralflughafen Berlin-Tempelhof was turned over to the [[United States Army]] [[2nd Armored Division (United States)|2nd Armored Division]] on 2 July 1945 by the [[Soviet Union]] as part of the American occupation sector of Berlin. This agreement was later formalised by the August 1945 [[Potsdam Agreement]], which formally divided Berlin into four occupation sectors.

The 852nd Engineer Aviation Battalion arrived at Tempelhof (Code Number R-95) on 10 July 1945 and conducted the original repairs in the new terminal. After the [[Allied Control Council]] had agreed upon [[West Berlin Air Corridor]]s under control of the [[Berlin Air Safety Centre]], these opened in February 1946, enabling civil aviation at Tempelhof to restart.<ref name="Demps Paeschke 1998 83">Laurenz Demps and Carl-Ludwig Paeschke, ''Flughafen Tempelhof: Die Geschichte einer Legende'', Berlin: Ullstein, 1998, p. 83. {{ISBN|3-550-06973-1}}.</ref>

===Berlin Airlift===
{{main|Berlin Blockade}}
[[File:C-47s at Tempelhof Airport Berlin 1948.jpg|thumb|left|USAF [[C-47 Skytrain|Douglas C-47]] transport planes preparing to take off from Tempelhof during the [[Berlin Blockade|Berlin Airlift]], August 1948]]

On 20 June 1948, Soviet authorities, claiming technical difficulties, halted all traffic by land and by water into or out of the western-controlled sectors of Berlin. The only remaining access routes into the city were three {{convert|20|mi|km|abbr=on}}-wide [[West Berlin Air Corridor|air corridors]] across the [[Allied-occupied Germany#Soviet Zone|Soviet Zone of Occupation]].<ref name="BEA_AirFrance1">{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/PDFArchive/View/1972/1972%20-%202018.html|title=1972 – 2018 – Flight Archive|work=flightglobal.com|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref> Faced with the choice of abandoning the city or attempting to supply its inhabitants with the necessities of life by air, the Western Powers chose the latter course.

[[File:Berlin Tempelhof Luftbrueckendenkmal.jpg|thumb|upright|Berlin Airlift Memorial on [[Platz der Luftbrücke]] in front of the airport, displaying the names of the 39 British and 31 American pilots who died during the operation, and symbolising the three air corridors]]

''Operation Vittles'', as the [[airlift]] was unofficially named, began on 26 June when USAF Douglas [[C-47 Skytrain]]s carried 80 tons of food into Tempelhof, far less than the estimated 4,500 tons of food, coal and other essential supplies needed daily to maintain a minimum level of existence. But this force was soon augmented by [[United States Navy]] and [[Royal Air Force]] cargo aircraft, as well as [[British European Airways#BEA in Berlin|British European Airways]] (BEA) and many of [[United Kingdom|Britain]]'s fledgling wholly privately owned, independent airlines.<ref name="BEA_AirFrance2">{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/PDFArchive/View/1972/1972%20-%202017.html|title=air france – 1972 – 2017 – Flight Archive|work=flightglobal.com|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref>

The last included [[Freddie Laker]]'s [[Air Charter Limited|Air Charter]], [[British Eagle#Formation and early operations|Eagle Aviation]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britisheagle.net/G-ALEF-Pic-1.html|title=Home of Eagle – G-AJBL|work=britisheagle.net|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref> and [[Skyways Limited#Early operations|Skyways]]. On 15 October 1948, to promote increased safety and cooperation between the separate US and British airlift efforts, the Allies created a unified command – the Combined Airlift Task Force under Maj. Gen. [[William H. Tunner]], USAF – at Tempelhof. To facilitate the command and control, as well as the unloading of aircraft, the USAF [[53rd Troop Carrier Squadron|53d Troop Carrier Squadron]] was temporarily assigned to Tempelhof.

The grass runways usual in Germany until then could not cope with the great demand, and a subsequently built runway containing [[Marston Matting#Berlin Airlift|perforated steel matting]]<ref group=nb>also known as Pierced Steel Matting (PSP)</ref> began to crumble under the weight of the USAF's [[Douglas C-54|C-54 Skymasters]].<ref name="Demps Paeschke 1998 88">Laurenz Demps and Carl-Ludwig Paeschke, ''Flughafen Tempelhof: Die Geschichte einer Legende'', Berlin: Ullstein, 1998, p. 88. {{ISBN|3-550-06973-1}}.</ref> Hence, American engineers built a new {{convert|6000|ft|m|abbr=on}} runway at Tempelhof between July and September 1948 and another between September and October 1948 to accommodate the expanding requirements of the airlift.<ref name="Demps Paeschke 1998 88"/> The old airport terminal of 1927 was demolished in 1948 in order to create additional space for unloading more planes. The last airlift transport touched down at Tempelhof on 30 September 1949.

Tempelhof also became famous as the location of Operation Little Vittles: the dropping of candy to children living near the airport. The original ''[[Candy Bomber]]'', [[Gail Halvorsen]] noticed children lingering near the fence line of the airport and wanted to share something with them. He eventually started dropping candy by parachute just before landing. His efforts were expanded by other pilots and eventually became a part of legend in the city of Berlin.

===Cold War===
{{main|West Berlin}}
{{Unreferenced section|date=June 2019}}
As the [[Cold War]] intensified in the late 1950s and 1960s, access problems to [[West Berlin]], both by land and air, continued to cause tension. Throughout the Cold War years, Tempelhof was the main terminal for American military transport aircraft accessing West Berlin. In 1969 one of the pilots during the Berlin Airlift, and the original ''Candy Bomber'', [[Gail Halvorsen]], returned to Berlin as the commander of Tempelhof airbase.

With the fall of the [[Berlin Wall]] and the [[German reunification|reunification of Germany]], the presence of American forces in Berlin ended. The USAF 7350th Air Base Group at Tempelhof was inactivated in June 1993. In July 1994, with President Clinton in attendance, the British, French, and American air and land forces in Berlin were deactivated in a ceremony on the Four Ring Parade field at McNair Barracks. The [[Western Bloc|Western Allies]] returned a united city of Berlin to the unified German government. The [[U.S. Army]] closed its Berlin Army Aviation Detachment at TCA in August 1994, ending a 49-year American military presence in Berlin.

=== U.S. Army Aviation ===
In 1951 the [[US Army]] stationed an aviation element of the 6. Infantry Brigade{{dubious|date=June 2020}}-([[6th Infantry Regiment (United States)|6th Infantry Regiment]]?) with three Hiller OH-23A Raven helicopters at Tempelhof. Over the years it became known as the Berlin Brigade Aviation Detachment (BBDE Avn.Det.). The [[Hiller OH-23 Raven|Hiller OH-23A]] was soon replaced by [[Bell H-13 Sioux|Bell OH-13 Sioux]]. Further helicopters stationed over the years where [[Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw|Sikorsky H-19 Chikasaw]] (1958–1964), [[Sikorsky H-34|Sikorsky H-34 Choctaw]] (1962–1964), [[Bell UH-1 Iroquois|Bell UH-1B]] (1964–1971)and finally [[Bell UH-1 Iroquois|Bell UH-1H]] (May 1971– August 1994).<ref>http://www.theberlinobserver.com/archive/1971V27/V27_N19_may14.pdf|Page{{Dead link|date=September 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }} 3</ref>

Fixed wing aircraft stationed at Tempelhof were [[Cessna O-1 Bird Dog]] (1965–1975), [[de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver|De Havilland Canada U-6 Beaver]] (1968 – January 1980),<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theberlinobserver.com/archive/1980V36/V36_N7_feb15.pdf |page=3 |title=Last two U-6s retired |newspaper=Berlin Observer |date=15 February 1980 |access-date=10 June 2019}}</ref> [[Cessna O-2 Skymaster|Cessna O-2A]] (1975–1979), [[Pilatus PC-6 Porter|Pilatus UV-20A Chiricahua]] (1979–1991), [[Beechcraft L-23 Seminole|Beechcraft U-8D Seminole]](1960s), [[Beechcraft King Air|Beechcraft U-21]] (1970s–1986 and 1991–1994), as well as [[Beechcraft C-12 Huron|Beechcraft C-12C]] (1986–1991).

===Postwar commercial use===
{{Very long|date=October 2022}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F001302-0007, Berlin, Flughafen Tempelhof.jpg|thumb|DC 4 of Pan American World Airways in January 1954]]

[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F001302-0004, Berlin, Flughafen Tempelhof.jpg|thumb|A [[Pan American World Airways|Pan Am]] [[Douglas DC-4]] seen parked in front of a hangar at Berlin Tempelhof in January 1954]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F001297-0011, Berlin, Flughafen Tempelhof.jpg|thumb|A [[Silver City Airways|Silver City]] [[Bristol Freighter|Bristol 170 Freighter Mk 21]] seen beyond the wing of an [[Avro York]] on the ramp at Berlin Tempelhof in January 1954]]
[[File:British United Vickers 708 Viscount.jpg|thumb|right|A [[British United Airways]] [[Vickers Viscount variants#Viscount 700|Vickers Viscount 700]] seen landing at Berlin Tempelhof during 1962]]
[[File:Caledonian DC-6B.jpg|thumb|A [[Caledonian Airways|Caledonian]] [[Douglas DC-6#Operational history|Douglas DC-6B]] seen sharing the [[airport ramp|apron]] with two [[Pan American World Airways|Pan Am]] [[Douglas DC-6#Operational history|DC-6Bs]] at Berlin Tempelhof in June 1964]]
[[File:British United ATL-98.jpg|thumb|A [[British United Airways]] [[Aviation Traders Carvair|ATL-98 Carvair]] seen parked on the apron with two [[Capitol Air|Capitol International]] [[Lockheed Constellation]]s and an [[Air France]] [[Breguet Deux-Ponts]] in the background at Berlin Tempelhof in August 1967]]
[[File:Pan Am Boeing 747-100 Manteufel.jpg|thumb|A [[Pan American World Airways|Pan Am]] [[Boeing 747#747-100|Boeing 747-100]] seen landing at Berlin Tempelhof in June 1987]]

==== Early Operations and the Berlin Blockade ====
[[American Overseas Airlines]] (AOA), at the time the overseas division of [[American Airlines]], inaugurated the first commercial air link serving Tempelhof after the war with a flight from [[New York City|New York]] via [[Shannon Airport|Shannon]], [[Amsterdam]] and [[Frankfurt]] on 18 May 1946.<ref name="PanAm">''Berlin Airport Company – Airline Portrait – Pan Am, January 1975 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports'', Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1975</ref><ref>''Aircraft Illustrated (Airport Profile – Berlin-Tempelhof)'', Vol 42, No 1, p. 32, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, January 2009</ref> This was followed by AOA's inauguration of West Berlin's first dedicated domestic air link between Tempelhof and Frankfurt's [[Frankfurt Airport|Rhein-Main Airport]] on 1 March 1948.<ref name="AirLinks">''Aeroplane – Pan Am and the IGS'', Vol. 116, No. 2972, pp. 4, 8, Temple Press, London, 2 October 1968</ref>

AOA was the only commercial operator at Tempelhof to maintain its full flying programme for the entire duration of the [[Berlin Blockade]] (26 June 1948 – 12 May 1949).<ref name="AirLinks"/>

==== Expansion in the 1950s ====
Following the end of the Berlin Blockade, AOA launched additional dedicated scheduled services linking Tempelhof with [[Hamburg Airport|Hamburg Fuhlsbüttel]] and [[Düsseldorf Airport|Düsseldorf Lohausen]] from 6 March and 1 June 1950 respectively.<ref name="727_IGS">''Aeroplane – Pan Am and the IGS'', Vol. 116, No. 2972, p. 4, Temple Press, London, 2 October 1968</ref>

On 25 September 1950, Pan Am acquired AOA from American Airlines. This [[mergers and acquisitions|merger]] resulted in Pan Am establishing a growing presence at Tempelhof.<ref name="PanAm"/><ref>''Aviation News – Pan American World Airways: Part 2'', Vol. 73, No. 11, p. 48, Key Publishing, Stamford, November 2011</ref> (In addition to continuing AOA's original, multistop Berlin – New York route and dedicated internal German services connecting Berlin with Frankfurt, [[Hamburg]] and [[Düsseldorf]], between 1955 and 1959, Pan Am commenced regular, year-round scheduled services to [[Cologne]], [[Stuttgart]], [[Hanover]], [[Munich]] and [[Nuremberg]] from Tempelhof.<ref name="AirLinks"/>) Pan Am's initial equipment for its new Berlin operation were [[cabin pressurization|unpressurised]], 60-seat [[Douglas DC-4]]s, widely available at the time due to the large number of war-surplus C-54 Skymasters.<ref name="BEA_AirFrance2"/><ref name="AirLinks"/>

1950 was also the year [[Air France]] joined Pan Am at Tempelhof.<ref name="BEA_AirFrance2"/><ref name="AF">''Berlin Airport Company – Airline Portrait – Air France, March 1975 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports'', Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1975</ref> Air France resumed operations to Tempelhof following their cessation during the war years.<ref name="BEA_AirFrance2"/><ref name="AF"/><ref name="BA"/>

This was furthermore the time [[Allied Control Council|Allied]] restrictions on the carriage of local civilians on commercial airline services from/to West Berlin were lifted. It entailed transferring responsibility for processing all commercial flights to West Berlin's city government, including the operation and maintenance of associated passenger, cargo and mail handling facilities. These changes gave a major boost to West Berlin's fledgeling post-war scheduled air services.<ref name="PanAm"/>

On 8 July 1951, [[British European Airways#BEA in Berlin|BEA]] transferred its operations from [[Gatow Airport|Gatow]] to Tempelhof, thus concentrating all West Berlin air services at Berlin's iconic city centre airport.<ref name="BA">''Berlin Airport Company – Airline Portrait – British Airways, February 1975 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports'', Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1975</ref><ref name="AI_THF_BEA_Subsidies">''Aircraft Illustrated (Airport Profile – Berlin-Tempelhof)'', Vol 42, No 1, p. 33, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, January 2009</ref> BEA's move to Tempelhof resulted in a significant increase in passenger numbers, as well as an increase in its Berlin-based fleet to six Douglas DC-3s.<ref name="PanAm"/><ref name="BEA_IGS">''Classic Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten&nbsp;... BEA: Internal German Services – Berlin-bound)'', Vol. 45, No. 6, p. 51, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012</ref>

From then on, several of the new, wholly privately owned UK independent<ref group=nb>independent from [[government-owned corporation]]s</ref> airlines and US supplemental carriers<ref group=nb>holders of supplemental air carrier certificates authorised to operate non-scheduled passenger and cargo services to supplement the scheduled operations of air carriers ( airlines holding these certificates are also known as "nonskeds" in the USA)</ref> started regular air services to Tempelhof from the UK, the US and [[West Germany]]. These airlines initially carried members of the UK and US [[armed forces]] stationed in [[Berlin]] and their dependants as well as essential raw materials, finished goods manufactured in West Berlin and refugees from [[East Germany]] and [[Eastern Europe]], who were still able to freely enter the city prior to the construction of the infamous [[Berlin Wall]]. This operation was also known as the ''Little Berlin Airlift''.<ref>''The Spirit of Dan-Air'', Simons, G.M., GMS Enterprises, Peterborough, 1993, p. 11</ref> One of these airlines, UK independent [[Dan-Air#Beginning|Dan-Air Services]] would subsequently play an important role in developing commercial air services from [[Berlin-Tegel Airport|Tegel]] for a quarter century.<ref>''The Spirit of Dan-Air'', Simons, G.M., GMS Enterprises, Peterborough, 1993, pp. 9–11</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1973/1973%20-%201488.html|title=1973 – 1488 – Flight Archive|work=flightglobal.com|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref>

During the early-to-mid-1950s, BEA [[aircraft lease|leased]] in aircraft that were bigger than its Tempelhof-based fleet of DC-3/[[British European Airways#Expansion, modernisation and commercialisation (1951–1960)|Pionair]], [[Vickers VC.1 Viking|Viking]] and [[British European Airways#Expansion, modernisation and commercialisation (1951–1960)|Elizabethan]] [[piston]]-engined airliners from other operators to boost capacity, following a steady increase in the airline's passenger loads.<ref name="BEA_AirFrance2"/><ref>''Aeroplane – Letters, B.E.A.'s Berlin services'', Vol. 104, No. 2649, p. 7, Temple Press, London, 26 July 1962</ref><ref>''Aeroplane – World Transport Affairs, B.E.A. leases B.O.A.C. DC-7Cs for Berlin flights'', Vol. 104, No. 2669, p. 11, Temple Press, London, 13 December 1962</ref> (This included an ex-[[Transair (UK)|Transair]] [[Vickers Viscount variants#Viscount 700|Vickers Viscount 700]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.airliners.net/photo/Transair/Vickers-736-Viscount/1690829/L/|title=Photos: Vickers 736 Viscount Aircraft Pictures - Airliners.net|work=airliners.net|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref> belonging to its newly formed independent rival [[British United Airways#Accidents and incidents|British United Airways]], which was damaged beyond repair on 30 October 1961 at Frankfurt Rhein-Main Airport at the end of a passenger flight that had originated at Tempelhof.<ref>''Airliner World (BUA – British United Airways – A Step back in Time)'', Key Publishing, Stamford, UK, July 2010, pp. 64, 68</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19611030-0|title=ASN Aircraft accident Vickers 736 Viscount G-AODH Frankfurt International Airport (FRA)|author=Harro Ranter|date=30 October 1961|work=aviation-safety.net|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1961/1961%20-%201644.html|title=1961 – 1644 – Flight Archive|work=flightglobal.com|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref>)

By 1954, a year that saw 671,555 passengers pass through the airport, Tempelhof had established itself as the third-busiest airport in Europe.<ref>''Airliner Classics (Reflections of Tempelhof: Commercial Flights Return)'', Key Publishing, Stamford, UK, November 2011, p.&nbsp;79</ref> From 6 June of that year, Pan Am. began re-equipping its Tempelhof-based fleet with larger, [[cabin pressurization|pressurised]] [[Douglas DC-6#Operational history|Douglas DC-6B]] [[propliner]]s.<ref name="THFColdWarChronology"/> Compared with the DC-4, the new type had 16 additional seats.<ref name="PA_THF_allDC6B">''Aeroplane – Pan Am and the IGS'', Vol. 116, No. 2972, pp. 4, 5, 8, Temple Press, London, 2 October 1968</ref>

In 1958, BEA began replacing its piston airliners with [[Vickers Viscount variants#Viscount 700|Vickers Viscount 701]] [[turboprop]] aircraft, in a high-density 63-seat single class seating arrangement. Up to ten new, state-of-the-art [[Vickers Viscount variants#Viscount 800|Vickers Viscount 802s]], which featured a more spacious 66-seat single-class seating arrangement, soon replaced the older series 701 aircraft.<ref name="BEA_IGS"/> The greater [[range (aircraft)|range]] and higher cruising speed of the [[Vickers Viscount variants#Viscount 800|802 series]] enabled BEA to inaugurate a non-stop [[London Heathrow Airport|London Heathrow]] – Berlin Tempelhof service on 1 November 1965.<ref name="BEA_AirFrance2"/><ref name="BA"/><ref name="BEA_IGS"/> this was the only non-stop international scheduled air service from Tempelhof<ref group=nb>until 1973, the launch of daily, non-stop Berlin Tempelhof – [[Amsterdam Airport Schiphol|Amsterdam Schiphol]] flights by Pan Am</ref>

On 19 November 1959, a Pan Am [[Douglas DC-4|DC-4]] became the first aircraft to operate a scheduled all-cargo service from West Berlin. This service linked Tempelhof with Rhein-Main Airport once-nightly, all year round.<ref>''Aeroplane – Pan Am and the IGS'', Vol. 116, No. 2972, pp. 6, 8, Temple Press, London, 2 October 1968</ref>

==== The Jet Age and Berlin Wall: 1960s ====
On 2 January 1960, [[Berlin Tegel Airport#Air France|Air France]], which had served Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich, Nuremberg and its main base at [[Paris – Le Bourget Airport|Paris Le Bourget]]/[[Paris-Orly Airport|Orly]] during the previous decade with DC-4, [[SNCASE Languedoc|Sud-Est Languedoc]] and [[Lockheed Constellation]]/[[Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation|Super Constellation]] piston-engined equipment, shifted its entire Berlin operation to Tegel because Tempelhof's runways were too short to permit the introduction of the [[Sud-Aviation Caravelle]], their new short-haul [[jet aircraft|jet]], with a viable [[payload (air and space craft)|payload]].<ref name="BEA_AirFrance2"/><ref name="AF"/><ref name="THF_JetRestrictions">''Aeroplane – Pan Am and the IGS'', Vol. 116, No. 2972, p. 5, Temple Press, London, 2 October 1968</ref><ref name="battle">{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/PDFArchive/View/1988/1988%20-%201039.html|title=1988 – 1039 – Flight Archive|work=flightglobal.com|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref> (Air France's [[Sud-Aviation Caravelle#Specifications (Caravelle III)|Caravelle IIIs]] lacked [[thrust reversal|thrust reversers]] that would have permitted them to land safely on Tempelhof's short runways with a full commercial payload.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1967/1967%20-%202276.html|title=caravelle – air france – 1967 – 2276 – Flight Archive|work=flightglobal.com|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.airliners.net/photo/Air-France/Sud-SE-210-Caravelle/1219906/L/|title=Photos: Sud SE-210 Caravelle III Aircraft Pictures - Airliners.net|work=airliners.net|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref>)

On 1 March 1960, Pan Am launched its second dedicated scheduled all-cargo flight from Berlin, linking Tempelhof with Hamburg Fuhlsbüttel.<ref name="PanAm_IGS_stats">''Aeroplane – Pan Am and the IGS'', Vol. 116, No. 2972, p. 8, Temple Press, London, 2 October 1968</ref>

1960 was also the year Pan Am withdrew its last DC-4 from Tempelhof. As a result, all of the airline's Berlin routes were exclusively served with [[Douglas DC-6#Operational history|DC-6Bs]] as of 27 June of that year.<ref name="PA_THF_allDC6B"/> Although the DC-6B was a less advanced aircraft than either the [[Vickers Viscount|Viscount]] or the [[Sud-Aviation Caravelle|Caravelle]], it was more economical. By the early 1960s, Pan Am had a fleet of 15 DC-6Bs stationed at its Tempelhof base,<ref name="THF727_trials">''Aeroplane – Tempelhof trials prelude to Pan Am 727 order'', Vol. 108, No. 2773, p. 11, Temple Press, London, 10 December 1964</ref><ref name="727_THFIntro">''Aeroplane – Order Book continued, Pan Am 727s to serve Tempelhof'', Vol. 109, No. 2788, p. 14, Temple Press, London, 25 March 1965</ref> which were configured in a higher-density seating arrangement than competing airlines' aircraft. (Pan Am's DC-6Bs were originally configured in a 76-seat, all-[[economy class|economy]] layout. The subsequent introduction of subsidies for all scheduled internal German services from/to West Berlin resulted in steady network growth as well as service frequency and passenger load increases. To cope with the sharply higher traffic volumes, aircraft seat densities were increased twice – initially to 84 and subsequently 87 seats.<ref name="AirLinks"/>) This fleet eventually grew to 17 aircraft, which gave Pan Am the biggest aircraft fleet among the three main scheduled operators flying from West Berlin. It furthermore enabled it to compensate for the [[Douglas DC-6|DC-6]]'s lack of sophistication with higher frequencies than its competitors, thereby attaining a higher [[market share]] (60%) and capturing a greater share of the lucrative [[business travel]] market than its rivals. During that period, Pan Am moreover achieved an ultra short-haul [[Passenger load factor|load factor]] of 70% on its eight scheduled internal routes from Berlin, making the airline's Berlin routes the most profitable in its worldwide scheduled network.<ref name="BA"/><ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,873948,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080402014839/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,873948,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 April 2008|title=West Germany: Hot Route in the Cold War|date=3 July 1964|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref><ref name="PanAm_IGS">{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/PDFArchive/View/1973/1973%20-%201982.html|title=1973 – 1982 – Flight Archive|work=flightglobal.com|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref><ref>''Aircraft Illustrated (Airport Profile – Berlin-Tempelhof)'', Vol 42, No 1, p. 30, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, January 2009</ref>

Following the completion of the Berlin Wall on 13 August 1961, the [[West Germany|West German]] government introduced a route-specific [[subsidy]] of up to 20% for all internal German scheduled air services from and to West Berlin to help the airlines cope with the resulting falloff in traffic and maintain an economically viable operation on these [[wikt:lifeline|lifeline]] routes.<ref name="BEA_AirFrance2"/><ref name="battle"/> These came into effect on 1 March 1962 for all tickets sold in Germany, including Berlin.<ref name="AI_THF_BEA_Subsidies"/><ref>''Aeroplane – Pan Am and the IGS'', Vol. 116, No. 2972, pp. 5, 8, Temple Press, London, 2 October 1968</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1982/1982%20-%202275.html|title=west berlin – british airways – west german – 1982 – 2275 – Flight Archive|work=flightglobal.com|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref> (To qualify for the subsidised rate under this system, the passenger was required to purchase a round-trip ticket for a scheduled internal German flight from/to West Berlin in Germany. Once he/she had checked-in at the airport, the airline collected a coupon attached to his/her ticket, which was subsequently handed in to the relevant German authorities for reimbursement.<ref name="THF_JetRestrictions"/>)

By the early 1960s, a number of UK independents and US supplementals began operating regular [[charter flight]]s from Tempelhof. These carried both inbound tourists from the US, the UK and other countries as well as local outbound tourists to the emerging holiday resorts in the [[Mediterranean]]. [[London Gatwick Airport|London Gatwick]]-based UK independent Overseas Aviation (CI) was among the first airlines the [[military attaché|Allied Air Attachés]] in [[Bonn]]<ref group=nb>in the [[Cold War]] era the American, British and French embassies in [[West Germany]]'s capital Bonn each had a [[military attaché]] attached, who was dealing with commercial aviation matters in West Berlin;the three Allied Air Attachés jointly exercised sole responsibility for commercial aviation in West Berlin on behalf of the governments of the [[Federal government of the United States|United States]], the [[Government of the United Kingdom|United Kingdom]] and [[Government of France|France]] during this period</ref> licensed to operate a series of regular charter flights from West Berlin. It used Vikings and [[Canadair North Star|Argonauts]] on these services, which operated from Tempelhof under contract to the [[Berlin Senate]] and the city's [[Technical University of Berlin|Technical University]] as well as Berliner Flugring, a local [[package tour]] operator that began as a consortium of 70 West Berlin travel agents arranging IT flights to holiday resorts in Europe.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1961/1961%20-%201167.html|title=overseas aviation – boac – 1961 – 1167 – Flight Archive|work=flightglobal.com|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1961/1961%20-%200472.html|title=overseas aviation – manchester – 1961 – 0472 – Flight Archive|work=flightglobal.com|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref><ref name="charter_68">''Berlin Airport Company, April 1968 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports'', Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1968 {{in lang|de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hIe6y-9Fwo4C&pg=PA193|title=Flying Higher|last=Beyer|first=Morten|date=8 October 2009|publisher=Trafford Publishing|isbn=9781425166526|page=189|language=en|oclc=609999436}}</ref>

By 1964, BEA operated up to 20,000 flights each year from and to Berlin. These represented approximately half of the airline's total yearly flights to/from Germany and generated profits of [[pound sterling|£]]1&nbsp;million per year.<ref name="BEA_IGS"/> 1964 was also the year US supplemental [[Saturn Airways]] began operating a comprehensive [[inclusive tour]] (IT) charter flight programme from Tempelhof under contract to local [[package holiday]] consolidator Flug-Union Berlin,<ref group=nb>at the time, Flug-Union acted as a West Berlin consolidator for the big West German tour companies Neckermann (then part of the eponymous department store chain) and [[TUI Group|Touristik Union International]] (TUI), the travel arm of the [[Deutsche Bundesbahn|Federal German Railway]]; it subsequently became a tour operator in its own right, when it launched its first dedicated package tour flight programme with [[Laker Airways]] from Tegel Airport in August 1968</ref> using [[Douglas DC-6#Operational history|Douglas DC-6A/Cs]] and [[Douglas DC-7#DC-7C|DC-7Cs]].<ref>''Aviation News – Saturn Airways'', Vol. 74, No. 3, p. 49, Key Publishing, Stamford, March 2012</ref><ref>[http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-43176785.html?name=Umweg+%26uuml%3Bber+Sch%26ouml%3Bnefeld ''Detour via Schönefeld''] (translated article title), ''Aviation'' (translated section title), ''[[Der Spiegel]]'' vol. 29, 1971, 12 July 1971, p. 41 {{in lang|de}}</ref><ref name="BeyerM_FlyingHigher_Modern_189">Beyer, Morton S. [https://books.google.com/books?id=hIe6y-9Fwo4C&pg=PA193] ''Flying Higher: General Acceptance Corp. Buys Modern Air, 2009, p. 189''</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.airliners.net/photo/Saturn-Airways/Douglas-DC-7C-Seven/1279957/L/&sid=1eb0f2cb829725b8d3c9c44c4ccf5813|title=Photos: Douglas DC-7C Seven Seas Aircraft Pictures - Airliners.net|work=airliners.net|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref> On 2 December of that year, a [[Boeing 727#727-100|Boeing 727-100]] became the first [[jet aircraft]] to land at Tempelhof. [[Boeing]] had leased the aircraft to Pan Am for a special flight from Frankfurt to Berlin to demonstrate to the airline the [[Boeing 727|727]]'s ability to operate from Tempelhof's short runways. Pan Am indicated its intention to place an order for six 727s for its Berlin operation, as a result of the aircraft using only half the {{convert|5900|ft|m|abbr=on}} runway during landing.<ref name="THF727_trials"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1964/1964%20-%203067.html|title=1964 – 3067 – Flight Archive|work=flightglobal.com|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref><ref>''Aeroplane – The Battle of Berlin'', Vol. 111, No. 2842, p. 15, Temple Press, London, 7 April 1966</ref>

26 October 1965 marked [[British Aircraft Corporation]]'s new [[BAC One-Eleven|One-Eleven]] jet's first arrival at Tempelhof when a [[British United Airways#Expansion and fleet rationalisation|British United]] [[BAC One-Eleven#Early development|200 series]] operating a trooping flight under contract to the [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|UK Ministry of Defence]] diverted from Gatow.<ref name="THF_111">{{cite web|url=http://www.bac1-11jet.co.uk/bac1-11jet.co.uk%20Specialfeature%207.htm|title=Special Feature 7|work=bac1-11jet.co.uk|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref><ref>''Aeroplane – Late News (Commercial), BAC One-Elevens are to take over trooping flights between the UK and Germany&nbsp;...'', Vol. 110, No. 2815, p. 34, Temple Press, London, 30 September 1965</ref>

22 January 1966 marked the first appearance of a British [[trijet]] at Tempelhof when [[Hawker Siddeley#Aircraft|Hawker Siddeley]] flew in its [[Hawker Siddeley Trident#Operational history|HS 121 Trident 1E]]<ref group=nb>an improved version of the original [[Hawker Siddeley Trident#Introduction|Trident 1C]] BEA already operated, which lacked a [[Hawker Siddeley Trident#Overview|short-field capability]] that would have made it suitable for the airline's Tempelhof operation</ref> demonstrator aircraft<ref group=nb>the first production aircraft for [[Pakistan International Airlines]] (PIA), with the aircraft's Pakistani registration AP-ATK and PIA titles being both temporarily replaced with British registration G-ATNA and BEA titles to comply with contemporary Allied access restrictions on air transport in West Berlin</ref> for evaluation by BEA.<ref name="THFColdWarChronology"/><ref name="WB_Trident_ops"/><ref>''Classic Airliner'' (The Hawker Siddeley Trident: photographic captions), p. 40, Key Publishing, Stamford, 2014</ref> A week later, on 29 January, BEA began evaluating the [[BAC One-Eleven]]'s suitability for its Berlin operations, with the start of a series of [[flight test|test flights]] conducted on its behalf by [[British Aircraft Corporation|BAC]]'s [[BAC One-Eleven#The One-Eleven 500, 510ED and 475|475 series]] demonstrator. This included a number of takeoffs and landings at Tempelhof to test the aircraft's short-field performance.<ref name="THF_111"/><ref>''Aeroplane – BEA Berlin services: new jet needed?'', Vol. 111, No. 2834, p. 15, Temple Press, London, 10 February 1966</ref>

On 18 March 1966, Pan Am became the first airline to commence regular, year-round jet operations from Tempelhof with the first examples of a brand-new fleet of an initial eight [[Boeing 727#727-100|Boeing 727-100 series]], one of the first jet aircraft with a short-field capability.<ref name="THF727_trials"/><ref name="727_THFIntro"/><ref name="Jet_transition">''Aeroplane – Commercial continued, Pan Am 727s take over in Berlin'', Vol. 111, No. 2853, p. 11, Temple Press, London, 23 June 1966</ref><ref>''Aeroplane – Pan Am and the IGS'', Vol. 116, No. 2972, pp. 4, 5, 6, 8, Temple Press, London, 2 October 1968</ref><ref>''Aircraft Illustrated (Airport Profile – Berlin-Tempelhof)'', Vol 42, No 1, p. 34, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, January 2009</ref> These aircraft were configured in a single class featuring 128 economy seats.<ref name="AirLinks"/><ref name="THF727_trials"/><ref name="727_THFIntro"/><ref name="Jet_transition"/>

Pan Am's move put BEA at a considerable competitive disadvantage, especially on the busy Berlin–Frankfurt route where the former out-competed the latter with both modern jet planes as well as a higher flight frequency.<ref name="BEA111Ops0_THF">{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1968/1968%20-%202530.html|title=1968 – 2530 – Flight Archive|work=flightglobal.com|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref> BEA responded to Pan Am's competitive threat by increasing the Berlin-based fleet to 13 Viscounts by winter 1966/7 to enable it to offer higher frequencies.<ref>''Aeroplane (Supplement: BEA's 20th anniversary) – BEA: German internals'', Vol. 112, No. 2858, p. 42, Temple Press, London, 28 July 1966</ref> This entailed re-configuring [[aircraft cabin]]s in a lower-density seating arrangement, as a result of which the refurbished cabins featured only 53, [[de Havilland Comet|Comet]]-type [[first class (aviation)|first-class]] seats in a four-abreast layout instead of 66, five-abreast economy seats. In addition, BEA sought to differentiate itself from its main competitor by providing a superior in-flight catering standard. (BEA's ''Silver Star'' service included complimentary hot meals on all flights whereas Pan Am merely offered free on-board snacks. Sections of the local [[mass media|press]] dubbed the contrasting [[strategic management|strategies]] of the two main protagonists plying the internal German routes from Berlin – estimated to be worth £15–20&nbsp;million in annual revenues – the ''Dinner oder Düsen?'' (Dinner or Jet?) battle.) Henceforth, the airline marketed these services as ''Super Silver Star''.<ref name="BEA_AirFrance2"/><ref name="PanAm"/><ref name="727_IGS"/><ref name="BA"/><ref>''Aeroplane – The Battle of Berlin'', Vol. 111, No. 2842, pp. 16/7, Temple Press, London, 7 April 1966</ref><ref>''Aeroplane – The Battle for Berlin: Round One a draw'', Vol. 112, No. 2878, p. 4, Temple Press, London, 15 December 1966</ref>

The introduction of Pan Am's 727s to the Berlin market represented a major step change because of the aircraft's ability to carry more passengers than any other contemporary aircraft type used by scheduled carriers in the short-haul Berlin market, and its ability to take off from and land on Tempelhof's short runways with a full commercial payload as only light fuel loads were required on the short internal German services. Compared with BEA, Pan Am's 727s carried 20% more passengers than the British carrier's [[de Havilland Comet#Comet 4|Comet 4Bs]]<ref group=nb>from August 1968</ref> and up to {{frac|2|1|2}} times as many passengers as the latter's Viscounts.<ref group=nb>''Silver Star'' configuration</ref><ref name="THF_JetRestrictions"/>

Within two years of Pan Am's introduction of [[jet aircraft|jet equipment]] on the bulk of its internal German services from/to West Berlin, its market share rose from 58% to 68%. Despite the huge increase in capacity over the DC-6B (128 vs. 87 seats), load factors dropped during the first year of operations only. (Pan Am's second year of jet operations from Tempelhof saw load factors steadying while the third saw a slight increase.<ref>''Aeroplane – Pan Am and the IGS'', Vol. 116, No. 2972, p. 6, Temple Press, London, 2 October 1968</ref>) The lower seat density in BEA's re-configured Viscounts combined with higher flight frequencies, superior catering and increased promotion proved insufficient to counter the appeal of Pan Am's new jets, which were laid out in a comparatively tight, {{convert|34|in|cm|abbr=on}} [[airline seat#Seat pitch|pitch]] seating configuration. This resulted in BEA's market share declining from 38% at the beginning of this period to 27% at its end. On the other hand, BEA's reduced capacity in the domestic air travel market between West Berlin and West Germany enabled it to attain higher load factors than its competitors.<ref name="BEA_AirFrance2"/><ref name="Berlin, Vol 2842, p. 16">''Aeroplane – The Battle of Berlin'', Vol. 111, No. 2842, p. 16, Temple Press, London, 7 April 1966</ref><ref>''Aeroplane – Pan Am and the IGS'', Vol. 116, No. 2972, pp. 5–6, Temple Press, London, 2 October 1968</ref>

From August 1968, BEA supplemented its Tempelhof-based Viscount fleet with [[de Havilland Comet#Comet 4|de Havilland Comet 4B series]] jetliners.<ref name="BEA_AirFrance2"/><ref name="THF_111"/> Although these aircraft could operate from Tempelhof's short runways with a restricted payload, they were not suited to the airline's ultra short-haul operation from Berlin (average stage length: {{convert|230|mi|km|abbr=on}}) given the high fuel consumption of the Comet, especially when operating at the mandatory {{convert|10000|ft|m|abbr=on}} altitude inside the Allied air corridors.<ref name="THF_JetRestrictions"/><ref name="WB_Trident_ops">''Classic Airliner'' (The Hawker Siddeley Trident: German internal services), p. 38, Key Publishing, Stamford, 2014</ref><ref name="BEA111Ops0_THF"/><ref name="BEA_AirFrance1-2">[http://www.flightglobal.com/PDFArchive/View/1972/1972%20-%202018.html "BEA in Berlin"], ''Flight International'', 10 August 1972, p. 181</ref><ref name="BEA111Ops1_THF">{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1968/1968%20-%202540.html|title=1968 – 2540 – Flight Archive|work=flightglobal.com|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref><ref name="BEA111Ops2_THF">[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1968/1968%20-%202541.html "En route with BEA, One-Eleven 500 into service", ''Flight International'', 7 November 1968, p. 749]</ref> This measure was therefore only a stopgap until most of BEA's Berlin fleet was equipped with 97-seat, single-class [[BAC One-Eleven#The One-Eleven 500, 510ED and 475|BAC One-Eleven 500s]].<ref group=nb>the temporary use of Comet 4Bs on BEA's Berlin routes enabled Viscount crews to undergo conversion training on the One-Eleven</ref><ref name="BEA_AirFrance2"/> BEA's re-equipment of its Berlin fleet with brand-new [[BAC One-Eleven#The One-Eleven 500, 510ED and 475|One-Eleven 500]] jets was central to the airline's [[competitive advantage|competitive strategy]] to regain ground lost to Pan Am's 727s. The new One-Eleven 500, which BEA called the ''Super One-Eleven'', operated its first scheduled service from Berlin on 1 September 1968.<ref name="BEA_AirFrance2"/><ref name="BA"/><ref name="THF_111"/><ref name="BEA111Ops1_THF"/><ref name="BEA111Ops2_THF"/><ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1968/1968%20-%202533.html "One-Eleven 500 into service"] ''Flight International'', 7 November 1968, p. 744/5</ref><ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1968/1968%20-%202534.html "Bespoke for BEA", One-Eleven 500 into service], ''Flight International'', 7 November 1968, p. 746</ref> It began replacing the airline's Berlin-based Viscounts from 17 November 1968.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britishairways.com/travel/history-1960-1969/public/en_gb |title=History & heritage – Explore our past: 1960–1969 (17 November 1968) |publisher=British Airways |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120701213711/http://www.britishairways.com/travel/history-1960-1969/public/en_gb |archive-date=1 July 2012 }}</ref>

1968 was also the year [[Berlin Tegel Airport#Other operators|all non-scheduled services]], i.e. primarily the rapidly growing number of inclusive tour charter flights, were concentrated at Tegel to alleviate increasing congestion at Tempelhof and to make better use of Tegel, which was underutilised at the time.<ref name="charter_68"/>

Air France, West Berlin's third scheduled carrier, which had suffered a continuous traffic decline ever since the transfer of Berlin operations to more distant Tegel at the beginning of 1960 due to Tempelhof's operational limitations that made it unsuitable for its Caravelles,<ref group=nb>from a peak of 11% of all West Berlin scheduled air traffic prior to the move from Tempelhof</ref> was worst affected by the equipment changes at the latter airport during the mid-to-late 1960s. Over this period, the French airline's market share halved from 9% to less than 5% despite having withdrawn from Tegel–Düsseldorf in summer 1964<ref group=nb>Air France had already discontinued Berlin–Nuremberg services prior to its move to Tegel</ref> and concentrated its limited resources on Tegel–Frankfurt and Tegel–Munich to maximise the competitive impact on the latter two routes. To reverse growing losses on its Berlin routes resulting from load factors as low as 30%, Air France decided to withdraw from the internal German market entirely and instead enter into a [[joint venture]] with BEA. This arrangement entailed the latter taking over the former's two remaining German domestic routes to Frankfurt and Munich and operating these with its own aircraft and flightdeck crews from Tempelhof. It also entailed repainting the [[stabilizer (aircraft)|fins]] of the BEA One-Eleven 500s in a neutral, dark-blue [[aircraft livery|scheme]] featuring ''Super One-Eleven'' titles instead of BEA's [[British European Airways#Late-1960s – mid-1970s|"Speedjack"]] motif. The Air France-BEA joint venture became operational in spring 1969 and terminated in autumn 1972.<ref name="BEA_AirFrance2"/><ref name="BEA_IGS"/><ref name="THF_JetRestrictions"/><ref name="BEA111Ops0_THF"/><ref name="Berlin, Vol 2842, p. 16"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1968/1968%20-%202176.html|title=1968 – 2176 – Flight Archive|work=flightglobal.com|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1969/1969%20-%202064.html|title=1969 – 2064 – Flight Archive|work=flightglobal.com|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1972/1972%20-%201329.html|title=1972 – 1329 – Flight Archive|work=flightglobal.com|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref><ref>''Berlin Airport Company, November 1972 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports'', Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1972</ref><ref name="flightglobal.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1974/1974%20-%201106.html|title=1974 – 1106 – Flight Archive|work=flightglobal.com|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1989/1989%20-%202395.html|title=1989 – 2395 – Flight Archive|work=flightglobal.com|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref>

==== Decline and Relocation ====
Commercial [[air traffic]] from/to Berlin Tempelhof peaked in 1971 at just above {{frac|5|1|2}} million passengers (out of a total of 6.12&nbsp;million passengers for all West Berlin airports during that year<ref group=nb>Tempelhof: 5,560,000; Tegel: 560,000</ref>). This represented more than 90% of West Berlin's commercial air traffic and made its iconic city centre airport Germany's second-largest.<ref group=nb>after Frankfurt, in terms of passengers handled per annum</ref> With {{frac|3|1|2}} million passengers, Pan Am accounted for the bulk of this traffic<ref name="PanAm_IGS"/> while almost all of the remaining 2 million accrued to BEA. 1971 was also the year the latter's last Berlin-based Viscount departed the city.<ref name="BA"/><ref name="battle"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1971/1971%20-%201220.html|title=1971 – 1220 – Flight Archive|work=flightglobal.com|access-date=16 October 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201132652/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1971/1971%20-%201220.html|archive-date=1 February 2014}}</ref><ref>''Berlin Airport Company, November 1971 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports'', Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1971</ref>

[[File:Tempelhof_Airways,_Aérospatiale_N_262,_Flughafen_Berlin-Tempelhof,_1982.JPG|right|thumb|230px| [[Nord 262]] of [[Tempelhof Airways]], Airport Berlin Tempelhof, 1988]]

East Germany's relaxation of border controls affecting all surface transport modes between West Berlin and West Germany across its territory from 1972 onwards resulted in a decline of scheduled internal German air traffic from/to West Berlin. This was further compounded by the [[1973–75 recession|economic downturn]] in the wake of the [[1973 oil crisis]]. The resulting fare increases that were intended to recover the airlines' higher [[operating cost]]s caused by steeply rising [[jet fuel]] prices led to a further drop in demand. This in turn resulted in a major contraction of Pan Am's and BEA's/[[British Airways]]'s internal German operations, necessitating a reduction in both airlines' Berlin-based fleets and workforces in an attempt to contain growing losses these once profitable routes generated by the mid-1970s.<ref name="BEA_AirFrance2"/><ref name="battle"/><ref name="PanAm_IGS"/><ref name="flightglobal.com"/>

On 1 September 1975, [[Berlin Tegel Airport#Pan American World Airways|Pan Am]] and [[Berlin Tegel Airport#British Airways|British Airways]] moved their entire Berlin operation to the newly built terminal at Tegel Airport. Following Pan Am's and British Airways's move to Tegel, commercial operations at Tempelhof ceased, resulting in exclusive use by the US military.

From 1978, Pan Am relocated its 727 flightdeck crew training from [[Miami International Airport]] to Berlin Tempelhof. This involved [re-]training all [[aviator|pilots]] and [[flight engineer]]s who crewed the flight decks of the airline's 727 fleet, which at the time operated out of [[Miami]] to the [[Caribbean]] and [[Central America]], as well as on the [[Pan American World Airways#Internal German Services (IGS) and other operations|IGS]] routes from Berlin and intra-European feeder routes serving Frankfurt and [[London Heathrow Airport|Heathrow]].<ref>''Berlin Airport Company – Summary of 1978 Annual Report, February 1979 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tegel Airport'', Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1979 {{in lang|de}}</ref><ref>[http://www.skyport-heathrow.co.uk/2011/04/flypast-happy-landings.html Dix, Barry, ''Fly Past: Happy landings'', Skyport Heathrow.co.uk, 14 April 2011] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110423194832/http://www.skyport-heathrow.co.uk/2011/04/flypast-happy-landings.html |date=23 April 2011 }}</ref> Another airline that used Tempelhof to train its flightdeck crews was US supplemental [[Modern Air Transport]]. While all Modern Air commercial flights from and to Berlin principally used Tegel to take advantage of that airport's longer runways and the fact that it was not in a built-up area making for easier [[final approach (aeronautics)|approaches]], the airline conducted its training for Berlin-based flight deck crews at Tempelhof between 1968 and 1974. The latter was also the US supplemental's (and other Tegel-based operators') designated diversion airport in bad weather in the Tegel area.<ref name="MAT_Story_65">''Airways'' (Proctor, J., Archive, ''Modern Air Transport''), Vol. 24, No. 03, Iss. 255, p. 65, Airways International Inc., Miami, May 2017</ref><ref name="BeyerM_FlyingHigher_Modern_189"/>

==== Revival and Final Years ====
Commercial operations restarted in 1981, when US-[[incorporation (business)|incorporated]] [[regional airline]] start-up [[Tempelhof Airways]] began a corporate shuttle between Tempelhof and [[Paderborn]] under contract to former German computer manufacturer [[Nixdorf Computer AG|Nixdorf]] whose main factories and offices were located in Paderborn and West Berlin respectively. Tempelhof Airways's initial equipment comprised [[Cessna 441|Cessna Conquest]] and [[Piper Navajo]] executive aircraft. In 1985, the airline converted the Tempelhof–Paderborn corporate shuttle into a full-fledged scheduled service using a [[Aérospatiale N 262|Nord 262]] commuter turboprop.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/PDFArchive/View/1988/1988%20-%200850.html|title=berlin – tempelhof – 1988 – 0850 – Flight Archive|work=flightglobal.com|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref>

The end of the Cold War and German reunification opened Tempelhof for non-allied air traffic on 3 October 1990. [[President of the United States|US President]] [[Bill Clinton]] christened a new Boeing [[C-17 Globemaster III]] transport plane (serial number 96-0006) the ''Spirit of Berlin'' at Tempelhof on 12 May 1998, to commemorate the 49th anniversary of the end of the Berlin Blockade on 12 May 1949.

Towards the end, commercial use was mostly in the form of small [[regional airliner|commuter aircraft]] flying regionally. Plans had been in place to shut down Tempelhof and Tegel, and make the new [[Berlin Brandenburg Airport|Brandenburg Airport]] the sole commercial airport for Berlin.

===Closing down air traffic===
[[File:Tempelhof3.jpg|thumb|right|230px]]
In 1996, the mayor of Berlin [[Eberhard Diepgen]], Brandenburg minister-president [[Manfred Stolpe]] and the federal [[transport]] minister Wissmann established the so-called "Consensus resolution". The entire planning aimed at concentrating domestic and international air traffic in Berlin and Brandenburg at one airport: [[Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport|Berlin-Schönefeld International Airport]].<ref name="wahlen-berlin.de">[http://www.wahlen-berlin.de/wahlen/volksentscheid-2008/amtlinfo.pdf Official public information brochure of the pros and cons of the referendum] www.wahlen-berlin.de {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090227140334/http://www.wahlen-berlin.de/wahlen/volksentscheid-2008/amtlinfo.pdf |date=27 February 2009 }} {{in lang|de}}.</ref>

To ensure [[investment]] protection as well as to fend off opposition to Schönefeld International's expansion, it was mandated that first Tempelhof and then Tegel must be closed. On 4 December 2007, the [[Federal Administrative Court of Germany]] (''Bundesverwaltungsgericht'') made the final decision as court of last instance to close Tempelhof Airport.<ref>''Grünes Licht für Schließung des Flughafens Berlin-Tempelhof''. Press release of the Federal Administrative Court of Germany, 4 December 2007 (available at [http://www.bundesverwaltungsgericht.de www.bundesverwaltungsgericht.de])</ref>

===Referendum against closure===
An initiative for a nonbinding referendum against the closure was held and failed, after the initial number of signatures required were collected.<ref>[http://www.wahlen-berlin.de/wahlen/volksbegehren-2007/LAL-VB-SRR-B.pdf Official public announcement of the call for support] www.wahlen-berlin.de{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227100947/http://www.wahlen-berlin.de/wahlen/volksbegehren-2007/LAL-VB-SRR-B.pdf |date=27 February 2008 }} {{in lang|de}}</ref> According to the constitution of the state of Berlin, the number of supportive signatures that were required to be collected within four months in order to compel a referendum amounts to 7% of the population of Berlin entitled to vote – 169,784.<ref>[http://www.berlin.de/wahlen/index.php/volksbegehren-2007/Rechtsgrundlagen/VvB_Artikel_62_63.htm Official page of the State of Berlin: see Article&nbsp;63 (1), second sentence of the Berlin constitution] www.berlin.de {{in lang|de}}; with regard to the figures, see the [http://www.berlin.de/wahlen/index.php/volksbegehren-2007/Fristen_Termine.htm official referendum schedule, at the end of the page] www.berlin.de {{in lang|de}}.</ref> After the four-month period for the collection of signatures<ref>[http://www.berlin.de/wahlen/index.php/volksbegehren-2007/Fristen_Termine.htm Official referendum schedule, at A.&nbsp;6] www.berlin.de {{in lang|de}}.</ref> 203,408 signatures had been lodged.<ref>[http://www.berlin.de/wahlen/index.php/volksbegehren-2007/AnzahlderUnterschriften.htm Official information on the number of signatures lodged] www.berlin.de</ref>

The referendum was held on 27 April 2008.<ref>[http://www.berlin.de/wahlen/index.php/volksbegehren-2007/Fristen_Termine.htm Official referendum schedule, at B.&nbsp;2] www.berlin.de {{in lang|de}}.</ref> All eligible voters received an information brochure along with their notification. A majority of the votes was necessary to support the referendum, but this had to be at least one quarter of all eligible Berlin voters.<ref name="ReferenceA">[http://www.wahlen-berlin.de/wahlen/volksentscheid-2008/amtlinfo.pdf Official public information brochure of the pros and cons of the referendum] www.wahlen-berlin.de {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090227140334/http://www.wahlen-berlin.de/wahlen/volksentscheid-2008/amtlinfo.pdf |date=27 February 2009 }} {{in lang|de}}</ref><ref>[http://www.berlin.de/wahlen/index.php/volksentscheid-2008/presse/akt-pm.html Official press release on the referendum] www.berlin.de {{in lang|de}}</ref>

The initiative for keeping Tempelhof open was supported by the ''Interessengemeinschaft City-Airport Tempelhof'' (ICAT)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tempelhof-retten.de/|title=berlin tempelhof|work=tempelhof-retten.de|access-date=16 October 2015|archive-date=10 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010123200/http://www.tempelhof-retten.de/|url-status=dead}}</ref> along with a couple of opposition parties in the Berlin city parliament: the [[Christian Democratic Union (Germany)|Christian Democratic Union]] and the [[Free Democratic Party (Germany)|Free Democratic Party]] citing primarily the need for an inner-city airport for business and private flyers as well as nostalgic reasons.<ref name="wahlen-berlin.de"/> Representatives from the ICAT suggested keeping the airport open up until Schönefeld Airport was to be completed in about 2012. The [[Berlin]] government insisted on the closure of the airport for legal, long-term economic, and environmental reasons,<ref name="ReferenceA"/> in particular to ensure the expansion of [[Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport|Schönefeld International]]. Environmental groups and the [[Alliance '90/The Greens|Green party]] supported them in this.

Plans for the future would include for example a [[Berlin Blockade|Berlin airlift]] museum in the old terminal building, commercial space for innovative businesses, new housing and industrial areas, sports facilities, and parks. Legally the decision in favour of closure at the end of October 2008 was irrevocable<ref>[http://www.berlin-airport.de/EN/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/2008/2008_03_14_Bundesverfassungsgericht_zum_BBI.html BBI Press release: Berlin Airports welcome BBI decision by the Federal Constitutional Court on BBI] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090214035449/http://www.berlin-airport.de/EN/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/2008/2008_03_14_Bundesverfassungsgericht_zum_BBI.html |date=14 February 2009 }}</ref> and the referendum was nonbinding. A subsequent reopening would have faced high legal barriers; but some legal experts claimed there may be means to circumvent this.

The referendum of 27 April 2008 failed. Although 60.2% of the votes cast were for keeping the airport open, this was by only 21.7% of the eligible voters; short of the 25% required. Support had been highest in western districts of Berlin (up to 80%), but opposition (only 30% approval) and disinterest was prevalent in the eastern districts. Voter turnout of 36% was low.<ref>[http://www.wahlen-berlin.de/wahlen/volksentscheid-2008/Ergebnisse/ve08-proz.asp Official results of the referendum published by the municipal election supervisor] www.wahlen-berlin.de {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080430191126/http://www.wahlen-berlin.de/wahlen/volksentscheid-2008/Ergebnisse/ve08-proz.asp |date=30 April 2008 }}</ref> Air traffic at Tempelhof Airport ceased for good on 30 October and the official licence expired in mid-December.

A "Goodbye Tempelhof" gala was held at Tempelhof airport for eight hundred invited guests in the last hours of 30 October. Meanwhile, protesters against the closing held a candle vigil in front on the Platz der Lufbrücke. The last commercial flight was a [[Cirrus Airlines]] [[Dornier 328]] that departed at 22:17 towards [[Mannheim]].<ref>Klaus Kurpjuweit and Jan Oberländer, [http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/Berliner-Flughaefen-Flughafen-Tempelhof-Tempelhof;art1050,2649810 "Ende der Legende"], ''[[Der Tagesspiegel]]'' 31 October 2008 {{in lang|de}}</ref> "Time to Say Goodbye" was sung to the spectators on the apron at the conclusion. At precisely four and a half minutes before midnight, the last two airplanes – a historical [[Junkers Ju 52]] and an airlift "[[Raisin Bombers|raisin bomber]]" Douglas DC-3 – took off in parallel, waved their wings, and flew off south-east to Schönefeld airport. The runway and air field lights were switched off at midnight.<ref name="nytimes.com"/>

Three [[Antonov An-2]] airplanes flying under [[Visual Flight Rules|VFR]] were left stranded at the airport, as weather conditions prevented them from taking off on 30 October. They were allowed to take off on 24 November 2008, making them the last aircraft to take off from the airport.<ref>[http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/Tempelhof;art270,2669274 "Abflug in die Geschichtsbücher"], ''Tagesspiegel'' 25 November 2008 {{in lang|de}}</ref>

===Post-airport usage===
[[File:Berlin Spring 2012 Tempelhofer Feld.jpg|thumb|An area of Tempelhof Airport in 2012, converted into open greenspace]]

==== ABB Formula E Berlin ePrix ====
The [[ABB Formula E]] used variations of the [[Tempelhof Airport Street Circuit]] for the [[Berlin ePrix]] in 2015 and from 2017 to 2026.<ref name="Federation Internationale de l'Automobile v729">{{cite web |title=Search results for Berlin ePrix |url=https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/751912 |access-date=July 12, 2025 |website=FIA Formula E |date=10 June 2025 }}</ref>In 2020 due to COVID-19, there were held 6 rounds on the circuit with rounds 1 and 2 going on the reverse layout and rounds 5 and 6 having the extended layout for the first time.

==== Public park ====
{{Main|Tempelhofer Feld}}
In August 2009, Berlin city officials announced that the Tempelhof outfields would be opened in May 2010 as a city park. The city planned to spend an estimated €60&nbsp;million on developing the park from 2010 to 2017.<ref name="thelocal.de">{{cite web|url=http://www.thelocal.de/society/20090831-21611.html|title=Tempelhof to become enormous city park|work=thelocal.de|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref> On the weekend of 8/9 May 2010, the outfield was festively opened as Berlin's largest public park named "[[Tempelhofer Feld]]". More than 200,000 Berliners visited the park to enjoy its wide open spaces for recreation ranging from biking and skating to [[baseball]] and flying kites.<ref>[http://www.morgenpost.de/berlin/article1305893/Riesiger-Andrang-auf-dem-Flugfeld-Tempelhof.html Article and photos "Riesiger Andrang auf dem Flugfeld Tempelhof"] ''[[Berliner Morgenpost]]'', 10 May 2010 {{in lang|de}}</ref><ref>[http://www.flughafentempelhof.com/archives/492/flughafen-tempelhof-die-neue-rollbahn.html "Flughafen Tempelhof: Die neue Rollbahn"] flughafentempelhof.com, 9 May 2010 {{in lang|de}}</ref><ref>[http://www.flyingblog.de/?p=57 "Tempelhof Kiteflyers Meeting 2010 am 9. Mai 2010"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719013651/http://www.flyingblog.de/?p=57 |date=19 July 2011 }} Flying Blog, May 2010, in German and English</ref>
The opening ceremonies were slightly marred by some protesters unhappy about the fence that closed off the park during the night.<ref>[http://www.thelocal.de/society/20100508-27067.html "Whistles for Wowereit at Tempelhof park opening"], The Local, 8 May 2009</ref>

Entrance is free with park hours being from 6/7/7.30 a.m., depending on the season, until sunset. The grounds are maintained by ''Grün Berlin'',<ref>[http://www.gruen-berlin.de/parks-gaerten/flughafen-tempelhof/ Grün Berlin's Tempelhofer Feld Project] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100430002252/http://www.gruen-berlin.de/parks-gaerten/flughafen-tempelhof/ |date=30 April 2010 }}</ref> a company that also looks after several other gated parks in Berlin. About 80% of the former airfield is an important habitat for several [[IUCN Red List|redlisted]] birds, plants and insects.<ref>[http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/planen/staedtebau-projekte/tempelhof/de/freiraum/lebensraum.shtml "Ein Lebensraum für Flora und Fauna"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203021335/http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/planen/staedtebau-projekte/tempelhof/de/freiraum/lebensraum.shtml |date=3 December 2010 }}</ref> Usage of the park is seasonally restricted to limit disturbance of [[Eurasian skylark]] breeding grounds.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/wissen/naturschutz-berlin-feldlerchen-rekord-auf-tempelhofer-feld-sperrungen-ab-april-dpa.urn-newsml-dpa-com-20090101-190327-99-565221|title=Feldlerchen-Rekord auf Tempelhofer Feld: Sperrungen ab April |trans-title=Record number of skylarks at Tempelhofer Feld: Protected zones in effect starting April|website=www.sueddeutsche.de |date=27 March 2019 |access-date=26 August 2021|language=German}}</ref>

In 2013, the [[Senate of Berlin]] introduced a plan to open the outer zones of the Tempelhof fields for construction of apartment and commercial buildings, and a new [[Berlin Central and Regional Library]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/nachhaltige-erneuerung/aktuell?tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=1070&cHash=73a3495b4c4cf09466c6a134c3f4f081|title=Senator Müller stellte den Masterplan Tempelhofer Freiheit vor|trans-title=Senator Müller presented „Masterplan Tempelhofer Freiheit“ (March 2013)|publisher=Senatsverwaltung für Stadtentwicklung und Wohnen Berlin|website=www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de|access-date=25 August 2021|language=German|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tagesspiegel.de/meinung/bebauung-des-tempelhofer-felds-natur-und-wohnungen-sind-keine-gegensaetze/8688312.html|title=Natur und Wohnungen sind keine Gegensätze|trans-title=Nature and apartments aren't opposites|website=www.tagesspiegel.de|date=25 August 2013|access-date=25 August 2021|language=German}}</ref> An area of {{Convert|230|ha|km2}} was to remain a park, but was planned to be landscaped with a rain water reservoir, a 60-meter artificial boulder, groves and other new features. Landscaping was supposed to begin in 2013 and be completed in time for Germany's world horticultural exhibition IGA that was to be hosted in the park in 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bz-berlin.de/artikel-archiv/parklandschaft-in-tempelhof-geplant|title=Parklandschaft in Tempelhof geplant
|trans-title=Landscaped park planned in Tempelhof|website=www.tagesspiegel.de|date=15 April 2011|access-date=25 August 2021|language=German}}</ref>

In a 2014 Referendum, Berlin's citizens decided to preserve the entire space of the park and prohibit any kind of development by law, thus putting an end to both construction and landscaping plans.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/volksentscheid-tempelhofer-feld-100-prozent-freiheit-und-jetzt/9948470.html|title=100 Prozent Freiheit - und jetzt?|trans-title=100 % freedom - what now?|website=www.tagesspiegel.de|date=26 May 2013|access-date=25 August 2021|language=German}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://gesetze.berlin.de/bsbe/document/jlr-ThFGBErahmen|title=Gesetz zum Erhalt des Tempelhofer Feldes vom 14. Juni 2014|trans-title=Law for the preservation of the Tempelhof fields, dated Jun 14 2014|website=gesetze.berlin.de|access-date=25 August 2021|language=German}}</ref>

==== Event location ====
Tempelhof has been used since its closing to host numerous fairs and events. The first major events included a fashion tradeshow in July<ref>[http://www.breadandbutter.com/summer2009/en/bread-butter-berlin/dates-times-location/ Bread & Butter Berlin Airport Berlin-Tempelhof] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090306231542/http://www.breadandbutter.com/summer2009/en/bread-butter-berlin/dates-times-location/ |date=6 March 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,633962,00.html|title=Berlin Fashion Week: Glamour, Gowns and Garter Belts|date=2 July 2009|work=Der Spiegel |access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref> and the Berlin Festival 2009 concert in August.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.berlinfestival.com/|title=Berlin Festival – 29. – 31. Mai 2015|work=berlinfestival.com|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref> Fairs were held in the [[hangar]]. In September 2010, Tempelhof hosted the [[Popkomm]], the international world's music and entertainment business meeting place and was one of the most important locations of the first [[Berlin Music Week]].

The place also hosted sports events. The [[Berlin Marathon]] fair, the main event preparation to runners, was held at Tempelhof every September. The [[FIA Formula E Championship]] raced on the airport runways in 2015, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 - with the 2020 edition hosting 6 races in a nine-day period to complete the 2019/20 season.<ref>The Red Bull Air Race World Championship by Red Bull, featuring aerial obstacle courses which pilots have to navigate under high velocity forces, was held at the airport in 2006.[http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/108723 Berlin completes Formula E calendar] – Autosport, 11 July 2013</ref> The [[Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters]] executives were also discussing with government officials about hosting a round at Tempelhof.<ref>[http://www.motorsport-total.com/dtm/news/2013/06/Tempelhof-Plaene_doch_noch_nicht_vom_Tisch_13061701.html Tempelhof-Pläne doch noch nicht vom Tisch?] – Motorsport Total, 17 June 2013</ref>

When [[Eurovision Song Contest|Eurovision]] came to Germany in 2011, the airport would have been the site of the contest if Berlin was chosen as the host city.{{cn|date=February 2025}} Later, Düsseldorf was chosen.<ref>{{cite web |title=Düsseldorf 2011 |url=https://eurovision.tv/event/dusseldorf-2011 |website=eurovision.tv |access-date=27 February 2025 |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Flughafen Tempelhof mit Focke-Wulf 200.jpg|thumb|A newly-restored [[Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor]] on display at Tempelhof in 2023, parked outside the terminal building on the old [[airport apron]]. It will be featured as the centrepiece of an aviation museum built at the airport.<ref>{{Cite web |last=GJM |date=2021-08-01 |title=Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor for Tempelhof |url=https://www.scramble.nl/military-news/focke-wulf-fw-200-condor-for-tempelhof |access-date=2025-02-06 |website=www.scramble.nl |language=en-GB}}</ref>]]
In 2022, Tempelhof was used as the site for the [[festival]] Tempelhof Sounds, a three-day music event consisting of mainly [[Alternative rock|alternative]], [[Indie rock|indie]] and [[Rock music|rock]] music. There were over 30,000 visitors on each day of the festival. Shortly after the festival concluded, it was confirmed that the event would return in 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-06-13 |title=Tempelhof Sounds will also take place in 2023 - World News {{!}} TakeToNews |url=https://taketonews.com/tempelhof-sounds-will-also-take-place-in-2023/,%20https://www.rollingstone.de/tempelhof-sounds-berlin-termin-vvk-line-up-2023-2459857/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |language=en-US |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=Source is unreliable per [[WP:RS/N]].|date=October 2022}}

==== Emergency refugee shelter ====
For some two years from September 2015, in the midst of the [[European migrant crisis|2015 European migrant crisis]], Tempelhof was used as an 'emergency refugee shelter', briefly holding some 2,500 people in two former hangars, before the numbers eased and the facility could gradually be wound down.<ref name="DailyTelegraph"/><ref>{{cite web |title=The runway of refugees: the changing face of Berlin's former Tempelhof airport |url=https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/5790/the-runway-of-refugees-the-changing-face-of-berlins-former-tempelhof-airport |website=InfoMigrants |access-date=27 February 2025 |language=en |date=26 October 2017}}</ref>

==== Creative district ====
In 2018, it was announced that the defunct airport is intended to be known as "Berlin Creative District", similar to [[Meatpacking District, Manhattan]] or Brompton Design District in [[Brompton, London]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/berlins-old-airport-will-soon-hosts-vibrant-art-galleries |title=Berlin's Old Airport Will Soon Host Vibrant Art Scene |work=architecturaldigest.com |date=16 October 2018}}</ref> For instance, the former US Army officers' hotel will be altered to be a digital innovation center for startups and creative businesses, while a new visitor center was due to open in 2019.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.art-critique.com/en/2018/11/berlins-tempelhof-airport-is-now-a-creative-district/ |title=Berlin's Tempelhof Airport is now a creative district |work=art-critique.com |date=12 November 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/europe/berlin-airport-tempelhof-creative-zone-travel-germany-a8874591.html |title=The rebirth of Berlin's Tempelhof Airport |work=Independent |date=18 April 2019}}</ref>

==Former airlines and destinations==
[[File:McDonnell Douglas MD-87 (DC-9-87), OY-KHF, SAS Scandinavian Airlines.jpg|thumb|[[Scandinavian Airlines]] [[McDonnell Douglas MD-87]] at Tempelhof Airport in April 1995]]
Most airlines moved to Tegel and Schönefeld in the years before Tempelhof closed down. When it officially closed down in 2008 there were only scheduled flights from [[Brussels Airlines]] and [[Cirrus Airlines]] still operating from there.

Berlin Tempelhof was an important base for [[air taxi]] services with the following operators flying from/to there: AAF Aviona Air, Air Service Berlin (scheduled sightseeing flights using a historic "[[raisin bombers|raisin bomber]]" [[Douglas DC-3]]),<ref group=nb>operated from [[Berlin-Schönefeld Airport]] starting November 2008</ref> AIRSHIP Air Service, Bizair Fluggesellschaft, Business Air Charter, Heli Unionair, Jet Club Deutschland Chartermanagement, Private Wings, Rotorflug, [[TAG Aviation]] and Windrose Air.

==Statistics==
{{Airport-Statistics|iata=THF}}

==Accidents and incidents==
On 12 June 1897, in one of the earliest recorded aircraft accidents, [[Friedrich Hermann Wölfert]] and his mechanic Robert Knabe were killed when Wölfert's [[lighter than air]] craft ''Deutschland'' caught fire at 200&nbsp;m (670&nbsp;ft) and crashed at Tempelhof Field.

On 29 April 1952, an Air France [[Douglas C-54 Skymaster|Douglas C-54A]] (registration F-BELI) operating a scheduled service from [[Frankfurt International Airport|Frankfurt Rhein-Main Airport]] to Berlin Tempelhof came under sustained attack from two Soviet [[MiG-15]] [[fighter aircraft|fighters]] while passing through one of the Allied air corridors over East Germany. Although the attack had severely damaged the plane, necessitating the shutdown of engines number three and four, the pilot in command of the aircraft managed to carry out a safe [[emergency landing]] at Tempelhof Airport.

A subsequent inspection of the aircraft's damage at Tempelhof revealed that it had been hit by 89 shots fired from the Soviet MiGs during the preceding air attack. There were no fatalities among the 17 occupants (six crew, 11 passengers) despite the severity of the attack. The Soviet military authorities defended this attack on an unarmed civilian aircraft by claiming the Air France plane was outside the air corridor at the time of attack.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19520429-0|title=ASN Aircraft accident Douglas C-54A-DO (DC-4) F-BELI Berlin|author=Harro Ranter|date=29 April 1952|work=aviation-safety.net|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref>

On 19 January 1953, a [[Silver City Airways]] [[Bristol Freighter|Bristol 170 Freighter Mark 21]] (registration: G-AICM) operating a non-scheduled cargo flight from West Berlin [[emergency landing|crash-landed]] near Tempelhof Airport as a result of [[fuel starvation]] when bad weather at the destination forced it to return to Berlin. Although the accident damaged the aircraft beyond repair, both pilots survived.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19530119-0|title=ASN Aircraft accident Bristol 170 Freighter 21 G-AICM Berlin-Tempelhof|author=Harro Ranter|date=19 January 1953|work=aviation-safety.net|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref>

In 1978, [[LOT Flight 165 hijacking|LOT Polish Airlines flight 165]] was hijacked and forced to land at Tempelhof. The US military authorities who were in charge of Tempelhof during the Cold War era arrested the [[East Germany|East German]] hijacker on arrival. Following the hijacker's arrest, the US authorities returned the aircraft, its crew and those passengers who wished to resume their journey to Poland.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1978/1978%20-%201978.html|title=aer lingus – 1978 – 1978 – Flight Archive|work=flightglobal.com|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref>

In 1981, a LOT Polish Airlines [[Antonov AN-24]] operating an internal scheduled service from [[Katowice]] to [[Gdańsk]] was hijacked en route and forced to land at Tempelhof. Jerzy Dygas, the hijacker, was on military service while taking over the aircraft. He was armed with a grenade and a single-shot pistol. The US military authorities arrested the hijacker on arrival and handed him over to the local police. At that time, he was expected to be sentenced to a {{frac|5|1|2}}-year prison term under West German law. Following the hijacker's arrest, the US authorities released the aircraft, its crew and all 50 passengers to resume their flight to Gdańsk.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1981/1981%20-%202799.html|title=1981 – 2799 – Flight Archive|work=flightglobal.com|access-date=16 October 2015}}</ref>
[[File:Runway 27L Tempelhof Luftaufnahme.jpg|thumb|The former 27L runway where the Socata TB 10 Tobago had landed in 2010<ref name=":0" /> (aerial view, 2022)]]
On 26 June 2010, a private [[Socata TB|Socata TB 10 Tobago]] had to perform an emergency landing on the now closed Tempelhof Airport due to engine failure. It was on a sightseeing flight and the pilot was looking for a free space to land safely. The aircraft was occupied by the pilot and three passengers and had taken off from [[Berlin Tegel Airport|Tegel Airport]]. Upon consultation with air traffic control in [[Berlin Schönefeld Airport|Schönefeld]], it was agreed to land on a Tempelhof runway. No one was injured during the emergency landing as the visitors of the now Tempelhofer Park scurried aside to make room for the TB 10, which came to a halt after a very short distance.<ref>Jörn Hasselmann, [http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/polizei-justiz/kleinflugzeug-auf-tempelhof-notgelandet/1869584.html Pilot: "Ich hatte Befürchtungen, dass ich nicht bis Tempelhof komme"], ''Tagesspiegel'' 26 June 2010 {{in lang|de}}''("I feared, I wouldn't reach Tempelhof")''</ref> Four days later, the Socata TB 10 Tobago was transported – with wings removed – by lorry back to Tegel airport. The [[Senate of Berlin]] now intends to prohibit sightseeing flights over Berlin by single-engine planes for safety reasons.<ref name=":0">[http://www.morgenpost.de/berlin-aktuell/article1335866/Tempelhof-Maschine-hat-Flugfeld-verlassen.html "Tempelhof-Maschine hat Flugfeld verlassen"], ''Berliner Morgenpost'' 1 July 2010 {{in lang|de}} "Tempelhof plane has left airfield" with pictures</ref> It has been reported that the pilot had forgotten to switch over to the second fuel tank.<ref>[http://www.flughafentempelhof.com/archives/515/notlandung-pilot-hatte-tankschalter-vergessen.html Notlandung: Pilot hatte Tankschalter vergessen], ''Berliner Morgenpost'' 2 July 2010, at Die Wahrheit über Berlin-Tempelhof {{in lang|de}} "Pilot forgot tank switch"</ref>

==See also==
* [[Tempelhofer Feld]]
* [[Nazi architecture]]
* [[Berlin Brandenburg Airport]]
* [[Berlin ePrix]]
* [[Tempelhof Airport Street Circuit]]

==Notes and citations==
===Notes===
{{Reflist|group=nb}}

===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book| title=Berlin Airport Company (Berliner Flughafen Gesellschaft [BFG]) – Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports, several issues, 1965–1975 | publisher=Berlin Airport Company | place=West Berlin, Germany|language=de}}
* {{cite journal| title=Flight International | journal=Flight International | publisher=Reed Business Information | place=Sutton, UK | issn= 0015-3710}} (various backdated issues relating to commercial air transport at Berlin Tempelhof during the Allied period from 1950 until 1990)
* {{cite book| author=Simons, Graham M. | title=The Spirit of Dan-Air| publisher=GMS Enterprises | place=Peterborough, UK | year=1993 | isbn=1-870384-20-2}}
* {{cite book| title=Aircraft Illustrated Airport Profile – Berlin-Tempelhof [pp.28–35], Vol. 42, No. 1, January 2009 | publisher=Ian Allan Publishing | place=Hersham, UK}} ([http://www.aircraftillustrated.com ''Aircraft Illustrated'' online]) ISSN 0002-2675
* Schmitz, Frank. ''Flughafen Tempelhof: Berlins Tor zur Welt''. Berlin: be.bra, 1997. {{ISBN|3-930863-32-4}} {{in lang|de}}
* [[Gabi Dolff-Bonekämper]]: "Berlin-Tempelhof". In: ''Berlin-Tempelhof, [[Liverpool John Lennon Airport|Liverpool-Speke]], [[Paris – Le Bourget Airport|Paris-Le Bourget]]. Années 30 Architecture des aéroports, Airport Architecture of the Thirties, Flughafenarchitektur der dreißiger Jahre''. Éditions du patrimoine, Paris 2000, {{ISBN|2-85822-328-9}}, pp.&nbsp;32–61.
* Bob Hawkins (Hrsg.): ''Historic Airports. Proceedings of the International "L'Europe de l'Air" Conferences on Aviation Architecture Liverpool (1999), Berlin (2000), Paris (2001)''. English Heritage, London 2005, {{ISBN|1-873592-83-3}}.
* Heeb, Christine. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110719100831/http://www-docs.tu-cottbus.de/alumniplus/public/files/master_theses/christine_heeb.pdf "A multifaceted monument – the complex heritage of Tempelhof Central Airport"], Master of Arts thesis in World Heritage Studies, [[Brandenburg Technical University|Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus]], 2007 (pdf)
* Matthias Heisig: ''Flughafen Berlin-Tempelhof. Die amerikanische Geschichte | Tempelhof Central Airport. The American Story | Aéroport de Berlin-Tempelhof. L'histoire américaine''. Edited for the [[AlliiertenMuseum]] by Gundula Bavendamm and Florian Weiß, Berlin 2014 (trilingual).

==External links==
{{commons category-inline}}
* [http://www.tempelhoferfreiheit.de/en/ Official website of the Tempelhofer Freiheit park]
* [http://www.bvg.de/index.php/de/Common/Document/field/file/id/207 local public transportation map (PDF)]
* [http://www.tempelhof-retten.de/ ICAT – Initiative for keeping Tempelhof open] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010123200/http://www.tempelhof-retten.de/ |date=10 October 2018 }} {{in lang|de}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080501071505/http://www.berlin.de/flughafen-tempelhof/ Official Berlin site for closing Tempelhof and future plans] {{in lang|de}}
* [http://www.bift.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=59&Itemid=30 BIFT – Initiative for Tempelhof's closure]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070208073706/http://www.hill.af.mil/museum/history/candy.htm Berlin "Candy Bomber"]
* [http://www.jedelsky.de/flughafen_tempelhof/index_2.html History of the airport Tempelhof] A representation of the historical development from 1870 until this day. {{in lang|de}}
* [http://www.stephankarl.freehostia.de/Tempelhof6.html Pictures from a guided tour through the airport]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150204014242/http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=1891 National Museum Of The USAF Berlin Airlift Factsheet]
* [http://www.usmvc.de Ein kleiner Verein der sich mit den Fahrzeugen der Alliierten beschaftigt]
* [http://www.zentralflughafen-tempelhof.de Der Zentralflughafen] Vom Tempelhofer Feld zum Zentralflughafen Berlin-Tempelhof. {{in lang|de}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090226053619/http://nrc.nl/international/article2045343.ece/An_era_ends_with_closing_of_Berlin_airport An era ends with closing of Berlin Airport, Spiegel Online-Report of Christina Hebel on NRC Handelsblad]
* [http://www.tempelhof-spotting.kilu.de picture archive from 1960]
* [http://www.airfrancemusee.org/img/histoire/allemagne.pdf Bonjour Deutschland – Luftverkehr unter Nachbarn: 1926–2006] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140327050139/http://www.airfrancemusee.org/img/histoire/allemagne.pdf |date=27 March 2014 }} {{in lang|de}}
* {{Racing-Reference track|Berlin_Tempelhof_Airport}}

{{Portalbar|Germany|Aviation}}
{{Airports in Germany}}
{{Visitor attractions in Berlin}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Defunct airports in Germany]]
[[Category:Airports established in 1923]]
[[Category:Airports disestablished in 2008]]
[[Category:1923 establishments in Germany]]
[[Category:2008 disestablishments in Germany]]
[[Category:Airports in Berlin]]
[[Category:Nazi architecture]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Tempelhof-Schöneberg|Tempelhof Airport]]
[[Category:Refugee camps in Europe]]