Berlin-Schönefeld International Airport

Berlin-Schönefeld Airport (Flughafen Berlin-Schönefeld) (IATA: SXF, ICAO: EDDB) is an international airport located in the town of Schönefeld in Brandenburg, adjacent to Berlin's southern border. It is referred to as "The Holiday Airport", as it has mostly international charter flights. Schönefeld was once the major civil airport of East Germany, and the only airport serving East Berlin.

It lies outside the city, unlike the other two Berlin airports, Tegel Airport and Tempelhof Airport; in contrast to those airports, noise pollution is not much of an issue at Schönefeld.

Schönefeld will be transformed into Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport in 2011. In return, both Tempelhof and Tegel will close. In 2006, the airport served 6,059,343 passengers; after conversion to BBI, up to 50 million passengers could be handled.

History

Berlin-Schönefeld airport was opened on 15 October 1934, with the construction of the Henschel aircraft plant (MLG) in Schönefeld. Until the end of the Second World War over 14,000 airplanes were built there. On 22 April 1945 MLG was occupied by Soviet troops. The equipment for aircraft construction was either dismantled or blown up. Later, up until 1947, railways were repaired and agricultural machinery was built and repaired on the site. In 1946 Soviet air forces moved from Johannisthal to Schönefeld, and Aeroflot started operating from the airport. In 1947 the Soviet military administration of Germany approved the construction of a civilian airport at the site in SMAD (instruction NR. 93).

Following World War II, Tempelhof was used as a U.S. Air Force base, while the Soviet air force relocated to Schönefeld during 1946. Tempelhof was returned to civil administration in 1951, Schönefeld in 1954 and Tegel in 1960. Tegel and Schönefeld served the civilian populations of West Berlin and East Berlin, respectively.

Between 1947 and 1990 Schönefeld airport was renamed several times and became the central airport of the GDR. Aeroflot Tu-144 aircraft began operating from the airport in the 1970s. A stipulation of the Four Powers Agreements on the status of Berlin following World War II was a ban on air traffic by German air carriers to Berlin - only American, British, French or Soviet airlines could fly to the city. But because of Berlin-Schönefeld's location outside of the city boundaries of Berlin, this restriction did not apply. Thus, German aircraft (usually of the GDR airline Interflug, formerly German Lufthansa of the GDR) could take off and land from Schönefeld, which was not the case at Tegel and Tempelhof airports. With the reunification of Germany and Berlin, Tegel and Tempelhof could once again receive flights by German airlines, such as Lufthansa, as well.

Map of the planned Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport and existing airport Schönefeld.

Following German reunification in 1990, the efficacy of operating three separate airports became increasingly prohibitive, leading the Berlin City Council to pursue a single airport that would be more efficient and would decrease the noise pollution especially from the two centrally located airports within the city. In addition, the cumulative capacity of Berlin's three airports was 15.5 million in late 2003, a measure that would only be needed after 2010, according to current prognoses. Both Tempelhof and Tegel are surrounded by urban development and cannot expand. A single new airport would increase the capacity to at least 30 million initially, which would be expanded to 50 million before 2030. This would enable Berlin to accommodate a number of flights similar in magnitude to that of airports serving other European capitals, like London's Heathrow or Paris' Charles De Gaulle.

The new Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport (BBI) is currently under construction immediately south of Schönefeld Airport and is scheduled for completion in 2011. After a 10-year administrative court battle, on 16 March, 2006 the federal administrative court in Leipzig gave the go-ahead for the project by ruling in favour of Berlin against challenges by residents and municipalities near the future airport. As Schönefeld is located in Brandenburg, the Bundesland (federal state) surrounding Berlin, the name reflects the fact that the new airport will serve both. BBI will incorporate the south runway of Schönefeld as a common feature. However most of the old airport, including the terminal and apron areas, is intended to undergo a complete urban redevelopment after the new airport opens.

Accidents

• 12 December 1986, an Aeroflot Tu-134 crashed on its approach towards the airport, killing 72 of the 82 passengers and crew on board.
• 16 July 1989, an Ilyushin IL-62 from Interflug-Airlines crashed after take off into a field near Berlin, 21 people died.

Airlines and destinations

Berlin-Schönefeld Airport

Schönefeld International Airport has four terminals (A, B, C, D). As the airport is small compared to other major airports, these terminals might be regarded as "halls" or "boarding areas", but they are officially referred to as "terminals", nevertheless. The terminals are connected and are within short walking distances.

• Terminal A is the biggest one and houses around two thirds of the airlines (see below). All easyJet flights to France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom arrive and depart there.
• Terminal B is in fact an extension to terminal A. It is used exclusively by easyJet (all flights not located in terminal A).
• Terminal C has recently been modified and is now supposed to house sightseeing and event flights.
• Terminal D was opened in December 2005 due to rapidly growing passenger numbers. It is mainly used by Condor and Germanwings. Part of it serves as security terminal for flights to Israel.

Terminal A

Terminal B

Terminal C

Terminal D

Cargo airlines

Transport to the airport

The airport is served by the Berlin-Schönefeld Flughafen railway station, which is a short walk from the terminal. This station is served by the S-Bahn lines S9 and S45 every ten minutes, and by faster regional trains every 30 minutes. All trains run to/from Berlin city centre.

External links

• Airport information for EDDB at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.
• Schönefeld International Airport Homepage
• local public transportation map (PDF)
• bbi Homepage
• Opponents of the development to airport bbi