Berlin Flights

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Berlin has three airports - Tegel (TXL) 8km from the city centre, Schonefeld (SXF) 22km from the city centre, and Tempelhof (THF) 6km from the city centre.

When we visited Berlin in May 2006, we flew into Tegel airport from London Heathrow. We found the airport to be very organised and we were through customs, with our baggage collected in record time. Our first taste of German efficiency!

We chose to fly with British Airways to Berlin as they fly from Heathrow, which is the most convenient airport for us. There are several other airlines that fly from the UK to Berlin, including Air Berlin, Easyjet and Ryanair. Ryanair often has some very cheap fares on offer from London Stanstead.

By plane:

Berlin has 3 airports:

Tegel where probably most travellers will arrive, Tempelhof - Berlin's smallest airport; and Schoenefeld - located south-east of the city centre.

You can fly to Berlin from 167 airports in 53 countries. Aircrafts operated by over 67 different airlines land in Berlin. If charter flights are included, that figure rises to 99. The largest of Berlin's three airports are Tegel and Sch?nefeld. Tegel continues to function as the gateway to western Europe. Most of the flights to eastern Europe and Asia are handled by Schoenefeld.


Further information about all 3 airports in English and German here:

http://www.berlin-airport.de/

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I picked our friends up at the Tegel airport and since I wasn't able to go there by car, we simply took the Bus 109 to the train station Jungfernheide and jumped there into the S-Bahn.

The bus 109 goes from airport Tegel to the train station Zoologischer Garten in just 28 minutes. If you don't wanna pay a taxi, this might be an okay and inexpensive option for you.

On another note, if you have a lot of luggage and will need a luggage cart, make sure you always have a 1 EUR coin in you wallet. The cart requires one, where we arrived there was no money exchange to get coins, nothing, so we had to walk around and ask a fellow traveller for a Euro.

If you have to catch a flight and want or have to go to the airport using your own/rented car or by taxi ... if you flight goes in the morning, plan so that you are by 6:15am on the city highway, a bit later it can be full due to all the people going to work and you might end up in a traffic jam. The taxi drivers know this of course, but not all of them care. Some might think "okay if s/he wanna go only at this time, even if its rush hour time, fine ...". So make sure to have enough time.

There are 3 airports in Berlin, Schoenefeld, Tiegel and Tempelhof. I landed to Schoenefeld, so I am able to talk only about this one. It is not problem to get central part of the city from the airport and to use public transport is very easy. In 5 minutes by feet there is the train station (besides you can get bus to the station) and the train or S-Bahn convey you to the center. Besides you may ask how to find you hotel in the information center in the airport and I got the city map there :-)

Thanks to many charter companies now present all around Europe, the people of Croatia [and especially Zagreb] have been blessed with pretty cheap flights to several German cities. GermanWings fly from Zagreb to Berlin, Stuttgart, Köln / Bonn & Hamburg, so I flew them to Berlin Schönefeld. The flight was great, the sky was mostly clear & I flew right over my house, I think! A great way to fly for cheap in any case! Sometimes they have some great offers, so that you can fly to all parts of Europe for as low as 19€! Check their pages regularly...

Since Beck's my favorite beer, I couldn't resist the temptation of having one on the plane. Well, I was flying to Germany, wasn't I? ;) I had an inspiration attack sipping beer & looking out, so there you go - The Flying Beck's! Anyone willing to employ me in a marketing agency? ;)

I always enjoy looking out the window while flying & the most fun part is watching other planes fly by. There was this one situation when two other planes zoomed right under us! Luckily, I had my camera on, so I managed to take a photo of one of those planes leaving a trace behind it... ;)

Berlin Tegel is the biggest airport of Berlin. Situated in the north of West-Berlin, used by most European carriers including:
- Lufthansa (Europe)
- KLM (Amsterdam)
- British Airways (UK)
- Air France (France)
- Hapag Lloyd Express (Europe, low-cost)
From outside Europe the following airlines are included:
- Continental (USA)
- Delta Air Lines (USA)
- EL AL (Israel)
- MIAT Mongolian Airlines (Mongolia)

There are no metrostations nearby but there are frequent busses.
Best bus to take for West-Berlin is the X9, which takes you to Berlin ZOO station, Bus 109 does the same with a small detour over the Kurfurstandamm and Charlottenburg. Bus 129 takes you to the startpoint of U9, Osloer Strasse.
Best bus for East-Berlin is Bus-TXL. It takes you to the central station, Unter den Linden and Alexanderplatz.

Berlin Tempelhof is small and due to close-down. The airportbuilding is huge (much larger than Tegel and Schonefeld together) and the airport itself has a rich history. But flights are very limited because the airport is smack-bang in the city itself with no room to grow. The approach lights are attached to the roofs of houses.
Some of the airlines represented are:
- SN Brussels Airlines (Brussels)
- FlyDBA (Germany, low-cost)
Some domestic services to cities like Saarbrucken and Dormund are also operated from this airport. The U7 takes you further into the citycenter.

Berlin Schoenefeld is the former airport of East-Berlin is located far away from the citycenter. This airport is served by a growing number of airlines, and mainly served by Low-Cost carriers, Charters and former USSR airlines. Schoenefeld will transform into Berlin Brandenburg Airport, a new big hub which making the other 2 airports obsolete.
Carriers operating at Schoenfeld include:
- Aeroflot (Russia)
- EasyJet (all over Europe, low-cost)
- Germanwings (all over Europe, low-cost and recommended)
- Aer Lingues (Ireland)
- Ryanair (London-Stansted, low-cost)

Busses take you to the train station, which is a good 400meters away from the terminal. However, a walk is just a quick, just follow the covered roof to the leftside of the terminalbuilding.

Transport to the city is possible by Regional Trains, S-Bahn lines S9 (following the central railline) and S45 (circle line). S9 is the best option, journey time to the Alexanderplatz is about 30 minutes, towards Berlin Zoo station is about 45 minutes.
Bus 162 takes you to Adlershof station, which offers connections to circle lines S8 and S46.
Bus 171 takes you to U-Bahn U7, station Rudow. This line takes you to southern Berlin, with plenty of transfer connections.