Tegel Airport

Berlin Tegel "Otto Lilienthal" Airport (IATA: TXL, ICAO: EDDT) is the main international airport in Berlin, Germany. It lies in Tegel, a section of the northern borough of Reinickendorf, 8 km (5.0 mi) northwest of the city centre of Berlin. Tegel Airport is notable for its hexagonal terminal building around an open square, which makes for walking distances as short as 30 m (98 ft) from the aircraft to the terminal exit. In 2010, the airport served just over 15 million passengers, making it by far the biggest airport serving Berlin and the fourth busiest airport in Germany. The airport is scheduled to close by 3 June 2012, the day the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport is set to become operational.

Tegel Airport is a hub for Air Berlin, and serves as focus city for Lufthansa. Additionally, it is the most important base for the charter business of Germania. The two dominant operators, Air Berlin and Lufthansa, each handle around 30% of the scheduled commercial flights.

The area of today's airport originally was part of Jungfernheide forest, which served as a hunting ground for the Prussian nobility. During the 19th century, it was used as an artillery firing range. Aviation history dates back to the early 20th century, when the Prussian airship battalion was based there and the area became known as Luftschiffhafen Reinickendorf. In 1906, a hangar was built for testing of Groß-Basenach and Parseval type airships.