Tempelhof Airport On Chopping Block

ANN reported last December on the bleak future looming for Berlin's historic Tempelhof Airport. In a situation reminiscent of Mayor Richard Daley’s closure of Chicago’s Meigs Field in March 2003, Berlin city leaders have moved forward with plans to close the city’s historic downtown airport as early as October 31, 2008.

It's a bitter sense of deja vu for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Wounds from Mayor Daley's (illegal) assault on Meigs run deep... and the group doesn't want to see it happen again, anywhere in the world. And while it's unlikely the city will move in unannounced with bulldozers to close Tempelhof, there are uncomfortable similarities.

As ANN reported, the Berlin government, under mayor Klaus Wowereit, secured court approval in December to move forward with a plan to do away with Tempelhof and consolidate all airline operations at Berlin’s Schönefeld Airport. Berlin’s other airport, Tegel, is also slated for closure. Schönefeld, which is 13 miles from Berlin, would be enlarged under the plan, and renamed the Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport.

Built in 1923 and enlarged during the 1930s under the Hitler regime, Tempelhof is best known as the terminal that saved West Berlin from a Soviet blockade during the Berlin Airlift of 1948-1949. After the blockade, Tempelhof continued to serve as a US Air Force base until 1993. The first flights of the airlift began on June 26, 1948 -- making this year its 60th anniversary.

Today, Tempelhof serves as a major business aviation airport, minutes from the city center. Brussels Airlines, Cirrus Airlines, Intersky Airlines, and numerous air taxi firms also use Tempelhof. So does Tempelhof Aviators, an FBO specializing in flight training.

According to the 415,000 member-strong pilot advocacy group, AOPA Germany and a coalition of Tempelhof supporters recently mobilized to help reverse the court decision and save the airport. A referendum was conducted to petition for a reversal; 170,000 votes were needed, and 177,952 were recorded. Some of the most enthusiastic support comes from those living near the airport.

In June 2007, AOPA Germany organized a 180-airplane fly-in to Tempelhof to draw attention to the battle. Another such fly-in is scheduled for April 2008. The next step in the legal process is a binding referendum to reverse the court decision.

Investors at one point offered to take over Tempelhof’s buildings (shown above, during the airlift) and create a hospital and spa center, but the proposal was rejected. The buildings’ office space -- the world’s second largest, after the Pentagon -- would remain intact under the government plan, owing to its historical significance. But the runways and airfield itself would presumably be replaced by apartment and commercial buildings.

Other plans call for either flooding the airport and turning it into a lake or making it into a park.

AOPA urges those wishing to express their opinions to contact the Mayor: Klaus Wowereit, Regierender Bürgermeister, Berliner Rathaus, 10871 Berlin, Germany.

FMI: www.aopa.org, www.berlin-airport.de/EN/index.html