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TXL farewell

Air France to operate final flight at Berlin’s Tegel Airport

The first scheduled flight to Berlin-Tegel was operated by Air France in 1960. It will also be the French national airline that operates the last one.

On January 2, 1960 the hum of the four engines of a Lockheed Super Constellation was over Berlin on a foggy grey day. Nevertheless, hundreds of onlookers had arrived to witness a premiere. The propeller aircraft of Air France with the registration F-BAZK landed that day as the first scheduled flight at the then West Berlin Tegel Airport.

What began with the French national airline will also end with it again. When Berlin Tegel closes on November 8, Air France will carry out the final flight at Berlin Tegel Airport. aeroTELEGRAPH has learned this from several sources familiar with the matter.

BER opens one week before

Exact information on the time of departure is unclear, as is which type of aircraft will be used. Air France currently connects Berlin-Tegel with Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport. Airbus A318, A319, A320 and A321 aircraft are in use.

Berlin Airport CEO Engelbert Lütke Daldrup has so far only said that Tegel would receive a «proper farewell». With the closure of the airport, air traffic will definitely be shifted to the new Berlin Airport (BER) in the south of the city. It will open about one week earlier, on 31 October.

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