Berlin airport

Berlin airport is the prime international airport located in Berlin, Germany. The airport is also called Berlin Tegel airport as it is in Tegel, a part of the northern borough of Reinickendorf, which is about 8km (5 miles) northwest of Berlin. The Berlin Tegel airport code is TXL. The Berlin Tegel airport is renown because of its hexagonal terminal building surrounding an open square. The hexagonal terminal building allows walking distances as less as 30m from the airplane to the terminal exit. The Berlin Tegel airport served to more than 14,530,000 passengers in 2008, therefore making it so far the biggest airport serving the city of Berlin. However, the Berlin Tegel airport is scheduled to be non functional in 2012, following the completion of the New Berlin Brandenburg International airport, which has been designed to handle all commercial flights to and from Berlin.
The Berlin Tegel airport is the main hub for Air Berlin and it is the focus city for Lufthansa. In addition, it is also the key base for charter flights of Germania. Air Berlin and Lufthansa are the key commercial flight operators from the Berlin Tegel airport, each handling around 30% of the commercial flights to and from the airport.
The history of the Berlin Tegel airport predates to early 20th century when it was the base for Prussian airship battalions. The location of the airport was originally part of the Jungfernheide forest, which served as a hunting area for Prussian nobility. The area was used as an artillery firing range in the 19th century. The earliest record of the aviation history of the site was in 1906, when a hangar was built for testing the Parseval and the Groß-Basenach type of airships. During those times, the area was known as Luftschiffhafen Reinickendorf. After the outbreak of the First World War on 20th August 1914, the area was selected for military training of the Aerial Reconnaissance crews.