Last departure from Tegel just a few of days before closure

The 5th of November 2020 was a very emotional day for us. It was the very last departure out of Berlin Tegel, which will be close 3 days later, after BerlinĀ“s new main airport "Berlin Brandenburg - BER" opened on the 31st of October 2020. The first airlines changed already from Tegel to BER (e.g. Turkish Airlines, Eurowings and more) only a few are left. In our case TAP Air Portugal was one of the remaining airlines at Berlin Tegel. We booked our vacation trip to Funchal/Madeira with a 2hrs stopover at Lisbon. The scheduled departure time on the 5th of November was 15:40hrs.

Our aircraft was a Embraer 190 (CS-TPS) operated by Portugalia Airlines with TAP Express livery. At the Berlin Tegel terminal was more people to make their last photos of the terminal as departing passengers. I asked a security guy about his opinion of Tegel closure and the new BER Airport and terminal. He told me, yes its sad that Tegel will close forever, but the terminal infrastructure makes it neccassary. Also the new BER Terminal has his infrastructure problems and will have big trouble after the Corona is over and the amount of flights remaining to the amount before Corona and yes with a look on the current timetables it could be, that it need a bit unless we reach this point again. Back to our TAP Air Portugal flight 537 to Lisbon. The aircraft arrived a couple of minutes ahead of the scheduled arrival time.

Finally the flight is ready for boarding and we walk the very last time from the small waiting area inside of the historic terminal through the jetway to our aircraft. The flight is nearly fully booked and is ready for pushed on time. It made me a bit emotional when we taxied from the gate to the runway and the pilot gave full thrust without a stop on the runway begining. The aircraft rotated the last chapter of my personal Berlin Tegel history is finally written. I agree, its very sad but neccassary. All residents who live in the vicinity are very grateful that peace has finally returned.

Goodbye Berlin Tegel and thanks a lot for your good work with your very limited opportunities!
Text written by Martin Rogosz. All photos made and Copryright by Martin Rogosz
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