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 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 2008, the airport served over 14,530,000 passengers, making it by far the biggest airport serving Berlin. The airport is scheduled to close by 3 June 2012, the day the new Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport is set to become operational.
Tegel Airport is the primary 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.
Berlin-Schönefeld Airport ( Flughafen Berlin-Schönefeld (help·info)) (IATA: SXF, ICAO: EDDB) is an international airport located near the town of Schönefeld in Brandenburg, directly at the southern border of Berlin and 18 km (11 mi) southeast of the city centre. Schönefeld was the major civil airport of East Germany (GDR), and the only airport serving East Berlin. Today, it is the smaller of the two Berlin airports.
Schönefeld Airport is situated outside the city proper, unlike Berlin Tegel Airport. Noise pollution is, therefore, less of an issue at Schönefeld. This is the main reason that the airport will be transformed into Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport by 2012.
Schönefeld Airport saw a major increase in passenger numbers over the recent years, which was caused by the opening of a base for EasyJet and Germanwings. In 2008, the airport served 6.6 million passengers.
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