Berlin Schönefeld Airport

Berlin Schönefeld Airport Flughafen Berlin-Schönefeld
AMSL		157 ft / 48 m
Coordinates	52°22′43″N 013°31′14″E / 52.37861°N 13.52056°E / 52.37861; 13.52056
Map
SXF Location relative to Berlin
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 07L/25R 3,600 11,811 Asphalt
Statistics (2018)
Passengers 12,725,937 1.1%
Sources: German EUROCONTROL[3]

Berlin Schönefeld Airport (Flughafen Berlin-Schönefeld

First years, World War II, and GDR period: 1934–1990

On 15 October 1934, construction began to build three 800 metres (2,600 ft) long runways to serve the

In 1946, the Soviet Air Forces moved from Johannisthal Air Field to Schönefeld, including the civil airline Aeroflot. In 1947, the Soviet Military Administration in Germany approved the construction of a civilian airport at the site.^{[citation needed]}

A stipulation of the Four Power Agreement following World War II was a total ban on German carriers' participation in air transport to Berlin, where access was restricted to American, British, French, and Soviet airlines. Since Schönefeld airport was located outside the city boundaries of Berlin, this restriction did not apply. Thus, aircraft of the East German flag carrier Interflug could use Schönefeld airport, while West German Lufthansa was denied access to Tegel or Tempelhof airports.^{[citation needed]}

Development after German reunification: 1990–2020

Berlin Schönefeld Airport saw a major increase in passenger numbers over recent years, which was caused by the opening of bases for both easyJet and Germanwings. In 2008, the airport served 6.6 million passengers.

Following

Aer Lingus also announced it would switch airports within Berlin, from Schönefeld to Tegel, by March 2015.^[11] Meanwhile, Ryanair announced the establishment of their sixth German base in Schönefeld by 27 October 2015 by deploying five aircraft to the airport and adding 16 new routes.^[12]

On 2 May 2015, aircraft departing from Schönefeld became the first commercial flights to use the southern runway of the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport, which temporarily became Schönefeld's only runway while its own, which has become the northern runway of the new airport, was renovated.^[13]

Extension work at Schönefeld Airport was completed in 2016. Terminal K was extended by approx. 600 square metres (6,500 sq ft) and the baggage area was also enlarged by 40 per cent. Terminal M2, an entirely new arrival terminal was built west of Terminal M. Spanning almost 3,800 square metres (41,000 sq ft), this building features three baggage carousels and the coach parking area was relocated to a new area in P6.^[14]

The airport continued to see exceptionally high growth of passenger numbers with Berlin's economic growth. As of November 2016, the airport operated near full capacity despite several additions to the infrastructure in recent years.^[15]

Closure

As of late 2018, construction works began to upgrade the airport's terminal and apron to provide higher capacity as part of its successor, nearby Berlin Brandenburg Airport. Previously, Schönefeld's facilities were supposed to be demolished to make way for a new government terminal.^[16]

On 25 October 2020, Schönefeld Airport became Terminal 5 of Berlin Brandenburg Airport.

However, in November 2020, it was announced that Terminal 5 would be closed due to low passenger numbers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany, with all flights relocating to the main Terminal 1.^[20] The terminal was subsequently indefinitely closed on 22 February 2021.^[21]

In November 2022, it was announced that Terminal 5, the former Schönefeld Airport, would be permanently closed.^[8]

Facilities

Schönefeld Airport consisted of the four terminals A, B, C, and D which were renamed to K, L, M, and Q prior to the merger into the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport.^[7][22] These terminals were located next to each other but have separate landside areas. However, they were connected through a joint airside concourse. Terminal Q had no check-in facilities; it was used exclusively for passengers clearing security checks to enter the airside boarding gates. Due to a lack of space, there were not as many facilities as those at many other international airports. There are some shops, however, including duty-free, newsstands, a few fast food restaurants, and a single airline lounge.

Terminal A

The main building was the original part of the airport. It housed check-in for Terminals K and L. Terminal A featured check-in counters L01–L18, with the largest user being Ryanair alongside several other airlines like Aeroflot.

Terminal B

Terminal B, located in a side wing, was originally reserved for transit passengers to and from West Berlin who took advantage of cheaper airfares and package tours arranged by an East German travel agency. More recently it has been used exclusively by easyJet with check-in counters K20–K29 and has been refurbished in recent years. The airside consisted of three jet bridges as well as several walk-boarding aircraft stands located at Pier 3a, an extension that was opened in 2005. Pier 3a was under extensive reconstruction until mid-2019 to allow use as part of the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport.^[16]

Terminal C

Terminal C was originally built in the early 1980s as an external VIP lounge called "Sonderraum" (Special Room), and was tightly secured by the Ministry for State Security (Stasi). Only official guests of the East German government and its subordinated organizations were admitted. Check-in and all mandatory controls were either waived or done invisibly for travelers. After 1990, the Special Room was converted into Terminal C to accommodate highly security-sensitive flights like those of Israeli airlines, but also for charter flights to North America. It was reconfigured in 2008 to handle sightseeing trips and flights in connection with special events.^[23] It was further reconfigured in 2015 to provide access to all terminal gates. To reduce congestion in other terminals, it then housed additional security checkpoints for passengers who are checked in and have checked their luggage or only carry hand luggage.^[24]

Terminal D

Terminal D was opened in December 2005 due to rapidly growing passenger numbers. Being nearly identical to Terminal C at Berlin Tegel Airport, it featured check-in counters M40–M57, which were mainly used by Ryanair, Condor, and Norwegian Air Shuttle. It did not feature jet bridges but several walk-boarding stands. In November 2016, the new 4,500-square-metre (48,000 sq ft) large arrivals area D2 opened right next to Terminal D.^[15]

Other facilities

• The head office of Private Wings has been located in the General Aviation Terminal on the property of Schönefeld Airport.^[25][26][27]
• Before its demise, the
  East German flag carrier Interflug had its headquarters on the airport property.^[28][29]
• Until Brandenburg Airport started construction c. 2006, 07L/25R was actually known as 07R/25L as Schönefeld had a different 07L/25R. This runway cut across the current Autobahn 113, with the approach lighting to the old runway 25R stretching into Bohnsdorf. This runway was about 8,891 ft (2,710 m) long - some 850 ft (260 m) shorter than the then 07R/25L, and was surfaced with concrete slabs instead of asphalt pavement.^[30]

Airlines and destinations

Prior to its closure as an independent airport, Schönefeld had been served mostly by low-cost and leisure carriers with

Statistics

Annual traffic

Annual Passenger Traffic^[32]

Year	Passengers	% Change
2000	2,209,444
2001	1,915,110	-13.3%
2002	1,688,028	-11.8%
2003	1,750,921	3.7%
2004	3,382,106	93.1%
2005	5,075,172	50%
2006	6,059,343	19.3%
2007	6,331,191	4.5%
2008	6,638,162	4.8%
2009	6,797,158	2.4%
2010	7,297,911	7.3%
2011	7,113,989	-2.5%
2012	7,097,274	0.2%
2013	6,727,306	-5.2%
2014	7,292,517	8.4%
2015	8,526,268	17%
2016	11,652,922	36.6%
2017	12,865,312	10.4%
2018	12,725,937	1.1%
2019	11,417,435	10.3%

Busiest routes

Busiest European routes at Schönefeld Airport (2019)^[33]

Rank	Destination	All passengers	Operating airlines
1	London-Gatwick	486,222	Easyjet
2	Barcelona	459,363	Easyjet, Ryanair
3	Basel/Mulhouse	438,698	Easyjet
4	London-Stansted	436,444	Ryanair
5	Moscow-Sheremetyevo	409,388	Aeroflot

Busiest intercontinental routes at Schönefeld Airport (2019) (excl. airports in the European part of Turkey)^[33]

Rank	Destination	All passengers	Operating airlines
1	Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion	290,622	Easyjet, El Al
2	Istanbul-Sabiha Gökcen	153,251	Pegasus Airlines
3	Antalya	128,805	Corendon Airlines, Freebird Airlines, Germania, Pegasus Airlines
4	Hurghada	71,213	Corendon Airlines, Germania
5	Cairo	44,071	EgyptAir

Ground transportation

Train

Berlin Schönefeld Airport was served by

The airport could be reached via the nearby motorway A113 (Exit Schönefeld Süd) which itself is connected to motorways A100 which leads to Berlin city center and A10 which circles around Berlin and connects further to all directions.

Bus

The airport was linked by local BVG bus lines 162 (towards Adlershof) and 171 (towards Neukölln). Additionally the X7 bus service provided a connection to the Berlin U-Bahn network at Rudow Station.^[34] At night, the underground replacement bus N7 was available.

Accidents and incidents

• On 14 August 1972, an Ilyushin Il-62 aircraft of Interflug (registered DM-SEA) crashed near Königs Wusterhausen shortly into a flight to Burgas, killing all 156 passengers and crew on board.
• On 22 November 1977, a Tupolev Tu-134 aircraft of Interflug (registration DM-SCM) crashed upon landing at Schönefeld Airport due to a falsely configured autopilot. There were no fatalities among the 74 passengers and crew, but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.^[35]
• On 19 August 1978, LOT Polish Airlines Flight 165, a LOT flight from Gdańsk-Rębiechowo Airport to Schönefeld (carried out on a Tupolev Tu-134, registration SP-LGC), was hijacked and forced to land at Tempelhof Airport in West Berlin, thus having been used as a means for escaping the Eastern Bloc. In these cases, perpetrators were usually not charged by Western authorities.^[36]
• On 12 December 1986,
  Minsk Airport crashed in Berlin Bohnsdorf on its approach towards Schönefeld airport, after having attempted to land on a runway that was temporarily blocked for construction work, killing 72 of the 82 passengers and crew on board.^[37]
• On 17 June 1989, an Ilyushin Il-62 aircraft of Interflug (registration DDR-SEW) bound for Moscow crashed shortly after take-off into a field near the airport and caught fire. 21 people on board as well as one person on the ground were killed. The East German authorities feared an act of sabotage due to the anniversary of the
  East German uprising, which led to a delayed aid for injured people. West Berlin rescuers offering help were denied access to the scene. The cause for the accident was later given as a jammed rudder due to a manufacturing defect.^[38]
• On 28 March 2000, a Boeing 737-300 of Germania (registration D-AGES) operating a charter flight on behalf of LTU from Tenerife South Airport to Schönefeld was the subject of an attempted hijack in mid-flight. A passenger forced his way into the cockpit, where he attacked the pilot, leading to a sudden loss of altitude. The perpetrator was restrained and the flight continued to Berlin.^[39]
• On 19 June 2010, a 1944-built, historic
  Berlin Air Services crashed shortly after takeoff on a local sightseeing flight, causing 7 injuries but no fatalities.^[40]

• Transport in Germany
• Transport in Berlin
• List of airports in Germany
• Berlin Brandenburg Airport
• Airports of Berlin

References

External links

Media related to Berlin-Schönefeld Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Current weather for EDDB at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for SXF at
  Aviation Safety Network