Berlin Tegel Airport opens Terminal C for Air Berlin

Berlin's governing mayor, Klaus Wowereit, on the opening: "Our professed policy aim is to take every opportunity to strengthen Berlin as an air traffic location. Firstly, the new terminal building in Tegel compensates for bottlenecks in capacity resulting from increased security requirements. However, above all, Terminal C creates interesting growth prospects for Air Berlin and other airlines and enables a better concentration of traffic. Terminal C is strategically important to the air traffic location and part of our ramp for Berlin Brandenburg International Airport."

CEO of Air Berlin, Joachim Hunold, goes on to explain: "The new terminal allows us to offer our visitors convenient means of transfer. Those passengers with connecting flights no longer have to pass through security checkpoints again. Check-in procedures in Terminal C will also be faster. We will also use Gates 4 and 5 in Terminal A for some of our domestic flights, until further notice."

Rainer Schwarz, CEO of Berlin Airports, on the opening of the terminal: "Tegel Airport is the backbone of Berlin traffic. Last year, Tegel recorded 11.8 million passengers. In the first four months of this year, the number of passengers in Tegel rose by 8.7%. As passenger numbers in Tempelhof have simultaneously halved, the first airlines in Tempelhof will start relocating this year. Berlin is expecting passenger numbers totalling over 19 million this year: a new record."

The new terminal will primarily be used by Air Berlin, which is the biggest airline in Berlin with over 4 million passengers. In May-07, Air Berlin added a total of four new destinations to its flight schedule: Göteborg, Stockholm, Münster/Osnabrück and Rimini. The airline operates a total of 45 non-stop services from Berlin Airports.

Terminal C has 18 check-in counters and is situated immediately to the north-east of the tower. Several attractive restaurants and retail shops are located in the central departures lounge. Eight central security checkpoints, four passport control desks and three baggage reclaim carousels ensure everything runs quickly and smoothly. The guests of honour for the first official check-in were the German national league team Hertha BSC Berlin, who flew with Air Berlin to Munich.