*****UPDATE: It was announced in Germany today (June 3) that Berlin Tegel airport will not after all suspend operations later this month.

The decision was taken after several Tegel users reported an upturn in bookings for later this month.*****

Last month we reported that Berlin’s Tegel airport (the capital’s most important facility) might close for two months owing to declining traffic.

Both Tegel and Schonefeld (Berlin’s other airport) have recently each been handling just 2,000 passengers a day recently.

Now dw.com reports that Tegel will definitely close for two months effective June 15.

It is hoped the closure would save Berlin’s airport operator FBB around US$220,000 a day.

During the suspension all flights will operate at Schonefeld which is further from the city centre.

However Berlin Brandenburg (the capital’s new and much delayed airport) is on course to open at the end of October.

As a result Berlin’s tagesspiegel.de is not optimistic that Tegel will ever reopen.

And dw.com notes that while FBB remains optimistic that Tegel will operate again as planned “it has not ruled out the possibility that Tegel may never reopen.”

Of course there may be changes should there be any last minute issues at Brandenburg which would affect its opening on October 31.

As one reader commented previously, both Schonefeld and Brandenburg occupy the same airfield albeit some distance from one another.

But Brandeburg has the most modern facilities, including a rail station beneath the terminal, and an on site four-star hotel which has been mothballed for many years.

berlin-airport.de