Once the new Berlin Airport (BER) opens (I know, it's a minimum of seven years behind schedule)....there is a general plan existing for Tegal Airport in Berlin to shut down. Some folks suggest within a couple of months....some folks are suggesting three years after BER opens for business.
Just for the record....the area around Tegal, going back two-hundred years....was a hunting area for noble folks in the Berlin area. In the early 1900s, some parts of the forest area got turned into a artillery range, and during WW I......a runway was established. It was during the Berlin airlift period that it became a significant airport, and then modernized with the passenger facilities.
So once it closes....what happens? Well, there is a committee and various uses are being discussed. This week, if you follow the Berlin local news....a tour was made and some ideas thrown around for a new soccer stadium for the Hertha folks. Several areas of the airport were put on display while the stadium presentation was carried out.
One idea thrown around last year involved some massive party-club being established.
Another idea being discussed is an educational project, with multiple private and public colleges having some territory staked out.
The odds that Tegal will stay on, and function as an airport? Ten years ago, I would have laughed. But with the delay on BER and questions over how Schonfeld (the other Berlin airport) will function....no one is 100-percent sure about the closure of Tegal.
Twenty-million passengers travel via Tegal in an average year now. For Schonfeld, it's around 12-to-13 million.
The second stage of BER underway? Well, there's that part of the story too. BER is working on the 2nd terminal, even though terminal one is still non-functional. The driving necessity for a 3rd terminal at BER? There are rumors that someone has plans already in mind within five to seven years to start on that project.
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