Air France was the first civil airline to land at Berlin-Tegel Airport and it will also be the last to take-off from there: on 2 January 1960, an Air France aircraft taxied over the airport runway for the first time, which until then had only been used by the military. 60 years later, on 8 November 2020, AF1235 to Paris-Charles de Gaulle will say adieu to Tegel as the last flight.

On 8 November 2020, Air France will take-off twice from the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) to Paris-Charles de Gaulle. The third Air France flight, AF1235, will be the last airline to leave Berlin-Tegel Airport at 3 pm. An Airbus A320 will be used on the historic route.

Engelbert Lütke Daldrup, Chief Executive Officer of Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH:
“The long and eventful history of flight operations at Tegel is more closely linked to Air France than hardly any other airline. The airline began this era of civil aviation at Tegel in January 1960, was there at the opening of the famous airport on 1 November 1974 with one of the largest aircraft in the world at the time, an Airbus A300-B2, and will take-off on the very last flight from TXL on 8 November. It is hard to imagine a more appropriate farewell from this airport than on an Air France flight. I would like to thank the airline for immediately accepting our offer to be the last flight and I look forward to continuing our cooperation with Air France/KLM at BER’s Terminal 1.”

Stefan Gumuseli, General Manager Germany AIR FRANCE KLM:
“Air France has the honour of being the last airline to say goodbye to Berlin-Tegel Airport with flight AF1235 from Tegel to Paris and in doing so, closes an important chapter in Franco-German aviation friendship. With the connection to Tegel, Air France has contributed to the rapprochement between Germany and France for 60 years. The flights from the new BER Airport mark the opening a new chapter and we are looking forward to continuing the traditional connection from Paris to Berlin.”

Passengers who would like to experience the last Air France flight from Tegel live will receive a 60 euro discount (http://bit.ly/BYETXL) for tickets from Berlin to a European destination of their choice*. Those flying back from Paris to Berlin on the same day can take AF1134 at 8:40 pm arriving at BER Airport at 10:25 pm. Air France has come up with a few surprises for its passengers both before and during the flight from Tegel to Paris.
*Only valid for departures from Berlin-Tegel on 8 November 2020, bookable on the Air France website

Video of Air France’s first landing at Berlin-Tegel: https://twitter.com/i/status/1081192312741478400

• 2 January 1960: A civil aircraft from Air France lands at Berlin-Tegel for the first time. In doing so, the French airline opens scheduled operations at the airport, which has so far only been used by the military. The connection using a Lockheed Super Constellation with the identifier F-BAZK flies from Berlin to Paris via Frankfurt.
• 24 February 1960: The first official scheduled flight takes off between Paris, Frankfurt and Berlin with a Caravelle.
• From 1961: The Caravelle is used for all flights to Berlin-Tegel: on the two daily routes Paris-Frankfurt-Berlin and Düsseldorf-Berlin and Munich-Berlin.
• 1976: The supersonic Concorde aircraft lands at Tegel before the commencement of its scheduled operations – 60,000 visitors flock to the airport.
• 1977: Air France flies Paris-Düsseldorf-Berlin twice a day with a 154-seat Boeing B727-200. This replaces the smaller Caravelle.
• 1980: Air France celebrates the 30th anniversary of its domestic German route network and the 5,000,000th passenger on routes to and from Berlin.
• 18 April 1988: Air France’s Airbus A320 celebrates its world debut on the Paris-Berlin route.
• November 1988: Take-off of the first of 100 weekly flights with the new “EuroBerlin France” airline from Tegel to Frankfurt, Cologne, Munich and Stuttgart. 51 percent is owned by Air France and 49 percent by the German company Lufthansa. Its headquarters are at Berlin-Tegel.
• From 1 December 2017: The Air France subsidiary Joon connects Berlin-Tegel with Paris-Charles de Gaulle up to six times a day. Air France takes over the route again itself in 2019 following the dissolution of Joon.
• From October 2000: Air France connects Berlin-Tegel with Paris-Charles de Gaulle up to six times a day until the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
• 8 November 2020: AF1235 to Paris-Charles de Gaulle is the last flight from Tegel before the airport is permanently closed. In future, Air France will fly to Paris-Charles de Gaulle from the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) three times a day. There, passengers have access to Air France’s route network with around 170 destinations around the globe.