Press­ Release

The Berlin Airport Company's Supervisory Board meets for the last time / Almost a century of history comes to an end for the operator of Tempelhof and Tegel Airports

The last meeting of the Supervisory Board of Berliner Flughafen-Gesellschaft (BFG) took place on Monday. The Supervisory Board approved a merger between BFG and the parent company Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH (FBB). The BFG Supervisory Board also noted with regret and sadness that the long-standing airport manager at Tegel, Prof. Robert Grosch, died on June 23, 2021 at the age of 90.

Berliner Flughafen-Gesellschaft was founded in 1924 and, according to its first statute, was intended to serve the “expansion and operation of the airport on Tempelhofer Feld and other air traffic facilities in Berlin”. It operated Tempelhof Airport until 2008 and Tegel Airport until 2020. BFG has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH (FBB) since 2003. The Chairman of the Supervisory Board has been Gerry Woop, State Secretary for Europe in the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe since 2017. He represented the BFG on the FBB Supervisory Board.

The last flight, an Air France plane, took off from Tegel on November 8, 2020, after which the airport was mothballed, and the BFG was released from its operating obligation. The operating license finally expired on May 4, 2021. With this, Berliner Flughafen-Gesellschaft lost its purpose. The airport site with its 130 buildings and facilities will be completely returned to the owners, the State of Berlin and the federal government, by the beginning of August 2021. 

Gerry Woop, Chairman of the BFG Supervisory Board: “With the upcoming merger of Berliner Flughafen-Gesellschaft mbH, a corporate history of aviation in Berlin is coming to a close after almost 100 years. The history of Berliner Flughafen-Gesellschaft reaches through the years beginning with the dawn of civil aviation through the period of National Socialism, the early post-war years with the airlift, and the years of the two Berlins to flight operations in reunified Germany with steadily increasing passenger numbers. BFG helped turn Tempelhof and Tegel, both critical to Berlin, into an economical success story until 2020. Now a new chapter in airport history is being written at BER Airport.” 

Engelbert Lütke Daldrup, CEO of Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH: “I would like to thank the BFG Supervisory Board for their high level of trust and cooperation over the years. After the Second World War, Tempelhof and Tegel Airports became the gateway to the world for many Berliners. Tegel Airport continued to meet all requirements head on up to the very last day. The Airport Company will do everything to successfully operate the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport Willy Brandt and thereby further strengthen the new airport location for the capital region.”