A piece of aviation history ended in Berlin on Monday, because the operating company of the Tempelhof and Tegel airports held the last supervisory board meeting and decided to merge the Berlin airport company with Flughafen Berlin-Brandenburg GmbH. The BFG Supervisory Board also noted with regret and sadness that the long-standing Tegel Airport Manager, Prof. Robert Grosch, died on June 23, 2021 at the age of 90.
The Berlin Airport Company was founded in 1924 and, according to its first statute, should serve the "expansion and operation of the airport on the Tempelhofer Feld and other air traffic facilities in Berlin". It operated Tempelhof Airport until 2008 and Tegel Airport until 2020. BFG had 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.
On November 8, 2020, the last aircraft took off from Tegel with an Air France plane, after which the airport was put into a dormant state, the BFG was released from its operating obligation. The operating license finally expired on May 4, 2021. The Berlin Airport Company has thus 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 an end after almost 100 years. The history of the Berlin Airport Company extends from the beginnings of civil aviation through the period of National Socialism, the early post-war years with the airlift, the years of the division of Berlin to flight operations in reunified Germany with steadily increasing passenger numbers. BFG was very successful economically until 2020 with the Tempelhof and Tegel airports, which are so important for Berlin. 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 the trusting cooperation. After the Second World War, Tempelhof and Tegel Airports were the gateway to the world for many Berliners. Tegel Airport met all requirements well up to the last day. The airport company will do everything to successfully operate the new Berlin Brandenburg Willy Brandt Airport and thus further strengthen the new airport location for the capital region. "