Berlin Tegel Airport

Overall a convenient airport short distances easy baggage claim at the gate. Only minus was that they did not deliver our kid's stroller at the gate but only thru the baggage claim - which is common policy at TXL as I was told after complaining. It also arrived damaged. Still ok airport - when travelling w/o strollers.

Good and swift on arrival however it is just bad to depart from. Very slow check in with no line management. Very crowded when more than two flights are checked in at the same desk area. Air Berlin terminal is a joke. The good points are terraces with cafes food options inside the building location within the city. Bad points are gate areas slow check in and boarding. Not very inspiring but it works.

TLV-TXL-TLV. Swift inbound processing took about 15 minutes including the fact that our plane was in the middle of the field and we used the airside bus. Got inside the terminal the passport control was right pass the door and the baggage belt was right behind there. The outbound process was strangely quick. There was no personal questioning (very unusual for a flight to Tel-Aviv) the check-in desks were vacant and the security screening was swift. Only problem was that we had to spend 2 hours in the airport doing nothing in a small terminal without even a proper duty-free shop or a wireless connection.

Remove the check-in machines and some of the advertisements and you have your typical 1980's West German Airport. Beware of the strange layout and be sure you have enough time to find your gate after check-in but don't go through security too early - the gate area can easily get crowded. Also don't expect to be amazed by the duty free shops. Tegel Airport is great when you arrive but strange and complicated when you depart. I would actually prefer using Schoenefeld Airport again next time (I know Schoenefeld is "the less fancier option" in Berlin but that doesn't matter to me)

Arrived in Tegel Friday evening at 22:30 and left the following Tuesday at around 16:00 from and to Barcelona. Arriving we had learned from a previous disastrous experience when we raced off the plane and straight through the narrow reception area which incorporates an individual belt receiving bags from your flight only. On that previous occasion we were stranded inside the main terminal area and it took an awful lot of time indeed to sort out the mistake and reclaim our "abandoned" luggage in a distant corner. This time we made no mistake though it strikes me that this unique element of the Tegel experience does require greater explanation from the airlines on the plane before arrival.The close location of the bus station with respect to the terminal coupled with the outstanding Berlin public transport system which allows routes and times to be discovered in minute detail i.e. down to the nearest specific bus-stop on the net before arriving meant that the trip to our hotel was well nigh effortless even at such a late hour. Naturally the trip back to the airport on public transport was equally impressive but on arrival there things were marginally less impressive; though only marginally. The Air Berlin flight was leaving from terminal C which is a fairly short walk away from the main terminal. C is located on the same level as the runway whereas the main historic terminal is located some 20m higher but there is an excellent capacious lift available. Terminal C is designed on the shed principle aka as the cornflakes box principle viz a cuboid box with the pavement at the front the planes at the back and with check in taking place towards the front. The longest edge of the box is parallel to the runway. One half of the front of the box is taken up with a single large bookstall type business and a single cafeteria style business with standard European airport rip-off prices for drinks. The only seating space before passing through the security screening is at the cafeteria. In other words there is no ordinary seating for waiting whatsoever here. However the piece-de-resistence is the queue for security. All 8 machines are in the same corner and no thought whatsoever has been given to controlling the access to these machines. Anyone wishing to avail themselves of machine 8 at the end of the hall must actually break through lines 1-7 to get there. Just as anyone wanting access to machine 7 must break through lines 2-6. And so on if not quite ad infinitum. Unbelievable in a facility opened in the last 12 months in the European city with the most extensively inexpensively impressive public transport network I have yet seen. Once through the "Tax-free shopping mall" (sic) which provides the only route available to get to the plane the next part of the box is at least spacious and does have a fairly good supply of seating beside the gates leading straight out onto the runway with the planes parked within 10m of the terminal. On a quiet Tuesday afternoon in April with the sun shining none of these negative elements caused any serious problems but at a busy time on a wet or snowy winter day I am sure the experience would be much less pleasant.

I was amazed after arrival at Tegel Terminal A - not 20 minutes after stepping on to the air bridge I was in my taxi in to Berlin. On stepping off the bridge you are at passport control and straight away at the belt for your flight then straight away at customs then out the door. Marvellous. I could see potential problems when checking in but personally did not encounter any.

Berlin Tegel is really past its sell by date. At the booking-in desks there are usually long queues with little or no supervision and to make matters worse some of the queues tend to merge with other queues. On 7th December 2007 we waited for 1 hour and 20 minutes just to book in for our flight to Amsterdam. There was a further 20 minute wait to pass through the gate security. The departure lounges have little or no facilities so people tend to delay arriving at the gate until the last minute and this probably helps to create the long queues. This also impacts on the small shopping area where to obtain a coffee you invariably have to stand as all the seating is occupied.

Used the new Terminal C recently for Air Berlin flights to/from Vienna. Spanking new and spotlessly clean with few (although adequate) amenities. Efficient and smooth departure and arrival procedures.

First time to Tegel very busy restaurants full shops very busy very little seating which is a problem in most airports - thought we had a good idea to go into departure lounge thinking it would be like other airports we have used cafes etc on the other side. What a shock we got - the only thing available was a coke machine - at least there where seats.

What a charming little airport. I had the pleasure of passing through her recently and found it to be one of my favorite airports in Europe (too bad nobody flies into TXL from BOS). not so long immigration lines with friendly staff. typical german experience while waiting for my bag quick and efficient.