Operators Seek To Keep Berlin Tempelhof Open

Berlin Tempelhof airport operators are challenging recent decisions by both a Berlin lower court and the city authorities to close the downtown airport on October 31 next year. Windrose Air and six other executive air charter operators–AFI, AAF, AeroKing, Heli Union, Rotorflug and TAG–have filed a complaint against the latest judgment. A Windrose spokesperson told AIN that closing the airport will be expensive. The federal government, which owns 80 percent of the airport, is therefore now pushing to keep Tempelhof open, according to Windrose. The court also said Tempelhof and Tegel airports should close only after Berlin Brandenburg International opens in 2011. However, according to Windrose, the federal Ministry of Finance recently received a report asserting that keeping Tempelhof open exclusively to business aviation would still comply with the federal court’s ruling.