Flughafen Berlin-Tegel Review

The website is not much help when trying to find information. Want to see the map of the airport? Download the PDF! If they have information about something, it will definitely be available in PDF format, and only PDF.
The check-in and bag drop was a poorly orchestrated mess. The staff are just rude, with a few exceptions. Security staff acted like I wasn't even there until I did something I apparently wasn't supposed to.
At every point, they expect you to just know where to go and what to do.
Absolutely would walk to Berlin rather than go through Tegel again.

Security check is poorly organized. People are standing, although there are free switches at the back. Here is missing an employee who assigns the guests the right switch.
Have been waiting for the luggage for a long time. Terminal C is not recommended, very small - long ways to the bus stop.

This airport is quite reasonable in itself but the people who work here are sau unfriendly that's not when I asked if there is a smoker berreichreichreich rich in security was told me mega unfriendly no it was just a question that's really not. .............

Fantastic experience! Came in 2016 and just wanted to say goodbye! You were such a great airport so quick ( despite having to wait after being delayed) We got out and it was fantastic! Going to miss this lil airport

Terminal C as from the time of Honeker. To be built again. The advantage of this airport is the short distance to the center of Berlin.

Old, small, every time have to wait a long queue. Such a shame.

The design of the airport is very bad, each gate has its own check-in, its own security check, and a very small and bad duty free. That creates long lines and people are forced to wait in the area before the security.
A lot of staff for a very bad designed and old airport that can t keep up.

Because of the service that helps the people im wheelchair was so late the plane has a delay of more than one hour. The services are horrible !!!

By far the worst airport I ever flew in. People are running around like headless chickens, because no one understands which gate one needs to go... You need to do some modernization work around this, considering how many daily passengers you have!!!

The organization here is good, I have to leave that to the airport. That's why I give the airport 3 stars, but the architecture is probably the counterproductive one can imagine. As soon as something is going on, all the lines are in the aisle and you can't get through. Why not a hall in the middle or at least a wider corridor? If BER does not open again in October, please rebuild!

Pretty crowded and definitely not up to the standard one would expect from international airport. Poor infrastructure, too small to handle all the people. Hard to find place to sit down and work while waiting for a flight. Most of power outlets are not working, even if you manage to spot one next to a bench or chair. I had to walk to another terminal to find a spot at Starbucks.

Ugh!

Probably the worst airport in Europe... Hopefully BER will be finished soon, but no more Berlin with this airport...

What a disgusting place to have a flight. International airports nowadays are in terms of beverages and food reasonably priced but this one is not just build like for cows it offers prices of hell rip off.

Quiet ashaming if you think about it as a capital city of Germany.

1st and last time I use this farmers airport.

I had a horrible experience in Brlin-Tegel -Terminal C . when i passing through the security check , the staffs' attitude were so aggressive and hostile. And the checking process was non-sense , the security checking lady touched my whole body from top to toe and asked me to loose my belt, .... i was subconsciously took my belt off because the way she treat me made me so uncomfortable ( she put her finger into my trousers , checking the edge of the waistline without asking my permission ), and then she got so mad because i took my belt off not just loosen it ...she even called police trying to scaring me , my friends tried to come help me , but they did not let them came close. In stead , i was surrounded by 5 - 6 big guys. and even worse , the police said, ' listen, we are not interested in your opinion , do what she asked you to do'....... They were over-using their power , and what they did to me was totally bullying and discrimination. Once i asked them , all of this happening is that because i am a Chinese ? No one answering that question , but they kind changed their attitude to a good way . However , i could not get the staff's name to report her , because the staffs surrounded me and kept her away from me ,and no single one was there to helped me.

Airport is very small and old. For the small visitor terrace is even required entry and the staff at the airport is consistently rude.

Still my favorite airport in Germany. A tragedy with the closure pending for 9 years. Short distances, quick processing, sometimes with personal contacts. Other cities can also cope with several airports. Too bad.

I'm really shock with this airport, when I first landed in Berlin Tegel Airport, I think this gonna be a huge airport because it's located in the middle of Berlin City, but it was not to big Airport.

Has his best times behind, tedious Siko, but you have to remember that BER for a long time, it should have replaced. I landed from Cologne, to fly you have to get out of the terminal and then into another terminal. The old Currywurst S Bahn is, however, an absolute eye-catcher. The people of Securitas do a good job, but are overwhelmed by the practices. Will time the BER gets ready.

Personally, I think that's a great airport
Short ways if you know his gate.

Unfortunately, the infrastructure around the airport is miserable, but the airport can do little for it.

Corona test done at the airport. Very friendly medical staff as well as very nice handling by the comrades of the BW! Get the result via Coronawarnapp no 48 hours later. Thank you for your commitment!

How could Germany s capital have such a terrible airport?

Awful airport. The worst I've ever been to. Tight, poorly marked, not suitable for so many passengers.

Nice little airport, taxis you get quickly and I like everything

Thank you for your service as the most beautiful airport in the world

Terminal D and A: Security check under-staffed and underequipped with not sufficient lanes. Hence, some people there are demotivated and slow. This results at rush hour times into very long waiting lines and delays in flight schedules because whole plane loads of pessangers got stuck in security despite their ontime arrival. The management is fighting this sitiuation by selecting passengers of the most urgent next flights for accelerated security processing in the very same lanes.
For D-gates: Controlers right before the security check that were supossed to direct these passengers into the faster lanes have no or little overview during rush hours, so that passengers got lost in the few very overcrowded lanes.

Additionally, transfer busses seem to be also not to be in abundance in rush hours when they are most needed.

Overall bad management regarding the security check. I wonder whether this impact the overall security standard at this airport.

Personal comment: I expected a little more of the airport of the capital of Germany, an industrial G8 nation. An old airport is OK but if Berlin's slogan "poor but sexy" is suppose to justify such condition then I will have my doubts about a fast development of the city and improving its "poor" sitiuation.

Already getting on in years, it is time that the capital finally got a reasonable airport!

Still the same run down op place..looks old,, tired and dirty. Still the same uninterested staff.

Familiar environment. Short connections to the city

Berlin tegel international airport is the main international airport in Berlin. The federal capital of Germany. The airport is named after Otto lilienthal and fourth busiest airport in Germany. This airport was opened in 1948.air France was the first airlines to commerce regular commercial operation at tegel on 2 Jan 1960.

The worst airport I have ever seen. Especially Terminal C and D crowds on much too small a space, too few toilets, hardly any restaurants and shops and overpriced (3.50 for a small bottle of water in the machine, where it also costs elsewhere).

You can tell that the airport will close soon. For years only done the bare essentials. The staff was super friendly and nice. Thank you and have a good move

Worst airport I have ever been to. Very inefficient, take too long for everything and very short of staff. Also dirty and old.

Only good thing is the free WiFi ... The airport itself is badly organised and once you've passed security (and made sure you're early like me) there is literally nothing to do ... No bar, no shops, nothing ...

The check-in and the gate are not far from each other, which is great. Better than having to run from one end of the airport to the other. It is clearly and centrally located. It belongs to Berlin and is much easier More

Was sad that Hafen Tegel closed even if I only flew twice, it was nice to be there again

I wish I could give this airport negative stars! This airport is by far the worst airport I ve ever been too. I had a flight from Berlin to Dublin. I was stuck in some makeshift style terminal ... reminded me of an airplane hangar ... it was filthy with 0 amenities. A makeshift duty-free store and a kiosk ... omg. It was absolutely disgusting! Never ever again!

I like flying. He always wakes childhood memories in me

As expected, a simple airport. The baggage claim went amazingly fast yesterday

Incompetent-unfriendly treatment at the check-in, this seemed to me no exception.

The most efficient airport in the world, always nice here

Extremely slow, possibly the slowest departure airport in the world.

Most bad airport I have been, one man serving 300 person, the security check people are not professional and I just had worst experience ever thir

Often stressed staff, very long waiting time at the baggage claim (about 1 hour).
Suggestion: hire more staff. Optimization of the processes would be desirable here.

I am very sorry that this airport has to close. What I have now experienced there has already been a catastrophe. In order not to have too many people in the terminal, everyone had to wait in front of it, which is basically not wrong. But so many people in a heap without any distance, that's actually not possible. When you were finally allowed in, you had to go past everyone else. Travel in Corona times is not recommended there. Too bad.

There is no international zone in this airport. So if you have a connection flight you either need EU visa or US passport to enter this airport or you will spend your time waiting for your flight in a tiny "detention center" which consist of 2 waiting rooms (one for kids), restroom, smoking room and 3 wending machines non of which accepts credit cards. There is wifi though.

A real home for us from Tegel. Short distances in and to the airport It's a shame to let them come down. Thanks for the last Berlin airport.

Parking lot designed as a maze. Confusing traffic routing. Terminal C is an imposition. Otherwise moon prices.

The airport is small and the facilities are poor. The duty-free shop is like a convenience store. There are only two buses into the city. It is difficult to imagine that this is the German capital and it is the worst airport in Europe.

The best airport in Germany for a quick departure & arrival. 15 minutes by car from Mitte and 50 meters between the taxi and the gate - it couldn't be better. Too sad that it will be closed in favor of distant BER :(

Terrible experience at this airport. A tiny airport but our luggage was lost somehow. The office that handles lost baggage is totally incompetent. Try not to fly through here if you can help it.

Berlin has 2 main airports, one of them is Tegel. It is mid size airport. Don't like C department...

Poor, unorganized
Well located close to the city, but...
There is no Departure section, you just have the gates right next to the boarding desks. The whole airport has a strange style, have very few places to sit and wait not to mention chargers, etc. The information flow is very poor, you sit next to the boarding card desks and the 1 hour delay is not displayed. I finally -by accident- found out that should go through the security check, no lousdspeakers warning whatsoever. Anyway I had the check and find nothing on the other side. No wc, no duty free, only a small buffet in a tiny area. However, all already checked passengers could see how the other unlucky ones are getting checked, what was in their bags, etc. I have never been to such a strange airport, even the really small Naples in south Italy functions way much better. Will avoid next time. Icing on the cake: this is the most expensive one of all Berlin airports, plus there is no rail connection only buses...

My absolute favorite airport. At least in the gate a comes directly by car to the check in / out. To get in and out just perfect.

The old airport is small and it s already clear that it s surviving the last days, but not at all adapted for such a stream. The big advantage is location. It is practically in the center of Berlin.

Long lines arrived more than an hour before the flight, but were late

The worst airport in a European capital. Super long lines, almost no options to eat or drink anything. It feels like a third world airport from the 70's.
Amazing to think that Germany, land of technology and engineering, is incapable of having a decent airport in Berlin.

Shortly before the final closure, it unfortunately seems a bit lonely and abandoned. Check in areas, many shops closed. Tegel was a really good airport for our city! Take care!

I traveled all the Europe and this is the worst airport I have been.. too small, too old too abandoned

Never again, wait since 45 for the start of the luggage belt.
Thanks TXL

It is an old and narrow airport. After passing the security gate, there are few shops and restaurants. There are few seats.

Weird layout, few seats, internet only free for one hour, toilets are not very clean and the food was expensive. On the plus side, I got to where I needed to be on time and with all my belongings so good enough for me.

Without paying heavy fees you can't even get someone there! Rip off!

One of my favorite airport! Nowhere is one faster on the plane than in Berlin. There is a star deduction because you can no longer smoke after the security checks.

Total disaster!
Misleading, bad organization and totally incompetent staff!

Detestable
Precarious infrastructure in all respects.
No places to recharge cell or password to wait for the check-in to open. The sympathy of Berliners passes away from the attendants here.

What a shame for a German capital - the first and last impression of our Berlin visitors is this airport!

Trainwreck of an airport. Coming from NYC, this is worse than LaGuardia.

Worst first impression coming into Germany. You think of Germany as smart, efficient and forward thinking. This airport is the total opposite... You get off the plane to immigration and have a whole plane to go through 4 immigration staff in a old and dirt airport. Time to spend some money Berlin Tegel and make Berlin airport a good first impression for visitors. Warning for travelers going through this airport on connections to make sure you have plenty of time between flights.

I was selected for one of these so called "random" additional screenings

No fast track for connected flights, you have to go through passport control twice in order to change between planes. The duty free zone is basically non-existent. In addition, they nearly messed up with my luggage.

Terrible airport, long walkways with out and in, hardly any seating and if you found one, then only the orthopedist remains for afterwards. People are crammed into every imaginable place. The small airports on many an island have more charm and a much more sophisticated design.

The parking costs are outrageously high for just one hour of parking time, the whole journey there, signage could be better in Berlin, sometimes stinginess is not cool!

Worst airport I ve been to EVER! Nearly anything is slow, inefficient and completely outdated. Can t wait before they open the new airport in 2020 ( hopefully).

Three quarters of an hour waiting for the luggage ... we see down on the track through the living room windows. We do not know if it is a shift change, snack time or that they do not feel like working, but we will take longer to recover the bags than in Madrid-Berlin. Pure German efficiency.

An absolute disgrace. The staff does not care at all about the passengers so much so that they will not even care to call you out for the boarding knowing that you have passed security checks. The baggage drop off is similarly bad, they allow you to drop your bag of at the very last moment allowing for anormous queues. I would happily never return to this airport again

Joke of an airport. Messy, dirty and badly organized.

Small but clean international airport which is a win. Staff at security and Duty Free at KLM terminal had extremely bad attitude though.

What a bad impression to leave Berlin with.

Long lines and everyone moves at a snail's pace. That includes passengers and employees. No restrooms after the security check point either.

Terrible airport, among the worst ones I've ever seen. Unorganized, rude staff, no English, only one security line and another 9 not operating, eternal waiting... A nightmare

Of the worst airports in which I have been, it makes no sense that there is a control for each door and that the control only has one belt, we were waiting to spend almost 2 hours, luckily we went with plenty of time because a little more and we miss the flight, I recommend going well in advance to avoid problems

This airport should have closed down some years ago. It's the only international airport I have heard of that doesn't have a train connection and you have to take a bus! Beyond that, the place isn't really fit for purpose, though the brutal architecture might be considered to have some charm to some. There is nowhere for passengers to actually do anything and they end up queuing in the hall watching the monitors, which give off out of date information and jostling for the three or four chairs that are outside each " gate". It was due to be closed in the early 2010s but for some reason continues to exist and will do at least into 2025 and beyond. Not good.

This airport is way too small for all the passenger they are handling. Very dirty and hard to find where you have to go.
Security check took me around 1 hour even though there were two seperate lanes. Hopefully BER will be much better...and faster!! Once tou go through security the is just a small window for duty free.

Worst airport I've ever been to. Over the past month, a new ground service company was hired and during each of my visits the delay was at least 45 minutes. Most strange situation: After landing, passengers were forced to wait an HOUR on an airplane for a bus. Therefore, for transfers you have to give yourself definitely more than an hour between flights or choose a different airport if possible. Others wrote about the conditions and general impressions - tragic tin.

Absolutely outdated, long, manual paths between the terminals, too few seats in the waiting area, no plug-in or USB doses in the waiting area, too slow security clearance. Even in Budapest, all these shortcomings do not exist. Germany and Berlin have missed the connection.

Very small and crowded airport.
Frequent bus service is useful.

The bathrooms are like those in a petrol station, not really the standard expected in an airport as busy as this one. Staff were friendly and helpful but "smoking area" doors were open a lot and blowing smoke into the terminal.