Berlin Tegel airport hotels: TXL is closed
Last checked: August 2026
A hotel at Tegel airport is of no use to air passengers today: TXL shut down on 8 November 2020, and no scheduled flight has departed from there since. Anyone flying to or from Berlin needs a hotel at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), around 40 km away in the south-east of the city. Searching for a “Tegel airport hotel” is understandable, though: the name was the address for Berlin travellers for decades.
Key takeaways
- Tegel airport (TXL) has been closed since 8 November 2020, and its operating licence expired on 4 May 2021. There are no flights and no airport hotels there.
- The site now hosts the Urban Tech Republic, the BHT Campus TXL (ground-breaking July 2026) and the Schumacher-Quartier; the first apartments are due for occupancy from late 2028.
- From the Tegel site to BER is around 40 km: approx. 60–75 min. by bus 109, S41 Ringbahn and FEX (ABC ticket 5.00 €), or around 90 € by taxi.
- Book at BER instead: Steigenberger (approx. 50 m) and IntercityHotel (approx. 300 m) at the terminal, or Campanile, ibis budget and B&B for lower rates.
The timeline: from operations to formal closure
On 8 November 2020 an Air France aircraft operated the final scheduled departure from Tegel. That closed a circle, because Air France had also flown the first scheduled service into Tegel on 2 January 1960. From that day, all air traffic in the capital region was concentrated at BER, which had opened a few days earlier.
The legal end came later. On 4 May 2021 the operating licence expired for good and the planning approval was revoked. In August 2021 the airport company handed the site back to its owners. Since then there have been no flights at Tegel at all, including charter, private and special flights. An airport without an operating licence cannot be used.
TXL, SXF, BER and Terminal 5 explained
Berlin’s airport history has left four names behind that are still easily confused. This table sorts them out:
| Code or name | Status today | What it means for travellers |
|---|---|---|
| TXL, Berlin-Tegel “Otto Lilienthal” Airport | closed since 8 November 2020, licence revoked 4 May 2021 | no flights, no airport hotels |
| SXF, Berlin-Schönefeld Airport | merged into BER on 31 October 2020 | code removed from booking systems |
| BER, Berlin Brandenburg Airport “Willy Brandt” | the region’s only commercial airport | all flights via Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 |
| Terminal 5, the former SXF building | out of service since February 2021, permanently closed | no check-in, commercial reuse of the site |
A ticket “from Berlin” always means BER today. If an older booking form still shows TXL or SXF, the data is out of date.
What is on the Tegel site today
The 500 ha site belongs to the State of Berlin and is being converted into a new urban district. Three elements shape it.
The Urban Tech Republic is a research and industrial park for urban technologies covering more than 200 ha. It is planned to provide room for up to 1,000 companies and 20,000 jobs, with a focus on energy efficiency, sustainable construction, mobility and recycling, among others. First companies and institutions already use existing buildings on the site.
Campus TXL of the Berliner Hochschule für Technik (BHT), Berlin’s university of applied sciences for engineering, is being built inside the distinctive hexagonal Terminal A. Construction started with a ground-breaking ceremony on 27 July 2026 and completion is planned for 2032. The plans include lecture halls, laboratories, a library and a canteen for around 2,390 study places; some 5,000 students are eventually expected on the wider campus. Costs are put at around 450 million euros.
The Schumacher-Quartier is to provide around 5,000 apartments. Its schedule has slipped several times: the first phase by housing company degewo, with 328 apartments, was due to start in August 2026 for first occupancy in late 2028, while Gesobau plans around 330 more apartments with construction starting in early 2027. Berlin’s fire and rescue service academy is currently expected to move in only in 2029. In short, Tegel today is a large construction site with commercial space, not an airport.
Getting from the Tegel site to BER
If you book near Tegel out of habit and then have a flight, you have to cross the entire city. The road distance is roughly 38–40 km via the A111, A100 and A113 motorways, and the drive takes about 40 min., considerably longer in rush hour.
By taxi, the official Berlin tariff (base fare 4.30 €, then staggered per-kilometre rates) works out at around 90 €; with congestion and waiting time it can exceed 100 €.
By public transport, a realistic chain uses three services: bus 109 from the Urban Tech Republic stop to Tegeler Weg/S Jungfernheide (approx. 7 min.), then the S41 Ringbahn (circle line) clockwise to Südkreuz (approx. 20 min.), then the FEX (airport express) to BER (approx. 14 min.). Allow around 60–75 min. including connections. You need a VBB ticket for fare zones ABC: a single fare costs 5.00 €, a 24-hour ticket 12.90 €. An AB ticket is not enough, because BER lies in zone C.
For comparison, the FEX takes only about 23 min. from Berlin Hauptbahnhof to BER and about 14 min. from Südkreuz. For air passengers, a Tegel hotel is the detour; a hotel on the Ringbahn or at the airport itself is the short trip.
The hotels to book instead
Two properties sit at the terminal: the Steigenberger Airport Hotel Berlin around 50 m away (from approx. 120 €) and the IntercityHotel Berlin Airport BER Terminal 1+2 around 300 m away (from approx. 90 €). Both are within walking distance, which matters for very early departures; our early flight guide covers this in detail.
Cheaper options are a few minutes away by road: Campanile Berlin Brandenburg Airport from approx. 45 €, ibis budget Berlin Airport from approx. 50 € and B&B Hotel Berlin-Airport from approx. 60 €. If you want to combine city and airport, the Airporthotel Berlin-Adlershof sits roughly halfway. Our Schönefeld hotel guide explains why the hotels around the old SXF still make sense, and our guide to getting to BER covers the connections from the city centre.
Who still has a reason to stay near Tegel
The area is the wrong address for air passengers, but not for every purpose. A room in Reinickendorf or Charlottenburg makes sense if you have appointments at the BHT or with companies in the Urban Tech Republic, work on one of the construction sites, or visit Messe Berlin at the Funkturm, which is well served by the Ringbahn. The City West around Zoologischer Garten and Kurfürstendamm is about 30 min. away by bus 109 and offers a far wider choice of hotels than the airport area. For a flight the next morning it is still the weaker option.
Frequently asked questions on this topic
Are there still hotels at Tegel airport?
There are still hotels in Tegel and Reinickendorf, but no airport hotel in the real sense: flight operations ended on 8 November 2020 and the operating licence expired on 4 May 2021. The site is being redeveloped as the Urban Tech Republic, the BHT Campus TXL and the Schumacher-Quartier. Properties in the area now serve business travellers, trade fair visitors and city guests. For a flight, book at BER instead, for example the Steigenberger Airport Hotel around 50 m or the IntercityHotel around 300 m from Terminal 1.
Do private jets or charter flights still use Tegel?
No. When the operating licence expired on 4 May 2021, Tegel was formally decommissioned and its planning approval revoked. No aircraft may take off or land there, regardless of size or purpose. In August 2021 the airport company handed the site back to its owners, and redevelopment has been under way since. General aviation and business flights in the region are handled at BER. Flight search tools that still display the TXL code are drawing on outdated data rather than current schedules.
Is a hotel near Tegel a fallback if BER is fully booked?
Only as a last resort. The Tegel site is around 40 km from BER. Public transport takes roughly 60–75 min. via bus 109, the S41 Ringbahn to Südkreuz and the FEX, and a taxi costs around 90 €. A room on the Ringbahn or near a mainline station is cheaper and faster: the FEX reaches the airport in about 14 min. from Südkreuz and about 23 min. from Hauptbahnhof. If you want flexibility, check the hotels in Schönefeld and Waltersdorf first.