Tegel Airport (TXL) is Berlin’s main airport, located about 8 kilometres / 5 miles northwest of the city centre.
It serves major airlines such as Lufthansa, Air France and KLM, while the secondary Schönefeld Airport is a base for budget airlines such as easyJet, Germania, and Ryanair.
Tegel Airport is expected to close when the new Berlin-Brandenburg Airport opens in the autumn of 2020 (unless it’s delayed once again).
There’s no train connection in Tegel Airport, but you can use the efficient express bus to get to Berlin Hauptbahnhof, the main railway station. Here are the available options to get to central Berlin.
By Bus
- JetExpress TXL: This bus is the cheapest and fastest way to travel between Tegel and Alexanderplatz (City East). The route includes major stops only, namely Hauptbahnhof, Brandenburger Tor, Unter den Linden, and Alexanderplatz. The journey takes from 20 to 45 minutes.
- JetExpress X9: This is another express bus that connects Tegel Airport and Zoologischer Garten (City West) in about 20 minutes.
These buses run every 10 to 20 minutes, between 6am and 11pm from Monday to Saturday (6am to 10pm on Sunday). They’re part of the Berlin public transport service, so you buy a regular single ticket which currently costs €2.90 (Zone AB). If you’re planning on getting around Berlin using public transport, consider the day ticket (Tageskarte) for €8.60 which covers the bus ride to the city centre.
In alternative, you can take the regular bus 109 (same route as JetExpressBus X9 with more stops), or bus 128 to other parts of the German capital.
Tickets can be purchased at ticket counters in the main terminal or at ticket vending machines outside Terminal A. Don’t forget to validate your ticket when you get on board. For more information, check out www.vbb.de.
By Taxi
The taxi ranks are located in the inner ring of Terminal A (gates 6-9) and outside Terminals C and E. A taxi ride at the time of writing costs about €25-35 to the city centre.
