Thankfully there were no major injuries with just one passenger suffering a minor complaint. Contact Air confirmed that one person had been taken to hospital as a precautionary measure.

There were seventy three passengers on board the plane as well as five members of staff. There were problems with the planes landing gear. Despite several attempts eventually it was decided that an emergency landing was necessary. The runway was covered with foam to facilitate this.

The incident caused delays at Stuttgart Airport with the runway having to be closed for some time.

The huge building is a protected landmark. There has seen much discussion over its future use since its closure last October. Many ideas have been put forward such as developing it into a museum or trade centre.

There will be tours available from next month on according to Junge-Reyer while there will also be some sports activities taking place in the coming months. No other definite plans have been made as yet with Berlin locals eager to see the space being used appropriately.

Government officials feel that the airport should have a more catchy interesting name. Work is currently underway on designing a logo for the airport however there is still uncertainty surrounding the name with Willy Brandt’s (Chancellor) name now been thrown into the ring as a possibility.

State Economy Senator Harald Wolf believes that the airport must have a name which is recognized worldwide as well as locally. Volker Nickel who is involved in the advertising side of things believes that the name Brandenburg International Airport is far too dull and uninspiring.

Sticking with the name Schönefeld has also been ruled out due to possible pronunciation difficulties for non German speakers. Due to the actual location of the airport it is thought that just calling it Berlin Airport would also lead to confusion.

Some other names recently suggested include Albert Einstein and Marlene Dietrich.

One of the exceptions to the rule was Berlin Schönefeld which has shown an increase in passenger numbers. Only three of Germany’s major airports have shown increased passenger numbers this year. The other airports besides Berlin are Weeze Airport and Lübeck Airport mainly due to low cost airlines such as Ryanair.

Both Frankfurt and Munich Airport showed considerable drops of eight point two percent and nine point four percent.  On average traffic was down by seven point nine percent for the first six months of 2009 across Germany.

The cost of the airport is estimated at three point six billion euro. Almost two and a half billion of the cost is been supplied by the public shareholders of Berlin Schonefeld GmBH.

It is expected that the airport will handle forty five million passengers once it is completed. It will also offer a more green friendly airport for Berlin cutting down on the pollution caused by airport traffic spread out over the cities current airports.

“The commission decided to approve the measure because it is not prejudicial to the common interest as it is necessary and proportionate to reach objectives of (European Community) interest,” the commission said.

The action is due to a dispute over pay by flight attendants at Lufthansa and is the 2nd such protest. Lufthansa did not confirm exactly how many flights had been affected. Flights to Prague, Zurich and London were among those cancelled.

The airline said they would do their best to make sure there was as little disturbance to long haul flights as possible. The striking staff are looking for a fifteen percent increase in pay while Lufthansa have offered ten percent. An agreement has yet to be reached despite several meetings.

The trade union which called the strike is called UFO and represents eight thousand Lufthansa flight attendants. The UFO says that over four hundred flights have been affected by strike action so far.

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When the airport was in use it was losing ten million euro a year. The German public is baffled as to how it could actually be losing more money now. According to Sven Lemiss, the head of Berliner Immobilienmanagement (BIM) much of the bill is due to the cleaning firm BSR. Now that Tempelhof is considered a normal property, it is responsible for the cleaning costs of the surrounding public roads.

Lemiss says that this bill runs into a seven figure sum. He wants Tempelhof to be considered a special property so it will not incur the cleaning costs. The government is now fully responsible for all Tempelhof costs which were previously taken care of by the airport operator.

Babelsberg Film Studios have shown an interest in using the airport. They have plans to turn Tempelhof into a film studio. An area in the heart of Berlin is a very appealing proposition for the expanding company.

The Senate in Berlin is currently running a competition looking for ideas on what the airport could be used for.

There were 222 passengers on board the Boeing 777 plane. There was no injury to any passengers according to a spokesman for Berlin Schoenefeld airport Eberhardt Elie. The plane was sent back to London Heathrow Airport for a change of crew.

British Airways apologized for the delay expressing that passenger safety was their first priority and always would be.

Just a week earlier a British Airways flight form London Heathrow Airport to Houston was diverted to Chicago Airport after what was described as a “burning smell” was detected on board. The fault was due to a television screen on board.

Just before midnight a Junkers Ju-52 plane and a DC-3 plane took off marking the last ever flights from the airport. Those unhappy with the closure of the airport used the occasion for one last protest.

The mayor of Berlin was among those in favor of closing the airport while others argued over the historical significance and wonderful unique design of the airport. The airport was built by the Nazis in the 2nd world war but became famous as the site where food was dropped for the people of Berlin by USA forces after the USSR blocked land access to the city.

In a referendum held in April over sixty percent of those polled were in favor of preserving the airport however numbers were not sufficient in order for the result to stand. Tempelhof airport is a protected building so can not be removed. It is unclear as of yet what will happen to the site.

There was a whiff of nostalgia in the air as the older residents of Berlin came out to pay tribute to an airport which had fond memories for them. The celebrities partied inside while the regular Joes stood outside in the rain.

Marina Piccolo who had worked in the airport café for over fourteen years spoke of her sorrow and anger at the airports closure.

• Tegel Airport Berlin
• Schoenefeld Airport Berlin
• Tempelhof Airport Berlin (due to close Oct 31st 2008)

By 2011 there will be just one airport in Berlin. Schoenefeld Airport will then be called Hauptstadt Airport Berlin Brandenburg International (BBI). It is thought that this airport will deal with up to 50 million passengers a year.

Schoeneveld Airport is made up of four terminals with Terminal A being the biggest. A lot of budget airlines use Terminal B while Terminal D is used by German Wings. The airport is located in Schönefeld in Brandenburg.

Tegel Airport caters for the majority of international visitors in Berlin. It is situated in Reinickendorf. Over 13 million passengers used the airport in 2007. It is due to close in 2012 and will amalgamate with Schoenefeld Airport.

Tempelhof Airport caters mainly for domestic flights and flights to neighboring countries. It is located in Tempelhof-Schöneberg. It is due to close on Oct 31st 2008.