Gatow Airport

Military conversion and redundancy following the end of the Cold War. After German reunification in 1990 and the subsequent withdrawal of Allied forces, the Royal Air Force (RAF) handed the station to the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) on 7 September 1994. The Luftwaffe had no strategic need for a third airport in the Berlin area, leading to the cessation of all flight operations the following year.

The former airport site has been repurposed for several uses. A large portion, including the main hangars and parts of the tarmac, is now the 'Militärhistorisches Museum der Bundeswehr - Flugplatz Berlin-Gatow' (Military History Museum of the German Armed Forces - Berlin-Gatow Airfield), which showcases German military aviation history. Another significant part of the former airfield has been redeveloped into a new residential district called 'Landstadt Gatow'. The barracks area continues to be used by the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) as the 'General-Steinhoff-Kaserne'.

Gatow Airport has immense historical significance, primarily due to its role during the Cold War. Originally built for the Nazi Luftwaffe in 1934-35, it was taken over by the British Royal Air Force in July 1945 and became RAF Gatow. Its most critical role was during the Berlin Airlift (1948-1949), where, alongside Tempelhof and Tegel, it served as a vital lifeline for supplying West Berlin during the Soviet blockade. RAF Gatow handled a significant portion of the 'Operation Plainfare' flights, bringing in food and supplies. Throughout the Cold War, it remained a key Western airbase in the isolated enclave of West Berlin, used for transport, communications, and intelligence-gathering flights within the Berlin Control Zone. It was also the site of the 1948 Gatow air disaster, a mid-air collision between a British airliner and a Soviet fighter jet that heightened tensions just before the blockade.

There are no plans or prospects for reopening Gatow as an airport. The site's infrastructure, including the runway, has been largely dismantled or integrated into the museum and a large-scale residential development. With the opening of the single, consolidated Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), there is no operational or economic requirement for another airport in the Berlin area.