Berlin Tegel Airport used the airport as a diversion airfield before. Initially, all British Airways services from Tegel—with the exception of the daily non-stop service to London Heathrow—continued to be operated by BAC One-Eleven 500s. The daily London–Heathrow non-stop was operated with Hawker Siddeley Trident 2E/3B equipment based at that airport until the end of the 1975 summer season. (It subsequently reverted to a One-Eleven 500 operation.) From 1983, British Airways began updating its Berlin fleet. This entailed phasing out the ageing One-Elevens, which were replaced with new Boeing 737-200 Adv. During the second half of the 1980s, British Airways augmented its Berlin
Berlin Tegel Airport a consequence, the French military authorities in charge of Tegel at that time ordered the construction of a long runway, the longest in Europe at the time, as well as provisional airport buildings and basic infrastructure. Groundbreaking took place on 5 August 1948, and only 90 days later, on 5 November, a United States Air Force (USAF) Douglas C-54 Skymaster became the first aircraft to land at the new airport. The United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) commander-in-chief, General Cannon, and the chief-of-staff of the Anglo-American airlift, General Tunner, arrived at Tegel on this aircraft. British Dakota and Hastings