Berlin Tegel Airport eminent aerospace engineers, which included German rocket pioneer Wernher von Braun. In 1937, the rocket pioneers left Tegel in favour of the secret Peenemünde army research centre. During World War II, the area served once again as a military training area, mostly for Flak troops. It was destroyed in Allied air raids. Plans for converting the area into allotment gardens were shelved due to the Berlin Blockade, which began on 24 June 1948. In the ensuing US-led Berlin Airlift, it quickly turned out that Berlin's existing main airport at Tempelhof was not big enough to accommodate all relief aircraft. As
Berlin Tegel Airport with the airline's transatlantic services at the latter airport, Pan Am withdrew its non-stop Tegel–JFK service at the end of the summer timetable, in October of that year. Following the cessation of direct Tegel–New York City scheduled services, Pan Am continued to operate affinity group/Advance Booking Charter (ABC) flights from Tegel to the US on an "ad hoc" basis. From the start of the 1974–75 winter season, Pan Am began operating a series of short- and medium-haul week-end charter flights from Tegel under contract to a leading West German tour operator. These flights served popular resorts in the Alpine region