Three sightseeing flights on 8 November over Berlin at a flying altitude of just 1,000 metres.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, airberlin is offering three sightseeing flights over Berlin during the evening of 8 November, tracing the course of the former Wall. The flights are being conducted using a Bombardier Dash Q400 with a seating capacity of 76 and will take of between 5.30 p.m. and 8.30 p.m. from Berlin-Tegel Airport. They are accorded flight numbers AB1989, AB1990 and AB1991, thus evoking the year of the fall of the Wall, the year of reunification, and the year of the relaunch of airberlin as a German airline following the watershed events. From the particularly low flying altitude of approximately 1,000 metres, the special flight passengers will be able to view the 15-kilometre-long “illuminated border” made up of 8,000 luminous balloons stretching from Bornholmer Strasse to the Oberbaum Bridge. The light installation will illuminate a section of the former course of the Wall from 7 to 9 November. An experienced city guide will accompany the special flights and narrate the history of the divided city of Berlin.
“It is wonderful that we can celebrate 25 years of the fall of the Wall and 35 years of airberlin together this year. We are especially pleased that we are in a position to support the celebrations both by way of our special flights and also in the capacity of official international carrier. In total, during the anniversary weekend from 7 to 9 November, we will transport close to 36,000 passengers to Berlin. No other airline will transport more air passengers to the Silver Jubilee celebrations in the German capital commemorating the fall of the Wall”, says Gotz Ahmelmann, chief commercial officer at airberlin.
On the ground, too, airberlin is represented within a section of the “illuminated border” at the East Side Gallery. In keeping with the airline?s anniversary, 35 balloon sponsorships were raffled via its social media channels, on its website, via international media and among staff. The sponsors will be present in person along this stretch during the evening of 9 November to release their helium-filled balloon from its mooring and, thus, to gradually give wings to the “illuminated border”.
A further highlight on the afternoon of 9 November is to be the painting of two original sections of the Wall for airberlin by the well-known French artist Thierry Noir. As early as in 1990, the artist designed sections of the East Side Gallery, nowadays considered protected monuments. Thierry Noir will complete work on the 3.6-metre-tall T-shaped sections live on the spot. The sections of the Wall will then be exhibited at the Berlin-Tegel Airport for a period of six months.
The fall of the Wall is synonymous with a specific milestone in the 35-year history of airberlin: while Germany was divided, only airlines of Allied nations were permitted to fly to West Berlin. Thus airberlin, founded as an American charter airline, was able to offer flights from West Berlin from 1979. Upon German reunification, the situation changed radically and airberlin lost its air traffic rights. Only upon relaunch as a German airline in 1991 were the foundations laid for continued development to the status of the second largest German airline.
Tatiana is the news coordinator for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). Her role includes monitoring the hundreds of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skimming the most important according to our strategy.
She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication & Mass Media from Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens and she has been editor and editor-in-chief in various economic magazines and newspapers.
