SN Brussels blasts Berlin airport closure

3 June 2004

BRUSSELS – Belgian airline SN Brussels on Wednesday said it would challenge a decision by the Berlin authorities to close Tempelhof airport in the German capital.

SN Brussels is Tempelhof’s biggest single customer, operating four flights a day between Brussels and the central Berlin airport.

The closure represents a severe blow to the airline, which rose from the ashes of Belgium’s defunct national carrier Sabena.

In a statement SN Brussels said it was taking the “necessary steps” to challenge the decision to close Tempelhof but provided no more details.

Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit has said Tempelhof will close in October this year.

The airport is popular with business travellers because it is only six and a half kilometres from the city centre.

But it loses around EUR 15 million a year and Wowereit says there is no evidence that things will improve.

Subject: Belgian news