Public Transportation to Berlin Airports

Buses and Trains Train to Flughafen Tegel (TXL) and Schönefeld (SXF), Germany

Buses and trains allow for cheap and fast transportation from downtown Berlin (Mitte, Zoo, Hauptbahnhof) to Flughafen Tegel (TXL) or Schönefeld (SXF) airport.

photo credit: Mr. Siegal

Public transportation is the easiest, cheapest, and often fastest way to reach Berlin’s two airports: Tegel (TXL) and Schönefeld (SXF). Buses are mostly used to Tegel, while Schönefeld is usually reached by train. Taxis are of course easily available too but expensive. Small groups may find private airport shuttle bus services worthwhile but book in advance and do compare prices as services vary widely. Taxi2Airport gives online quotations without requiring exact flight details in advance.

NOTE: Berlin Brandenburg International Willy Brandt Airport (BER / BBI) will replace Berlin Tegel (TXL) and Berlin Schönefeld (SXF) airports as the only airport serving the capital of Germany from June 2012. The Berlin Airport Express train will be the fastest and for most passengers the most convenient way to travel from Berlin Mitte to Berlin Airport (BER).

Buses from Tegel Airport (TXL) to Central Berlin Mitte

Frequent buses provide the easiest and cheapest way from Tegel Airport to central Berlin. Tegel Airport (TXL) is in tariff zone B, requiring an AB ticket from Central Berlin. All regular tickets and passes are valid.

Two JetExpressBuses – extra-long buses with special space for luggage halting only at major stops – run from Tegel Airport:

• X9 connects Flughafen Tegel with Zoologischer Garten Station, the heart of former West Berlin, in 20 minutes.
• TXL runs from Flughafen Tegel to Prenzlauer Berg in 40 minutes. En route, it stops amongst others at the Hauptbahnhof (20 minutes), Unter den Linden (30 minutes), and Alexander Platz (35 minutes).

Regular bus lines from Tegel Airport to Central Berlin:

• Bus 109 connects Flughafen Tegel with Zoologischer Garten Station in 27 minutes. It has more stops than bus X9 – amongst others at the following S and U-Bahn train stations: Charlottenburg (17 minutes), Adenauerplatz (19 minutes), Uhlandstraße (23 minutes), and Kurfürstendamm (25 minutes).

For more details see: Transportation to Berlin-Tegel (TXL) Airport.

Public Transportation from Schönefeld Airport (SXF) to Central Berlin Mitte

Trains generally provides the easiest transportation from Berlin-Schönefeld Airport to downtown.

• Trains from Schönefeld Airport to Berlin

The Airport Express is the fastest way from Schönefeld to central Berlin. It is a regional train (RE7 or RB14 but clearly marked as Airport Express) that runs every 30 minutes S-Bahn Station Flughafen Berlin-Schönefeld through central Berlin to Spandau in 45 minutes. En route, it stops at Ostbahnhof (17 minutes), Alexanderplatz (21 minutes), Friedrichstraße (24 minutes), Hauptbahnhof (28 minutes), and Zoologischer Garten (32 minutes). The Airport Express operates from around 5 am to 11 pm.

An alternative is to use S-Bahn train S9 to Ostkreuz station and then change to S3, S7, or S75 for downtown Berlin. These S-Bahn trains follow basically the same route as the Airport Express but with more stops en route and more services late at night.

It is a 400-m (1/4 mile) walk via a covered walkway from the airport to the railway station – bus 162 or 171 can also be used.

• Travelers to Potsdam can avoid traveling through Berlin by using the regional train RB22 directly from Schönefeld to Potsdam hourly in just less than an hour.

• Buses from Schönefeld Airport to Berlin
  

Buses from Schönefeld Airport are generally used only to connect to the nearby S-Bahn and U-Bahn train stations.

• Buses 162 and 171 (and night bus N60) run from Flughafen Schönefeld via S-Bahn Station Flughafen Berlin-Schönefeld (3 minutes) to S-Bahn Station Adlershof in 19 minutes.
• X7 is a JetExpressBus connecting Flughafen Schönefeld and U-Bahn station Rudow (U-Bahn line U7) in 7 minutes. Night bus N71 does the same route.
• Expressbus-Linie SXF1 is a fast but somewhat expensive express bus service to Südkreuz Station.

Schönefeld is currently in tariff zone C, requiring an ABC ticket from Central Berlin. All regular tickets and passes are valid (except a hefty surcharge for using SXF1).

For more details see: Transportation to Berlin-Schönefeld Airport (SXF).