To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Airberlin is offering three sightseeing flights over Berlin during the evening of November 8, 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, 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.
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 November 7-9, 2014.
An experienced city guide will accompany the special flights and narrate the history of the divided city of Berlin.
On the ground, 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 highlight on the afternoon of November 9 is the painting of two original sections of the Wall for airberlin by the well-known French artist Thierry Noir.
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. 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.
Tickets for the special flights are available online at at a price of 99 Euros per person.
Airberlin, www.airberlin.com