Berlin Brandenburg new airport opens to public...

Berlin airport opens.

Berlin — Berlin's beleaguered Brandenburg Airport, which finally opens its doors this Saturday.

The massive 1,470-hectare site in the Schönefeld region southeast of Berlin aims to be the state-of-the-art transportation hub, and will open up connections to more long-haul destinations.

Plans to build a central international airport in Berlin date back to the city's reunification era. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Germany's leaders launched into discussions about constructing a new airport, which they believed would help establish Berlin as a new world center.

At the time, the city had three airports -- Tegel "Otto Lilienthal" Airport, Schönefeld Airport and Tempelhof Airport -- all of which played significant roles in Berlin's turbulent post-war history.

Tempelhof, close to the center of Berlin, has since closed and become a major park. Tegel, a stopgap that became permanent, will close November 8.