TEMPELHOF Airport has been many things to Berlin — a lifeline to German areas cut off after the great war, a centre of the city’s defence in WWII, and the hub of the airlift that ensured West Berlin’s survival over the cold war.

Private flights over Berlin will be banned from next week, officials said today – a week after a small plane crashed on the lawn between Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s office and the parliament building.