Lufthansa Flight Lands in Berlin for First Time Since End of WWII

West Germany’s Lufthansa airlines landed in West Berlin on Sunday for the first time since the end of World War II, picking up Soviet children who had spent their vacation in East Germany and returning them to the Soviet Union.

The airline, which had not been allowed to fly into Berlin since 1945, needed special permission to land in the long-divided city from the victorious World War II Allies--France, Britain, the United States and Soviet Union.

After the war, the Allies had reserved all rights for air traffic to Berlin for their own airlines.

“There is no better way to spend a weekend, coming by plane to Berlin for the first time and then for such a good purpose,” said Lufthansa pilot Robert Salzer.

The Lufthansa 747 jumbo jet landed at Berlin’s Schoenefeld Airport. It picked up 200 Soviet children from the Soviet region around Chernobyl who were returning to Minsk after spending three weeks vacation in East Germany.

The holiday program is organized by East German and Soviet citizen groups to give summer vacations to children who live around Chernobyl. Many of them still suffer health problems from the 1986 nuclear reactor explosion there.

Although the children were excited to see Russian-language cartoons and comics on the Lufthansa plane, most said they were sad to leave.

“The three weeks passed much too quickly,” said an 11-year-old named Igor, who now lives in the Soviet town of Gomel.

The East German airline Interflug had flown the youngsters to Berlin from Minsk.

In Minsk, Lufthansa will pick up another 360 Soviet children and deliver them to East and West Germany, where they will spend their vacations.