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Berlin Airlift Memorial – Photo by Garyblakeley from

Top 10 Facts about the Berlin Airlift during Cold War

The Berlin airlift is one of the best-known events that happened during the cold war. It was the first major international crisis that happened only a few years after the end of the second world war.

The Berlin airlift commenced on 26 June 1948 and was organized by the Western allies to carry supplies by air to the people of West Berlin. This was after the Soviet Union blocked all access to the City from non-Soviet zones leaving only three narrow airspace corridors.

For 15 months, the US and the British air forces flew over Berlin more than 250,000 times, dropping necessities such as fuel, food, and other basic human commodities. The Berlin Blockade and airlift serve as an example of the competing ideological differences that existed between the two world superpowers during the cold war.

Let鈥檚 look at the Top 10 Facts about the Berlin Airlift during Cold War.

1. The operation lasted for 15 Months

The Berlin airlift to carry supplies to the people of West Berlin commenced on 26 June 1948, two days after the Soviet Union had imposed a total blockade of West Berlin.

The blockade severed all land and water connections between the non-Soviet zones and West Berlin, which left three twenty-mile-wide air corridors as the only way to access Berlin from non-Soviet zones.

Carrying supplies by air was not an easy feat given the size of the city and the population, but the United States and its allies managed to sustain the airlifts until 30 September 1949, slightly over 15 months after the operation started.

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2. Over 2 Million tons of Supplies were Airlifted

Aircrafts being unloaded during Berlin Airlift – Photo Source:

For 15 months between 26 June 1948 and 30 September 1949, the United States and the British air force airlifted over 2 million tons of supplies into West Berlin.

These supplies included coal, which accounted for almost two-thirds of the supplies, diesel and petrol, medical supplies, sugar, salt, dehydrated potatoes, dehydrated vegetables, powdered milk, wheat flour, and coffee among other commodities.

On average, they transported 6,000 tons of supplies each day, a big feat even by today鈥檚 standards. On 15 April to 16 April 1949, a record 12,941 tons of supplies were transported in 24 hours, making it the most successful day of the whole operation.

3. A Total of 278,228 Flights were Made

Berlin Airlift Display at RAF Museum – Photo Source:

Between 26 June 1948 and 30 September 1949, the British and American airforce carried out one the biggest airborne relief in history, flying over 2.3 million tons of supplies within a period of 15 months. 

Together, they made a total of 278,228 flights, an average of one flight for every 3 minutes, covering an astonishing 148,000,000 km in the process, a distance equal from the earth to the sun. At the height of the Airlift, one plane reached West Berlin every thirty seconds.

4. The Soviets tried to disrupt the Airlift

During the first months of the airlift, the Soviets desperately tried to disrupt the smooth delivery of the supplies. They used various methods to harass allied planes like shining searchlights at night to confuse pilots, conducting obstructive parachute jumps within the transport corridors, and buzzing transport planes with their fighter jets.

Additionally, throughout the operation, Soviet and German communists subjected West Berliners to sustained psychological warfare, trying to demoralize them by continuously predicting the imminent abandonment of the city by the Western occupying powers.

However, none of these measures were effective, and the airlift went on smoothly without any major incident of disruption being reported.

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5. The cost of the airlift was Astronomical

Like in any other major operation, the cost of the Berlin airlift was astronomical. The estimated cost ranged from approximately USD 224 million to over USD 500 million, equivalent to approximately $2.55 billion to $5.69 billion today.

Nevertheless, the operation became possible as the cost was shared between the US, UK, and German authorities in the Western sectors of occupation.

6. A Total of 101 Lost their lives during the Operation

Although the airlift was overall very successful, it did not go without human life costs. A total of 101 people lost their lives as a result of the operation. They included Pilots, crew members, and non-flying civilian workers.

In total, Seventeen American and eight British aircraft crashed during the operation killing 40 Britons and 31 Americans. One Royal Australian Air Force member was killed in an aircraft crash while attached to No. 27 Squadron RAF.

 7. Flight Crew Members were not allowed to leave their Planes

In order to shorten the time taken and make deliveries more efficient, Flight crew members were not allowed to leave their aircraft for any reason while unloading in Berlin.

The order was issued after it was noted that there were long delays as the flight crews returned to their aircraft after getting refreshments from the terminal. Instead, refreshments were handed out to the crews at their aircraft while it was being unloaded.

8. Soviets did not directly interfere with the airlift

Although the Soviets had an advantage in conventional military forces stationed in and around Berlin in 1948, they didn鈥檛 directly interfere with the planes airlifting supplies into West Berlin. This is partly because, by that time, the United States had a stronger navy and air force, and had nuclear weapons.

On other hand, the three twenty-mile-wide air corridors providing free access to Berlin had been negotiated and agreed upon three years before the blockade. Additionally, unlike a force of tanks and trucks, the Soviets could not claim that cargo aircraft was a military threat.

Furthermore, after both sides were involved in a brutal WW2 only three years prior, neither side was ready for military confrontation.

9. 鈥淥peration Little Vittles鈥� was born of the Berlin Airlift

Retired U.S. Air Force Col. Gail Halvorsen – Photo by Staff Sgt. Joe McFadden from

As The US air force pilots flew in supplies during the berlin airlift, one pilot, Gail S. Halvorsen, started dropping packages of gum and candy to the children by attaching them to small handkerchief parachutes.

His gesture earned him the nicknames “Chocolate Pilot” and “Uncle Wiggly Wings”, and it soon grew to regular drops of candy by him and other members of his crew.

The news of his gesture spread fast in the United States and soon 鈥淥peration Little Vittles鈥� was launched with a committee to handle the big volumes of candy and handkerchief donations that were now coming in from all over the United States.

Soon, major candy manufacturers joined in, and by the end of the operation, over three tons of candy were dropped, with German children christening the candy-dropping aircraft “raisin bombers” or “candy bombers”.

10. Three new runways were built for the operation

Berlin Tempelhof Airport – Photo Source

A few weeks into the Berlin airlift operation, the grass runway of Berlin Tempelhof Airport could not cope with the demand. A runway containing perforated steel matting built as its replacement also began to crumble under constant pounding the of transport planes.

As a result, American engineers were forced to build a new concrete 6,000 ft runway at Tempelhof between July and September 1948 and another between September and October 1948 to accommodate the expanding requirements of the airlift.

The old airport terminal of 1927 was demolished in 1948 in order to create additional space for unloading more planes.