Berlin  - Three veteran aircraft were stranded Friday at Berlin's Tempelhof Airport, a day after it officially closed at the end of 85 years of operations.

With most airport staff gone, the pilots of the two Antonov biplanes and the Cessna are not allowed to just take off when they felt like it from the airport, which is surrounded on all sides by multi-storey buildings.

The three fragile old planes had been scheduled to leave during closing ceremonies Thursday, but were left parked on the apron because of steady rain and cold.

A Berlin Airports spokesman said Friday they would probably have to have their wings taken off and be removed by road to some other airfield. He said no date had been set for trucks to pick them up.

The airport is to continue employing 38 staff and nine firefighters to maintain its sprawling buildings and to show paying visitors around the complex, which is a Berlin tourist attraction.

The Thursday evening ceremonies culminated with two antique planes taking to the air at 11.55 pm and the runway landing lights being switched off at midnight.

The last two planes were a US-made Douglas DC-3, as used in the 1948-49 Berlin airlift, and a German Ju-52, a type that carried passengers from 1932 onward for Lufthansa.

The airport was the entry point for 2.3 million tons of airborne relief during the Airlift soon after the Second World War.

Future use of the historic site has not been decided, but there is talk of using it for both a park and an industrial estate. Two other Berlin airports, at Tegel and Schoenefeld, remain in use. (dpa)