Major cuts at Europe’s largest low-cost airline: Ryanair is scaling back its services in Germany. The Irish company has announced that it will offer around 700,000 fewer seats in its upcoming winter schedule than a year ago. This represents a 10 percent reduction compared with winter 2025/26. The reasons given are high access costs as a result of government fees and Germany’s “exorbitant” air passenger tax.

As previously announced, Berlin Brandenburg Airport will bear the brunt of the cuts. Ryanair has described BER as “Europe’s least successful airport”. The airline will close its Berlin base on October 24. Seven aircraft and their crews are currently stationed there. The aircraft will be relocated to more competitive airports in other EU countries where air passenger taxes have been abolished and fees reduced.

Fewer Options for Berlin Passengers

Ryanair will continue to operate flights to and from the German capital, but according to the airline, Berlin will lose around half of its existing services. Twelve routes will be discontinued entirely, while others will operate less frequently. The cancelled destinations include Bologna, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Marseille, Palermo, Pisa, Reggio Calabria, Tallinn, Thessaloniki, Trieste and Vilnius. “Berlin is by far the biggest loser,” says airline CEO Eddie Wilson. Passengers there will have significantly fewer options and will have to pay higher airfares.

More articles from Berliner Morgenpost in English:

BER Airport said in a statement that it regretted Ryanair’s decision. However, it also emphasised: “Despite inflation and rising costs, we have managed to keep airport charges stable since BER opened in 2020. The proposed new agreement with airlines would not result in higher airport charges for Ryanair.”

The good news for passengers: “Travellers from the capital will be able to choose from more airlines and more destinations in the upcoming winter schedule, which takes effect at the end of October, than they could in the same period last year,” the airport announced. According to BER, six of the twelve routes cancelled by Ryanair will be taken over by other airlines or are already served by them. “The additional services can offset some of the seat capacity lost as a result of Ryanair’s cuts to the winter schedule, but not all of it,” the statement said.

There will also be cuts of around 5 percent in Hamburg, while capacity will be expanded in Memmingen and Cologne. Saarbrücken and Friedrichshafen are new additions to Ryanair’s winter schedule.

This text was originally written and published on the 8th of October in German. It was translated into English with the use of artificial intelligence (AI).

BM/dpa