Ryanair has confirmed it is cutting 20% of its traffic at Berlin Brandenburg airport due to what the airline calls the airport’s “sky-high access costs”, “which the German Government and airport management have failed to reduce.”
These cuts will see Ryanair’s based aircraft at Berlin reduced from 9 to 7, resulting in the loss of 750,000 seats and 6 routes (Brussels, Chania, Kaunas, Krakow, Luxembourg, Riga), as Ryanair largest airline switches its capacity to other lower cost EU countries like Italy, Poland and Spain.
This announcement follows several warnings by Ryanair that Germany would lose another 10% of Ryanair’s German capacity (1.5 million seats) for Summer 2025 if the German Government failed to reverse the recent 24% increase in Aviation Tax, address soaring ATC charges, and defer a 50% increase in the Security Fee cap.
Ryanair’s CEO Eddie Wilson said: “At a time when Berlin should be growing, Ryanair is left with no choice but to cut capacity by 20% due to these sky-high air access costs. It’s a disgrace that one of Europe’s major cities such as Berlin has one of the slowest recoveries, at only 71% vs Pre-Covid levels.
“Ryanair presented a 7-year growth plan for Germany to both the Federal Minister for Special Affairs and the Mayor of Berlin in January 2024, but despite this, there has been no meaningful engagement from either the federal or local governments, or from airport management, which instead plans to increase charges rather than reduce costs to attract more traffic. As a result, Germany’s capital city will now lose traffic and tourism. These reductions will further damage Germany’s air travel, inbound tourism, economy, and post-Covid recovery, while competitor EU capitals, with much lower or zero aviation taxes/fees, will benefit from the growth in Ryanair traffic, which is being redirected from this high-cost, uncompetitive market.”
