Ryanair cuts 700,000 German winter seats and closes its Berlin base

Seat cuts across Germany

Ryanair announced on Thursday, 8 October, that it will offer about 700,000 fewer seats in Germany in its coming winter schedule than a year earlier. The cut amounts to a 10% decline compared with winter 2025/26. The airline cites high airport, security and air traffic control charges, as well as the German aviation tax (Luftverkehrsteuer), which it calls 'exorbitant'. Ryanair has called on the federal government to abolish the aviation tax entirely and to cut airport, security and air traffic control costs significantly. The company said it would be willing to expand its German offering if costs fell.

Berlin takes the heaviest cut

Berlin Brandenburg airport is the most affected. Ryanair will close its base there on 24 October, moving its seven aircraft and their crews to airports in other EU states. Twelve routes, including those to Gran Canaria, Palermo and Thessaloniki, will be dropped entirely, and others will be flown less often. Berliner Zeitung reports that the list is two routes longer than the cuts the airline announced in April. Capacity in Berlin is being roughly halved, and the airline expects passenger numbers there to fall from about 5 million to about 2.5 million a year. Berlin will retain about one million seats in the winter period. Ryanair chief executive Eddie Wilson said that passengers in Berlin will have less choice and face higher fares.

Berlin is by far the biggest loser.

Ryanair's case against BER and German costs

Ryanair calls BER the least successful airport in Europe, citing a 30% fall in traffic from 36 million passengers in 2019 to 26 million in 2025. Focus notes that the airline's comparison does not mention that Tegel and Schönefeld were still operating in 2019, and that BER opened only in 2020. Marcel Pouchain Meyer, Ryanair's marketing chief for Germany, told Berliner Zeitung that costs in Germany are not competitive despite the lower aviation tax. He said further cost increases could follow at the new Schönefeld airport and directed a warning at the new Berlin Senate.

Despite the reduction of the air transport tax, costs in Germany are simply not competitive.

The BER is already the most expensive airport in our network.

Other German airports

Hamburg is cut by about 5%, while Memmingen gains 12% and Cologne/Bonn 10%. Saarbrücken and Friedrichshafen enter the winter schedule for the first time. Ryanair will also withdraw entirely from Bremen airport. Focus reports the exit from summer 2027, while Handelsblatt says it takes effect from April 2027, after Ryanair demanded substantial discounts. By its own account, Bremen was not willing to subsidise flight operations. Newsorf reports that Ryanair will no longer fly from Leipzig and Dresden. N-tv reports that Ryanair is also carrying out its threatened cuts at Vienna airport.

Staff and timeline

Ryanair said that none of the 210 employees affected, as announced in April, had to be dismissed, and that many accepted offers at other sites. Meyer said the airline expects a decline in passenger numbers at Berlin in the coming months.

We will see a significant decline in passenger numbers at Berlin airport over the coming months.