Ryanair will reduce its capacity to and from Berlin this winter, with plans to close its base at Berlin Airport from October.
The budget carrier said it will reduce capacity to and from the German capital by 50 per cent this winter and will close its base at Berlin Airport on 24 October due to rising operational costs. All seven of the carrier’s aircraft currently based in Berlin will be reallocated to “lower cost airports” across the EU, including to airports in Sweden, Slovakia, Albania and Italy.
“This is a direct result of Berlin Airport’s recent notice that it will again raise fees by another 10 per cent from 2027 to 2029 when its already high airport fees have increased by 50 per cent since Covid,” Ryanair said in a statement.
The airline also pointed to Germany’s “harmful” aviation tax – which has risen to €15.50 per passenger from €7.30 in 2019 – and higher ATC fees, increasing from €1 to €3.30 per passenger, as contributing factors for reducing its capacity.
As a result, Ryanair will operate 2 million fewer seats per year to Berlin, and warned further cuts across Germany are “inevitable”.
Ryanair DAC CEO Eddie Wilson said the carrier will continue to serve Berlin, but with aircraft based outside of Germany.
“With no meaningful cost reform in Berlin or in Germany nationally, we have no alternative but to switch aircraft from Germany to other more competitive markets elsewhere in Europe while Germany and Berlin Airport continue to fail,” Wilson said in a statement
The latest capacity cuts follow similar moves in Spain and France following increases in airport charges and aviation taxes. Ryanair in 2025 also cancelled 24 routes across nine German airports and suspended flights to Dresden, Leipzig and Dortmund.