Budget airline Ryanair has announced it will scrap 24 routes to and from Germany, cutting nearly 800,000 seats in total.
It comes as tensions rise over what the airline describes as an ‘exorbitant’ air travel tax.
Ryanair, which describes itself as Europe’s number one airline, said the move will affect nine German airports, including Berlin, Hamburg and Memmingen, while Dortmund, Dresden and Leipzig will remain closed.
As a result, Ryanair’s overall capacity in Germany will fall below Winter ‘24 levels.
The low-cost airline blames the government policies for damaging the country’s competitiveness within the European market.
In a statement issued yesterday, Ryanair accused the German government of making air travel increasingly unaffordable through high aviation taxes and rising operational costs, including fees for air traffic control, airport management, and security.
Ryanair’s CMO, Dara Brady, said: ‘Germany’s air travel market is broken and needs an urgent fix.
‘Due to its excessive access costs, Germany has only recovered 88 per cent of its pre-COVID traffic, which is by far the worst recovery of any major European market.
‘Until the excessive (and rising) aviation tax, ATC charges, Security Fees and airport costs are addressed by the Government, German air traffic will simply continue to decline whilst other more competitive European countries (with no aviation taxes) benefit from turbocharged Ryanair traffic growth – at Germany’s expense.’
Ryanair claims that if Berlin were to cut or scrap the tax, passenger traffic could double to around 34million travellers per year.
But with no sign of relief from the government, the airline says it has no choice but to reduce its capacity and reroute aircraft to countries offering better conditions for airlines.
It follows last week when the airline said it would reduce its Summer 2026 schedule by 10 per cent, while stopping flights entirely to and from Asturias Airport in northern Spain.
The decision comes as the Aeno Monopoly continue to increase ‘uncompetitive’ airport fees at regional – many of which are under-used – airports across the country, which Ryanair says ‘harms growth’.
The move comes as part of a wider cull of Spanish routes by the carrier, which will see it drop 41 per cent of its flights to regional areas this winter, including to Zaragoza, Santander, Asturias and Vitoria.
This includes flights to the Canary Islands, which are being slashed by 10 per cent – equal to 400,000 seats.
All flights to Tenerife North will be axed from the beginning of the winter season, along with flights to Vigo, on Spain’s northwest coast, from January 1, 2026.
The airline announced the cuts are a ‘direct result’ of the Spanish Government’s ‘failure’ to put a stop to Aena’s fee increases.
The Spanish Government holds a majority stake (51 per cent) in Aena, the state-owned company that manages the majority of Spanish airports and heliports.
