Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, announced that it has reduced its German Winter ’25 capacity by over 800,000 seats and cancelled 24 routes across 9 high-cost 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.

This decision is a direct result of the Federal Govt’s repeated failure to address Germany’s high access costs and the disappointing roll-back on their commitment to reverse the latest +24% aviation tax increase introduced in May ’24. This punitive aviation tax, coupled with Germany’s soaring ATC charges, excessive Security Fees, and rising airport costs have made Germany grossly uncompetitive compared to other EU countries. Germany’s sky-high access costs are in stark contrast with countries such as Ireland, Spain and Poland which have no aviation taxes, or Sweden, Hungary, and regional Italy, where aviation taxes are being scrapped alongside reduced access costs to boost traffic, tourism, jobs, and economic recovery. As a result, Germany remains among the worst recovered air traffic markets in Europe, operating at just 88% of pre-Covid levels.

Ryanair calls on the German Govt and Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder to take urgent action and reduce Germany’s excessive access costs. Without an immediate intervention, Germany will continue to fall further behind more competitive European countries into Summer ’26. However, should the Govt reverse the latest aviation tax increase (then fully abolish the tax) and reduce its spiralling access costs, Ryanair could deliver transformative growth in Germany incl. 30 additional aircraft (+US$3bn investment), doubling traffic to 34m passengers p.a., and creating over 1,000 additional jobs across Germany.