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What happened
Ryanair announced 11 new routes in Germany and a total of 300,000 additional seats, mainly from smaller airports including Weeze, Memmingen and Bremen, with some additional departures from Cologne-Bonn Airport. Ryanair said flights are to drop by 20% in Hamburg and 5% in Berlin, and complained that the airports have not reduced fees. Ryanair official Eddie Wilson said the additional services are a response to the government’s reduction in ticket taxes decided in November, but summer 2026 flight offerings remain lower than the previous year. Ryanair called on Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s administration to abolish the air traffic tax and reduce fees for air traffic control and passenger checks, and said it could double operations in Germany to serve 34 million passengers per year if changes are made.
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Key insights
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1
Ryanair links capacity decisions to taxes and fees: Eddie Wilson said new services reflect the ticket-tax reduction, and Ryanair said flight cuts in Hamburg and Berlin are tied to airports not reducing fees.
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2
Ryanair sets a conditional expansion target for Germany: Ryanair said it could double operations in Germany to 34 million passengers per year if the air traffic tax is abolished and certain fees are reduced.
Takeaways
Ryanair is increasing service from several smaller German airports while cutting flights in Hamburg and Berlin and pressing the German government to further reduce aviation taxes and fees.