Ryanair to Cut Berlin-Brandenburg Airport Flights by 50% and Close Base
Berlin, May 4, 2026 – Irish budget airline Ryanair has announced a significant reduction in its operations at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport (BER), effective October 24, 2026. The company plans to halve the number of flights from BER and close its operating base, relocating the seven aircraft currently stationed there to other airports across Europe, including Sweden, Slovakia, Albania, and Italy.
This strategic shift is expected to reduce Berlin’s passenger numbers for Ryanair from 4,5 million to 2,2 million annually. While staff have been offered transfers to new bases, the specific routes slated for reduction remain undisclosed.
Reasons Behind Ryanair’s Decision: Increased Fees and Aviation Taxes
Ryanair attributes its decision directly to BER’s recent announcement of a 10 percent increase in operating fees from 2027 to 2029. The airline highlighted that BER had already raised fees by 50 percent since the coronavirus pandemic, despite a 30 percent decline in traffic between 2019 and 2025.
Eddie Wilson, Ryanair’s chief executive, strongly criticized Germany’s aviation policy, citing the government’s “stupid aviation tax regime,” security fees, and trebled Air Traffic Control (ATC) fees, which he claims have made Berlin “the most failing airport in Europe.” Ryanair has consistently protested Germany’s high aviation tax (Luftverkehrsabgabe) and ATC charges compared to other European nations.
The Luftverkehrsabgabe, introduced by the SPD-Greens-FDP government in 2024, increased taxes on domestic and EU flights from 12,73 euros to 15,53 euros per passenger. For longer trips exceeding 6.000 kilometers, the tax rose from 58,06 euros to 70,83 euros per passenger. These additional costs are typically passed on to passengers.
Despite a November 2025 announcement by the CDU/CSU-SPD government to reduce the tax from July 2026 and freeze ATC rates, Ryanair deemed this a “welcome first step” but called for the full abolition of the aviation tax and a halving of “excessive ATC and security charges.” Wilson stated that without “meaningful cost reform” from Berlin and Germany, Ryanair had “no alternative but to switch aircraft from Germany to other more competitive markets.”
