Ryanair will have 50 percent fewer flights to and from Berlin in the budget carrier's winter flight schedule, which starts from October 24th, the Irish airline announced.
All seven aircraft that are currently based in Berlin will be moved to other European airports, it said.
Berlin-based pilots and flight crew were told notified of the decision Friday and will have the chance "to secure alternative positions elsewhere in the Ryanair network across Europe".
In a statement, chief executive Eddie Wilson said the decision was in response to a looming increase in Berlin airport fees, and also took aim at Germany's "stupid aviation tax regime".
"We regret to announce this planned closure of our seven aircraft Berlin base... but we have no alternative following the airport’s latest 10 percent fee increase to its already high airport fees," he said.
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The Ryanair aircraft will be moved to other European Union countries "that have abolished aviation taxes like Sweden, Slovakia, Albania and Italy," the company said.
Wilson said Ryanair had cut all service to three other German airports since 2019 – Dresden, Leipzig and Dortmund – and had already relocated aircraft previously based in Frankfurt, Düsseldorf and Stuttgart.
He added that "further cuts across Germany [are] now inevitable".
"German aviation is broken," he said. "The Government admits that it is uncompetitive, yet there is no strategy to cut aviation taxes or high airport fees – despite Ryanair warning that Germany would lose traffic, connectivity, jobs and trade."
No plans for increase
However, Berlin Brandenburg Airport Willy Brandt (BER) airport rejected accusations about fees going up. Â
"There are no plans for such an increase in airport charges," a spokesperson from the airport told local broadcaster RBB on Friday. The spokesperson said they were surprised by the announcement from Ryanair, and that both sides are currently in negotiations.
The Verdi trade union slammed Ryanair’s plans as a "purely profit-driven corporate strategy".
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Ryanair and other airlines have lobbied Germany to slash taxes on the aviation industry.
At the end of last year, the German government announced plans to reverse an increase in aviation taxes which came into force in 2024 in a bid to support the industry.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the airline ticket tax would be reversed as of July 1st, 2026. The tax cut is expected to cost Germany around €350 million in tax revenue annually.
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Despite being Germany's largest city, Berlin lags well behind several other airports in the country for total passenger traffic, and the city has struggled to attract carriers.
With reporting by Rachel Loxton
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