Wednesday, August 28
“It’s a disgrace”: Ryanair criticise Berlin airport and withdraw one fifth of their fleet
Starting in summer 2025, Ryanair will reduce their presence at Berlin’s BER airport by 20%, completely withdrawing their service to six destinations including Brussels, Luxembourg, Riga, as well as Chania on the Greek island of Crete, Kaunas in Lithuania and Krakow in Poland. They will also reduce the number of aircraft stationed in Berlin from nine to seven.
In their statement announcing the decision, the Irish low-cost airline heavily criticised the German government, writing that the situation at the Berlin airport was a “disgrace” and complaining of “sky-high access costs” and “chronic mismanagement”. Part of their strongly-worded statement reads: “the bankrupt airport, which opened 10 years late and cost €6.5bn (over 3 times the original estimate) is heavily underutilised and has less passengers than much smaller European cities like Dublin, Manchester, or Copenhagen”.
Most of the criticism from the airline focused on the high costs of flying to Berlin, in particular the air traffic tax and air traffic control costs. The Berlin Senate expressed surprise at the vehemence of the statement from Ryanair. Former mayor and current Economics Senator Franziska Giffey (SPD) commented: “If it were up to Ryanair, all fees would have to be abolished and the night flight ban lifted. That won’t work,” she said, especially since such fees are not decided by Berlin but rather set by the federal government. “I doubt that Ryanair’s threat to the federal government will be successful… You can’t fly to the German capital for free.”
We will have to wait to see what happens next in negotiations, but Ryanair certainly seems to be throwing their weight around. The company are currently the largest operator at BER, offering flights to more than 50 destinations in Europe.
