AviationNews – Budget giant Ryanair has drastically cut its German Winter 2025 flight schedule, removing over 800,000 seats and cancelling 24 routes across nine high-cost airports in a highly public dispute over high government access fees. This move underscores the low-cost carrier’s sensitivity to national taxation, signaling a serious economic challenge for affected German airports and regional connectivity.
The carrier confirmed the capacity cuts on Wednesday, October 15, directly attributing the decision to the German Federal Government’s failure to address “sky-high access costs” and to reverse a recent +24% aviation tax increase introduced in May 2024. The reductions will impact key airports including Berlin, Hamburg, and Memmingen, with the airline also maintaining closures at smaller airports like Dortmund, Dresden, and Leipzig. The company views the combined aviation tax, soaring Air Traffic Control (ATC) charges, and excessive security fees as making Germany “grossly uncompetitive” compared to other EU nations.
These strategic cuts allow Ryanair to redeploy aircraft to more favorable and lower-cost markets in Southern and Eastern Europe, such as Italy, Poland, and Spain, where some governments are actively reducing or abolishing aviation taxes to stimulate tourism and economic recovery. The result is a sharp drop in competitive pricing and connectivity for German travelers, particularly during the traditionally slower winter months.
“It is very disappointing that the German Government has failed to deliver on their commitment to reduce the regressive aviation tax and sky-high access costs which are crippling Germany’s aviation sector,” stated Dara Brady, Ryanair’s Chief Marketing Officer. “This completely avoidable loss of connectivity will have a devastating impact on German connectivity, jobs, and tourism.”
The action serves as a loud warning to Berlin that high national levies directly translate into a loss of air traffic capacity. Ryanair has offered to deliver transformative growth, including 30 additional aircraft and a doubling of German passenger traffic, if the government urgently addresses the cost structure. Without intervention, Germany’s air travel market, which currently recovers at a rate worse than most major European peers, risks a further decline into the Summer 2026 season.