Ryanair anticipates making substantial cuts to its flight schedule in Hamburg.
After declaring partial withdrawal from Berlin, Ryanair is planning to significantly cut back or completely eliminate its flight schedule in Hamburg and various other German locations. The leading low-cost European airline attributes Germany's high aviation costs as the reason for this decision, as communicated on Thursday for the summer of 2025. "Ryanair will cease operations in Dortmund, Dresden, and Leipzig, and decrease its flights in Hamburg by an staggering 60 percent, resulting in a loss of 1.8 million seats," mentioned Ryanair CEO Eddie Wilson during his speech in Hamburg. This translates to an additional 12 percent reduction in Germany's summer 2025 flight schedule, with 22 routes being axed.
Germany currently stands at 82% of its pre-Covid traffic levels, making it the worst-performing air traffic market in Europe. According to Wilson, this is due to the country's astronomical state taxes and fees, the highest in Europe, coupled with the high-price monopoly of Lufthansa. As a result, German citizens and travelers are now facing the highest flight prices in Europe. In contrast, Ryanair is seeing growth in various EU countries including Sweden, Italy, Hungary, and Poland, where it has expanded its capacities due to "practical and foresighted moves by governments to lower access costs."
Ryanair had previously announced in late August that it would discontinue a fifth of its flights in Berlin for summer 2025 due to location costs, reducing the number of Ryanair aircraft at BER Airport from nine to seven. Germany is slow in recovering from the coronavirus crisis due to relatively high air traffic costs. Other airlines such as Easyjet have also trimmed their schedules.
The European Union, with its member states having diverse aviation policies, is currently facing criticism from Ryanair over Germany's high costs, which are driving up flight prices and making it the worst-performing air traffic market in the union. Due to these high costs, the European Union's leading low-cost airline, Ryanair, is significantly reducing its presence in Germany, planning to cease operations in several cities and decrease flights in Hamburg by 60%.
