- Ryanair makes announcement about decreasing aircraft numbers at BER Airport
Ryanair is anticipated to diminish its services at Berlin's BER airport by approximately twenty percent, commencing the upcoming summer. The corporation attributable this to "astronomical access fees" that the German government and airport administration have failed to reduce. Consequentially, the amount of aircraft stationed in Berlin will decrease from the existing nine to seven. Six locations will be impacted and cease to operate: Brussels, Chania, Kaunas, Krakow, Luxembourg, and Riga. Ryanair did not specify a particular date for the fleet reduction or the number of employees in Berlin who will be affected. The overseeer of Ryanair's primary operations, Eddie Wilson, stated that each aircraft supports approximately thirty jobs.
BER expresses pity and comprehension
"We're sorry to hear that Ryanair has announced a reduction in its services at Berlin Brandenburg Airport," the airport company expressed in response to a concern. Simultaneously, they expressed compassion. "The airport company Berlin Brandenburg can empathize with the harsh criticism of the substantially increased tax burden," it declared. "The state air traffic tax alone has more than doubled since 2019." This development has been criticized by the whole aviation sector for quite some time. "This affects not only BER but the entire German aviation," the airport concluded.
Ryanair is currently the most prominent provider at BER and has dethroned the previous leading contender, Easyjet, in market share. Just this summer, the airline amplified its services in Berlin. Ryanair currently flies to over fifty destinations in Europe from Schoenefeld. Last year, Ryanair increased its passenger numbers at BER by fifteen percent. The company signed a contract with the operators in December to construct its own maintenance hangar at the site. It remains to be seen whether Ryanair will adhere to these plans.
This isn't the first time an airline has reduced its services at BER due to high costs. In the spring of 2022, Easyjet announced that it aimed to relocate eleven of the eighteen aircraft it had previously situated there, resulting in around 200 job losses.
Ryanair: Post-crisis development at BER particularly disappointing
"The government needs to act," said Ryanair manager Eddie Wilson. Air traffic in the country has yet to reach pre-pandemic levels. The situation at BER is particularly discouraging, with passenger numbers last year at only around seventy percent of pre-crisis levels. This is due to high taxes and fees, which not only affect BER but also other locations, inhibiting the services from growing.
Besides Berlin, Ryanair also has locations in Weeze, Cologne, Frankfurt-Hahn, Nuremberg, Baden, and Memmingen. It remains to be seen whether the services will also be reduced there.
The airport association ADV cautioned that Germany could lose its edge in aviation due to high costs. "While locations in other European countries are flourishing, the high regulatory burdens are hindering the airlines' services in Germany," said CEO Ralph Beisel. "The passengers are the ones who suffer. Many connections are no longer available from German airports." However, there is not a scarcity of demand, but a clear scarcity of supply.
- Despite the challenges faced by Ryanair at Berlin Brandenburg Airport, the Irish Republic's national airline, Ryanair, has a significant presence there, operating to over fifty European destinations from Schoenefeld.
- The high costs at Berlin Brandenburg Airport, affecting Ryanair and other airlines, have raised concerns among aviation experts in the Irish Republic, with CEO Ralph Beisel of the airport association ADV warning that these costs could potentially harm Germany's overall standing in aviation.
