{"id":73974,"date":"2026-05-03T19:53:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T19:53:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/73974\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T19:53:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T19:53:14","slug":"ryanair-closes-berlin-base-with-over-two-million-seats-cut-and-uk-flights-affected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/73974\/","title":{"rendered":"Ryanair closes Berlin base with over two million seats cut and UK flights affected"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ryanair is closing its seven-aircraft base at Berlin Brandenburg Airport, cutting over two million seats a year<\/p>\n

Carrington Walker Live News Journalist and Kris Boratyn<\/p>\n

18:50, 03 May 2026Updated 18:58, 03 May 2026<\/p>\n

\"Deserted<\/p>\n

The airline confirmed its Berlin passenger numbers will drop from 4.5 million to 2.2 million in 2027(Image: Getty)<\/p>\n

Ryanair is poised to reduce flights from several UK airports following confirmation it will close a significant base in Germany.<\/p>\n

The airline has revealed it will shut its seven-aircraft operating base at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) from October 24, 2026. As part of this decision, Ryanair confirmed it will slash its flight capacity to and from the German capital by 50% during its winter timetable, reports the Express<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This means routes between Berlin and UK cities<\/a> including London, Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh are anticipated to be impacted. Ryanair presently operates direct flights from those airports to Berlin multiple times weekly, with journeys lasting approximately two hours.<\/p>\n

\"Ryanair<\/p>\n

The changes will take place in late October<\/p>\n

While the airline has not specified which particular UK routes will be axed, it stated its Berlin passenger numbers will drop from 4.5 million to 2.2 million in 2027. The carrier added that over two million Ryanair seats annually will be lost as a consequence of the closure.<\/p>\n

Ryanair confirmed it will maintain services to Berlin, but using aircraft stationed outside Germany. All seven Berlin-based aircraft will be relocated to lower-cost airports in other EU nations, including Sweden, Slovakia, Albania and Italy.<\/p>\n

The airline attributed escalating airport charges and aviation taxes in Germany for the move.<\/p>\n

Ryanair DAC CEO Eddie Wilson said: “We regret to announce this planned closure of our seven aircraft Berlin base from 24 Oct 2026, but we have no alternative following the Airport’s latest 10% fee increase to its already high airport fees.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Ryanair’s CEO cited a “10% fee increase to its already high airport fees” for the shake-up(Image: David GANNON \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

“This comes on top of the 50% increase in Berlin’s airport fees since 2019. Despite Berlin Airport losing 30% of its pre-Covid traffic thanks to its excessive airport charges, and Germany’s stupid aviation tax regime, they have now decided to increase charges by a further 10%, which will result in the loss of more than 2m Ryanair seats p.a. and seven based aircraft.<\/p>\n

“Ryanair will still serve Berlin but on a\/c based outside Germany and our Berlin traffic will fall by 50% from 4.5m to 2.2m pax in 2027.”<\/p>\n

He added: “German aviation is broken. The Govt. 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.”<\/p>\n

Mr Wilson also warned that additional reductions in Germany were “now inevitable” without significant cost reform.<\/p>\n

Want to see more of the stories you love from Belfast Live? Making us your preferred source on Google means you\u2019ll get more of our exclusives… To add Belfast Live as a preferred source, simply click here.<\/a><\/p>\n

He went on to say: “Efficient operations and competitive airport fees are the foundation which enable Ryanair to deliver long-term traffic growth and increased connectivity for airports and regions.<\/p>\n

“This is impossible at Berlin following the German Govt’s failure to abolish its harmful aviation tax and Berlin Airport’s decision to again increase its already high airport fees.”<\/p>\n

Ryanair confirmed that pilots and cabin crew based in Berlin have been informed of the planned base closure. Consultations with staff are set to commence imminently, with those affected being offered the opportunity to apply for alternative positions within the airline’s wider European network.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ryanair is closing its seven-aircraft base at Berlin Brandenburg Airport, cutting over two million seats a year Carrington…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":73975,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[112,190,1765,2241,1413],"class_list":{"0":"post-73974","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-berlin","8":"tag-berlin","9":"tag-germany","10":"tag-ryanair","11":"tag-traffic-and-travel","12":"tag-travel"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116512398247403320","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73974\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}