Not just because of the Ryanair withdrawal: BER remains an airport of concern

Analysis Not just because Ryanair is leaving BER remains an airport of concern As of: October 23rd, 2026 • 5:09 p.m

Ryanair closes its base at Berlin Airport. The airline has been saying for years that BER is too expensive, too complicated, too inflexible. And she also says: Flying in Germany is generally too expensive.

If Marcel Pouchain Meyer has his way, the decision was long overdue. At least that's how the responsible Germany manager at Ryanair sees the closure of the base at Berlin's BER airport. It means that seven aircraft from the Irish budget airline, which were previously based here, will be relocated abroad.

“The planes will then simply spend the night somewhere else,” says Pouchain Meyer. This means that nightly maintenance also takes place somewhere else. In countries where flying is cheaper than in Germany: These include, for example, Sweden, Italy, Slovakia or Poland, explains the Ryanair manager. The pilots and cabin crew are also leaving with the aircraft: a total of 210 jobs that will be lost at BER.

Ryanair planes will continue to fly to BER - but only as a single destination in so-called point-to-point operations, i.e. as a connection to some popular holiday destinations, for example. The bottom line is that the passenger capacity offered by the airline at BER has decreased significantly: from 4.5 million individual seats per year to 2.2 million. Many remaining routes are flown less frequently. And popular connections to Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria or Lanzarote are no longer available.

Economic problems at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport Max Kell, RBB, tagesschau, Das Erste, October 23rd, 2026 • 3:00 p.m. Year-long feud between BER and Ryanair This marks the temporary end of a long-running feud between Ryanair and the "Berlin Brandenburg Willy Brandt Airport", as BER is correctly called. Ryanair has been criticizing for years that the entire Germany location is far too expensive compared to other European countries, and that fees and taxes are far too high.

The airline complains that air traffic taxes and security fees have become twice as expensive since 2019. The air traffic control fee has more than tripled. In addition, airport fees at BER were increased by 50%. The airport has announced a further 10% increase - until 2029. Ryanair then decided to close the base at the capital's airport.

Fewer routes from Berlin: Ryanair closes its base at BER.

The ver.di union and the Cockpit pilots' association both expressed the suspicion that the closure of the base in Berlin could also have something to do with the fact that the only works council at a Ryanair location in Germany was founded there a year and a half ago. “Of course we don’t have any evidence for this,” says Dennis Dacke from ver.di. "But we know that co-determination is not popular at Ryanair."

Ryanair denies that there is a connection between the establishment of a works council and the base closure. Instead, when asked, Ryanair again points out the high location costs. Airport fees are the lever that airports can use to reduce their costs. The discount airline prefers smaller airports, which are generally cheaper than larger ones.

Like the entire industry, Ryanair boss O'Leary is concerned about the situation in the Persian Gulf. more

BER has a special role in Germany: once planned as a large hub, it now ekes out an existence as a large regional airport - very expensively built. There had been no lack of optimism in all the years since construction began twenty years ago. The BER should go into operation in 2011. It wasn't until nine years later, in 2020, that it actually happened.

The delay created a gigantic mountain of debt. The planned two billion euros construction costs (as of 2006) turned into more than seven billion euros. Money that the airport's operations first have to bring in again - also through airport fees. But that would require continuous annual growth. But this doesn't exist.

More and more airlines are canceling flights to and from Germany. This is making the industry increasingly nervous. more

This didn't seem to affect the optimism of those responsible in the capital region over the years. As recently as March 2022, the city of Berlin stated in an official press release: "The plan is to increase capacity to up to 58 million passengers per year by 2040." At that time - also due to Corona measures - less than 20 million passengers used the BER.

And there was still confidence at the beginning of 2026. The BER management explained that they were expecting 26.5 to 27 million passengers this year. During the first half of the year, however, it became clear that there were not more people flying at BER, but fewer people than in the same period last year: there should now be 25.7 million by the end of the year.

Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) opened in autumn 2020 - nine years late and three times more expensive than planned. more

The airport has been consistently making losses since it opened. Although these became increasingly smaller with each passing year, the mountain of debt continued to grow. In order to get into the profit zone at some point, BER needs the highest possible income - which is why reducing airport fees to the level of other regional airports is hardly feasible. A dilemma for the operators. And reason enough for Ryanair to further reduce its presence at BER.

From Ryanair's perspective, the only logical step "to make the airport competitive again" is "a haircut," said Pouchain Meyer. But that would probably mean that the states of Berlin and Brandenburg as well as the federal government as owners would have to write off millions or billions in unscheduled losses. But there are no plans for this and probably no political will either.

The Bundestag has initiated a reduction in aviation tax. What does this mean for ticket prices and the offer? more

When Ryanair's plans to cut costs became known, BER immediately announced that two other airlines, Wizz Air and Eurowings, would expand their services and thus at least partially replace Ryanair's lost flights. But that's not true.

It is true: Wizz Air and Eurowings wanted to expand their offerings anyway - and would have done so one way or another. The new connections set up by the two airlines also fly to different cities than Ryanair's canceled flights. If Ryanair had stayed, Wizz Air and Eurowings would have finally brought about the long-predicted growth at BER. Well not.

Today it was also announced that the proposed deal with the airline Emirates will not be implemented after all. The airline will still not fly to BER, even though this was actually agreed. The airport announces that it will achieve a balanced group result "by 2030 at the latest - and therefore already ten years after the opening of the BER airport, which was built with immense investments." Stick to this goal.

This topic in the program: The First | daily news | Oct 23, 2026 | 3:00 p.m