Ryanair Announces German Capacity Boost After Government Trims Aviation Tax
Frankfurt, Germany — Ryanair will add 300,000 seats and launch 11 new routes across Germany this summer following the government’s decision to reduce aviation taxes, the Irish carrier announced on Thursday. But the expansion comes with a caveat: overall capacity in the country will still trail last year’s levels.
The additional services will concentrate at regional airports that have worked with Ryanair to contain costs, including Bremen, Cologne, Memmingen, and Weeze. The move represents a partial reversal from the carrier’s aggressive withdrawal from Germany, where it slashed 800,000 seats and 24 routes from its winter schedule after criticizing what it called punishing taxation and excessive airport fees.
Eddie Wilson, Ryanair’s chief executive, attributed the expansion directly to the tax reduction approved by the German government in November. Transport Minister Patrick Schieder has pursued lower levies as part of a broader strategy to revive an aviation market still operating at only 88 percent of pre-pandemic traffic—one of the weakest recoveries in Europe.
Yet Ryanair made clear that its German operations remain constrained. Capacity at Berlin Brandenburg Airport will decline a further five percent for summer 2026, while Hamburg faces a 20 percent reduction. Leipzig, Dresden, and Dortmund will remain without Ryanair service throughout the year. The airline blamed high air traffic control charges, security fees, and what it described as unpredictable cost changes at major commercial airports.
The carrier dangled a larger prize before German policymakers: if the government eliminates the aviation tax entirely, reduces air traffic control fees, and cuts security charges, Ryanair said it could double its German passenger volume to 34 million annually. The airline pointed to countries including Sweden, Hungary, Slovakia, and parts of Italy that have reduced or abolished similar levies to stimulate travel demand.
Wilson urged Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s administration to maintain what he called positive momentum and abolish the “harmful” tax on air traffic. The appeal reflects Ryanair’s established playbook of leveraging capacity deployment as a bargaining chip with governments across Europe.
The German expansion sits against a backdrop of Ryanair cutting service elsewhere on the continent. The carrier has announced roughly three million fewer seats across markets including Spain, France, Belgium, and Portugal for 2026, citing similar grievances over taxation and airport charges. In Spain alone, the airline plans to remove 1.2 million summer seats from regional airports.
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