Germany’s Aviation Tax Crisis Spurs Major Cuts by Lufthansa and Ryanair

(GERMANY) Germany’s air travel map is set to change sharply from summer 2025 as carriers remove large chunks of capacity, citing higher taxes and steep operating costs. Lufthansa will cancel around 100 domestic flights per week and Ryanair will pull 2.6 million seats from its German schedule across the next two seasons. The shift lands hardest on regional airports and short routes, where demand and margins have weakened since the pandemic. Airline leaders say the math no longer works, and local communities are bracing for fewer connections, higher fares, and slower tourism.

Major carrier moves and immediate impacts

Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr confirmed the domestic pullback, naming routes such as Munich–Münster/Osnabrück and Munich–Dresden among those ending due to poor profitability. The reductions will ramp up through winter 2025/26, hitting smaller airports including Bremen, Dresden, Cologne, Leipzig, Münster, Nuremberg, and Stuttgart. The airline points to operating costs that have doubled since 2019 and what it calls “an unsustainable tax burden.” Business travel — once the profit engine for short hops — remains far below pre-pandemic levels as many companies now rely on video meetings. That makes short-haul domestic flights more likely to lose money.

Ryanair is cutting even deeper. The carrier will remove 1.8 million seats in summer 2025 and 800,000 more in winter 2025/26, calling it one of its most severe market reductions in recent years. It will end operations entirely in Dortmund, Dresden, and Leipzig, while Hamburg will see a 60% capacity drop on routes such as Malaga, Milan-Bergamo, Edinburgh, and Porto. Across nine higher-cost airports, including Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne/Bonn, Memmingen, Nuremberg, and Bremen, 24 routes will vanish.

As a result, Ryanair says its German capacity will sink below winter 2024 levels, bucking the growth seen elsewhere in Europe.

Cost pressures and policy context

Airlines are unanimous on the trigger: Germany’s 24% aviation tax increase introduced in May 2024, paired with rising air traffic control charges, high security fees, and escalating airport costs.

• Ryanair’s Chief Marketing Officer Dara Brady described these as “sky-high access costs” that have made Germany grossly uncompetitive compared with other EU countries.
• Carriers point to competitors: countries like Ireland, Spain, and Poland do not levy aviation taxes, while Sweden, Hungary, and parts of Italy are cutting taxes and access costs to stimulate traffic.

The numbers outline the gap:

• Germany has recovered only 88% of its pre-Covid traffic — the weakest rebound among major European markets.
• While point-to-point seat capacity across the rest of Europe has hit 124% of 2019 levels, Germany sits at around 76%.

The German Aviation Association (BDL) notes Germany trails Southern and Eastern European markets by a wide margin. For a country dependent on global trade and business travel, shrinking flight options create a serious competitiveness problem.

Ryanair says it would redeploy aircraft to Germany if access costs fall, claiming it could bring 30 additional aircraft (about a $3 billion investment), double traffic to 34 million passengers per year, and add more than 1,000 jobs. Industry watchers see that stance as both a business strategy and a political message meant to increase pressure on Berlin.

Routes and airports most affected

The practical impact will be felt across a wide slice of the map.

• Lufthansa’s domestic cuts
  • About 100 cancellations per week from summer 2025, with deeper cuts into winter 2025/26.
  • Routes ending include Munich–Münster/Osnabrück and Munich–Dresden.
  • Regional airports affected: Bremen, Dresden, Cologne, Leipzig, Münster, Nuremberg, Stuttgart.
• Ryanair’s capacity retreat
  • 2.6 million seats withdrawn across summer 2025 and winter 2025/26.
  • Full exits from Dortmund, Dresden, and Leipzig.
  • Hamburg loses 60% of Ryanair capacity.
  • 24 routes vanish, including Berlin–Tel Aviv, Berlin–Brussels, Berlin–Kraków, and Berlin–Riga.
• Other carriers and network changes
  • Eurowings: more than 1,000 flights cancelled from Hamburg starting summer 2025, including Hamburg–Cologne/Bonn. From summer 2026, Nuremberg loses services to Rome, Heraklion, Kos, and Rhodes. Dortmund faces an almost complete base closure in winter.
  • Wizz Air: trimming weekly frequencies across bases; example routes include Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden–Tirana, Belgrade, Timișoara, and reducing Dortmund–Banja Luka from four to two weekly flights.
  • KLM: cancelled Bremen and Hanover services.
  • SAS: reducing Copenhagen links to Hamburg and Düsseldorf.
  • Brussels Airlines: trimming Brussels–Munich.
  • US carriers (United, Delta, American) plan to drop winter 2025/26 transatlantic routes such as Munich–Chicago, Frankfurt–Boston, and Berlin–Philadelphia.

For smaller and mid-size airports the threat is existential. Facilities that depend on low-cost carriers to feed tourism and provide basic connectivity will see the sharpest impact. Examples:

• Memmingen expects to lose about a quarter of its Ryanair winter schedule.
• Cologne/Bonn may see up to a 30% reduction in connections in January.

Without budget-carrier volume, airports fear a cycle of fewer flights, weaker demand, and higher per-passenger costs.

Effects on fares, passengers, and international mobility

Reduced competition tends to push fares up. With fewer low-cost seats on main routes, remaining flights — often on network carriers — can command higher prices. That particularly affects families, students, and small businesses.

• A parent in Leipzig who once used a low-fare link for weekend visits could now face two connections and a doubled fare.
• Small exporters relying on frequent day trips for sales calls may lose agility and increase travel costs.

Analysis by VisaVerge.com highlights broader consequences:

• When budget carriers scale back, onward connections to major hubs become less frequent.
• This can complicate travel planning for visa appointments, student enrollments, and work start dates tied to fixed reporting times.
• Even when long-haul service remains, the first and last legs often hinge on regional flights.

Consumer rights questions will also rise. When flights are cancelled, EU rules protect travelers in many cases. For official guidance on compensation, re-routing, and care during disruptions, see the European Commission’s air passenger rules: Air passenger rights.

Important: Keep receipts for meals and hotels and records of announcements if you plan to claim reimbursement under EU rules.

What travelers and communities can do now

Airlines will continue to shift aircraft to markets with better returns. Germany’s near-term network will likely shrink further before it stabilizes. Travelers, local leaders, and employers can take practical steps to adapt:

• Book earlier and consider alternatives
  • With fewer seats and more cuts, prices will likely rise closer to departure.
  • Compare rail for domestic trips under four hours.
  • Consider nearby airports, while noting some are also losing service.
• Watch schedule changes closely
  • If your flight is cancelled, act fast to rebook while inventory is available.
  • Keep records and receipts for possible reimbursement.
• Use hub flexibility
  • For long-haul travel, check multiple gateways (Frankfurt, Munich, Amsterdam, Zurich, Vienna).
  • A rail leg to a hub can preserve itineraries if domestic links disappear.
• Coordinate for business travel
  • Plan meetings around thinner schedules and aim for flexible tickets.
  • Time trips earlier in the week or day to reduce missed-connection risk.
• Advocate locally
  • Regional chambers of commerce and tourism boards can quantify the hit to jobs and visitor spending.
  • Use that data to inform policy debates over taxes and fees affecting competitiveness.
• Follow airline statements
  • Carriers sometimes reverse cuts when conditions change; government or state incentives can prompt quick capacity restoration.

The political balance and possible outcomes

The broader policy question is whether Germany wants to compete for aircraft and routes the same way it competes for factories and labs. Aviation supports export industries, conferences, and foreign students who bring tuition and talent.

• Airports want relief on security and navigation fees.
• Airlines want tax changes.
• Environmental groups argue higher taxes reduce emissions and fund greener transport.
• Economic ministries worry about Germany’s reputation as a hard place to fly, compared with neighbors that are refilling skies.

There is room for compromise — for example, lowering fees tied to growth promises or greener fleets — but any shift will be a political choice.

What to expect in the near term

Passengers will feel changes most on short routes:

• The loss of a single evening flight can turn a same-day business trip into an overnight.
• Students may add a rail segment and a hotel night.
• Grandparents in smaller cities may see fewer weekend visits.

These personal impacts add up to the industry statistics.

Lufthansa’s retrenchment signals demand hasn’t returned fast enough to cover higher costs on short sectors. Ryanair’s retreat shows what happens when a budget carrier decides a market no longer pays. Add Eurowings, Wizz Air, and cutbacks by KLM, SAS, and Brussels Airlines, and Germany’s aviation map becomes noticeably thinner at the edges. Even transatlantic services from the United States will dip next winter on city pairs like Munich–Chicago and Frankfurt–Boston.

Whether this is a temporary dip or a long slump depends on policy and price:

• If costs fall and demand rises, airlines can restore capacity in months.
• If taxes and fees stay high and business travel remains weak, more cuts may follow and regional airports could face hard choices about their future.

For now, travelers should plan ahead, know their rights, and keep a close eye on schedules as Germany’s aviation reset moves from boardroom decisions to the departure board.