You’d better pack your bags a little faster if you want to fly out of Berlin on vacation this year. The Irish budget airline Ryanair is slacking off and radically cutting its previous service at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) in half. On October 24, the airline will close its Berlin base, relocate seven permanently stationed aircraft to other European countries, and cancel twelve popular direct routes.
According to the airline, the reasons for these drastic cuts are the extremely high operating costs in Germany, increased air traffic control fees, and the air travel tax. Anyone hoping to book last-minute bargain flights this year should therefore expect significantly fewer options and likely rising ticket prices.
From Gran Canaria to Palermo: Which destinations are being completely eliminated
Ryanair is removing around 700,000 seats from the German market in the upcoming winter flight schedule alone—by far the largest portion of which is in the capital. Vacationers looking for sun are particularly out of luck: sunny destinations like Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Palermo, and Thessaloniki are no longer on the Irish airline’s flight schedule from Berlin for the time being. While other airlines like Eurowings or EasyJet are trying to fill isolated gaps, the usual glut of extremely cheap flights won’t be returning anytime soon.
Why the cost-cutting measures don’t just affect Berlin
This withdrawal is by no means limited to BER. For months, Ryanair has been demanding significant reductions in government levies in Germany and threatening further cutbacks across the entire country. While locations like Hamburg are also experiencing minor setbacks, the airline prefers to relocate its aircraft to more competitive EU airports in Italy, Poland, or Sweden. The result for you: flying from Germany will become more expensive and less accessible overall.
📍 Location: Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), Melli-Beese-Ring 1, 12529 Schönefeld
📆 Date and time: Effective October 24, 2026 (winter flight schedule)
⏳ Duration: Ongoing cost-cutting program
💵 Costs: Higher ticket prices expected due to reduced flight offerings
ℹ️ Website: ryanair.com and ber.berlin-airport.de
