Berlin airport to lose 750,000 seats and six routes (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Dublin, 27 Aug - Irish low cost air carrier Ryanair said it would cut 20% of its traffic at Berlin Brandenburg airport due to its sky-high access costs, which the German Govt and airport management have failed to reduce. These cuts will see Ryanair's based aircraft at Berlin reduced from nine to seven, resulting in the loss of 750,000 seats and six routes (Brussels, Chania, Kaunas, Krakow, Luxembourg, Riga), it switches its capacity to other lower cost EU countries like Italy, Poland and Spain.

Ryanair said the move follows several warnings that Germany would lose another 10% of Ryanair's German capacity (1.5 million seats) for Summer 2025 if the government failed to reverse the recent 24% increase in Aviation Tax, and ultimately abolish it, address soaring ATC charges, which surged over 100% since 2019, and defer a 50% increase in the Security Fee cap from January 2025.

'At a time when Berlin should be growing, Ryanair is left with no choice but to cut capacity by 20% due to these sky-high air access costs. It's a disgrace that one of Europe's major cities such as Berlin has one of the slowest recoveries, at only 71% vs Pre-Covid levels," said chief executive Eddie Wilson.

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(RADIOCOR) 27-08-24 19:34:27 (0531) 5 NNNN