Ryanair Shutters Berlin Brandenburg Base, Halves Winter 2026 Capacity

Low-cost carriers have repeatedly decamped when costs spike—Ryanair walked away from Marseille in 2010 over labour rules and easyJet slashed Madrid operations in 2012 after fees jumped. The Berlin exit fits that playbook and underscores a three-decade trend that began with the EU’s 1992 single-market deregulation: mobile aircraft chase the cheapest landing charges, shifting connectivity east and south. Germany’s attempt to fund climate goals through aviation levies collides with this mobility, risking a repeat of the UK’s 2014 air-passenger-duty backlash or the Netherlands’ 2008 tax that was scrapped after one year. In the longer sweep—think 2126—this episode may be a footnote if rail decarbonisation or e-aviation renders short-haul flights uncompetitive; yet it also signals how tax policy can quickly redirect millions of travellers and the associated trade flows, highlighting the fragility of hub aspirations for second-tier cities like Berlin.