Ryanair urges Germany to abolish aviation tax to revive air traffic

Germany

The airline offers to double its German traffic to 34 million passengers a year and base 30 additional aircraft in the country if aviation costs are reduced

Ryanair is calling on Germany’s newly appointed Federal Transport Minister Steffen Bilger to make the abolition of the country’s aviation tax a priority. The airline argues that high taxes and charges are undermining Germany’s competitiveness and causing carriers to shift aircraft and capacity to lower-cost European markets.

According to Ryanair, Germany’s aviation market continues to lag behind other European countries in its recovery from the pandemic. The airline attributes this development to a combination of the aviation tax, air traffic control and security charges and comparatively high airport fees.

Ryanair points to lower-cost European competitors

The airline contrasts conditions in Germany with markets including Italy, Albania, Poland, Slovakia and Sweden, where aviation taxes have been abolished and access costs reduced.

Ryanair argues that these policies make the countries more attractive for airline investment and encourage additional traffic, tourism and employment. Germany, by contrast, risks losing capacity as airlines deploy aircraft where operating conditions are more favourable.

The carrier also points to flight reductions by Lufthansa as evidence of the pressure created by high operating costs in Germany.

34 million passengers and 30 additional aircraft proposed

Ryanair says it is prepared to make substantial investments in Germany if the federal government reduces aviation costs.

Under such conditions, the airline says it could double its German traffic to 34 million passengers annually, open new bases and station another 30 aircraft in the country. According to Ryanair, the expansion would also create thousands of additional jobs.

Without changes to the cost structure, the carrier expects airlines to continue reallocating capacity from German airports to less expensive markets elsewhere in Europe.

Wilson calls for change in German aviation policy

Ryanair CEO Eddie Wilson said Germany’s aviation tax, airport fees and security and air traffic control charges continued to make the country uncompetitive compared with other European markets.

He argued that Ryanair would like to expand in Germany on a similar scale to its operations in countries pursuing more growth-oriented aviation policies. Such investment, however, would depend on Germany offering competitive access costs.

Wilson sees the change at the Federal Ministry of Transport as an opportunity to reverse the trend in the German aviation market. Ryanair is therefore urging Bilger to begin by abolishing the aviation tax and argues that the new minister now has an opportunity to turn previous political commitments to lower aviation costs into concrete measures.