Flights that served around 400,000 passengers a year will be cut when Ryanair ends operations at Bremen Airport in April.
Ryanair is pulling out of Bremen Airport, marking another significant reduction in the airline’s presence in Germany.
The low-cost carrier argues that airport charges, taxes and other aviation costs in Germany have become too high, while Bremen officials say the airline demanded subsidies and fee reductions that would have left the airport losing money on every passenger.
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What passengers need to know
Ryanair announced plans to end all operations at Bremen Airport from April 2027, bringing nearly two decades of service to an end.
Roughly 400,000 Ryanair passengers a year currently fly in and out of Bremen, equivalent to more than a fifth of the airport’s total traffic.
Travellers will lose all five Ryanair routes currently operating from Bremen, which connect to:
- London Stansted
- Palma de Mallorca
- Málaga
- Alicante
- Zadar
The London route is regarded as particularly important for Bremen. Airport officials have said they’re already speaking with other airlines about restoring connections as quickly as possible.
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For residents of Bremen and the surrounding areas, the immediate impact will be fewer direct flight options and potentially longer journeys to alternative airports such as Hamburg, Hanover or Osnabrück.
Why is Ryanair leaving?
At the heart of the dispute is a disagreement over airport fees.
According to Bremen’s economic affairs department, Ryanair demanded use of airport infrastructure and services at costs the airport considered unsustainable.
The airport’s supervisory board chairman Kai Stührenberg said that meeting Ryanair’s demands would cost the airport €5 per passenger.
Bremen officials have accused the airline of using its market power to pressure airports into offering ever-lower costs. They argue that Ryanair increasingly favours airports where state-aid rules are less restrictive.
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Ryanair has repeatedly argued that aviation costs in Germany are too high, pointing to airport charges, aviation taxes and other fees.
The company has already reduced services in Berlin and Hamburg while shifting capacity to smaller airports.
A wider dispute over aviation costs in Europe
Bremen is not an isolated case.
Ryanair has already announced substantial cuts at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER). From October 24th, the carrier will cancel twelve routes; from the German capital to Bologna, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Marseille, Palermo, Pisa, Calabria, Tallinn, Thessaloniki, Trieste and Vilnius.
Ryanair says high taxes and airport costs have made Berlin the most expensive location in its network.
The dispute is notably not only limited to Germany.
In Austria, Ryanair announced this week that it would cut twelve routes from Vienna as part of its 2026 winter flight schedule. The airline blames the Austrian government’s refusal to abolish the country’s air travel tax and cites rising airport and air traffic control fees.
Belgium has faced similar pressure. In July, Ryanair announced plans to cut two million seats from its operations at Charleroi and Brussels-Zaventem airports. The airline linked the decision to Belgium’s planned increase in aviation taxes, which is due to take effect on January 1st, 2027.