High costs of air travel render German airports uncompetitive

DW (English)

High taxes and fees have made German airports too expensive for many airlines to operate. Airline Ryanair has withdrawn its planes from Berlin threatening to reconsider its Germany base if costs can't be lowered.

Transcript

00:00At Berlin's airport, no airline offers more flights than Ryanair,

00:04but the company says that Berlin has become too expensive.

00:08They're moving planes out.

00:10Ryanair manager Eddie Wilson says generally taxes and fees are too high in Germany,

00:15a reason why the country is lagging behind European competitors with regards to air travel.

00:20So you now have Berlin, the capital city of the largest economy in Europe.

00:25Their airport in total has less passengers than Dublin airport,

00:30the capital city of one of the smallest economies in Europe.

00:34That's telling you something.

00:36Heightened security standards at check-in as well as a tax increase

00:40have made operating in Germany expensive for airlines.

00:44For a regular plane with 150 passengers,

00:47airlines are paying over 4000 euros in fees in Frankfurt,

00:51much more than in other European cities,

00:54some of which, like Dublin, charge less than a tenth of that.

00:58These huge discrepancies within Europe could lead to German cities getting less traffic in future.

01:04Ryanair says they might leave the country entirely if costs don't drop.

01:10We've got these 350 aircraft, where are they likely to go?

01:15And at the moment the sign is up in Germany to say we don't want any of those aircraft.

01:22Air travel and accessibility, however, are important for German cities to attract business.

01:27The problem is well known.

01:29Airports, too, have criticized the high level of taxes putting pressure on the industry.

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