Ryanair Closes Berlin Base: What You Need to Know Before 24 October 2026

This is about money, not empty planes. Germany's air travel tax has climbed from €7.30 to €15.50 per passenger since 2019, and security fees are set to double from €10 to €20 by January 2028, figures Ryanair itself cites. On top of that sit BER's own airport charges, due to rise another 10% between 2027 and 2029.

Ryanair boss Eddie Wilson called BER "hopelessly overpriced" and a "failed billion-euro project", as reported by Tagesspiegel. Strong words with real consequences. The seven jets move to Sweden, Slovakia, Albania and Italy, and roughly 210 Berlin jobs are affected. The airline's annual passenger numbers in Berlin drop from 4.5 million to 2.2 million, per the same release.

First, some relief. Tageskarte, a trade outlet, frames it this way: Ryanair isn't disappearing from BER entirely. The base closes, the route network shrinks, but individual connections stay in the schedule. So not every winter flight is automatically gone.

If your route does get cut, you'll usually have two options: a free rebooking onto another Ryanair flight, or a full refund of the ticket price. Both run through the email Ryanair sends when it cancels, or through "My Bookings" directly.

What about compensation? Probably not, honestly. EU Regulation 261/2004 covers €250 to €600, but only for cancellations announced less than 14 days before departure. Ryanair gave around six months' notice. I'm not a lawyer and individual cases can differ, though realistically this lands on rebooking or money back.

Tagesspiegel reports that Bologna, Pisa and Tallinn vanish from the Berlin schedule completely. Tallinn looks thinnest of the three. Bologna already has a replacement lined up.

That replacement is Eurowings, filling in where the Ryanair winter schedule 2026 leaves gaps. The numbers, per aeroTELEGRAPH: the Lufthansa subsidiary is growing its BER base to eleven stationed aircraft for winter 2026/27, including the new Bologna route, and adding more frequencies to the Canary Islands. easyJet is already big at BER. Wizz Air keeps flying too.

Will that keep fares stable? I doubt it. Fewer carriers on a route rarely makes tickets cheaper.

This is where the switch quietly costs you money. Ryanair's free cabin bag, at 40x20x25 cm, is one of the smallest in Europe. Move to another carrier and the numbers change, so your current bag may no longer fit under the seat.

Figures as of 27 August 2026. The fine print on Ryanair hand luggage and Eurowings hand luggage changes regularly, so the airline's own page is worth a look before you book.

If you've been packing to Ryanair's exact limits, a 40x30x20 cm backpack clears almost every European low-cost carrier, including whichever one your rebooking lands you on. The MATEIN Ryanair Handgepäck 40x30x20 Rucksack 24L is one of those.

Switching to Eurowings or Wizz Air

40x30x20 cm is the lowest common denominator across budget Europe. A bag in that format saves you the guesswork when a rebooking drops you onto an airline you've never flown before. The VANKEV Handgepäck Rucksack 40x30x20 cm – Ryanair, easyJet, Eurowings, Wizz Air kompatibel covers Ryanair, easyJet, Eurowings and Wizz Air.

Then what? Check the booking, compare the measurements, done. Ryanair gives up its Berlin base on 24 October 2026, book or rebook now and you're covered. Ten minutes now beats an argument at the gate in November.