Why Ryanair is withdrawing more and more from the German market | DW News

One of the EU's top airlines, budget-carrier Ryanair, is continuing its dispute with Germany over what it says are 'excessive' airport levies.
The airline releasing a lengthy statement Monday blasting plans to raise security fees again in January - saying that Germany's overall fee structure is reducing the competitiveness of smaller players, like Ryanair, which plays into the hands of flag-carrier Lufthansa. Both Ryanair and Easyjet have reduced their presence in Germany, despite expanding elsewhere in Europe.
Airports and governments charge airlines a long list of fees, such as tax, landing charges or security fees... which makes Germany a less attractive place to operate. That's according to budget airlines like Ryanair and Easyjet, both of which reduced their presence in Germany last winter despite expanding elsewhere in Europe.
#ryanair #germany #airport
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[@frannyp46]

Not a huge fan of Ryanair, but they grew a tiny Blackpool airport and put on regular flights to Belfast and Girona. The airport was busy and responded by putting the rent up. Ryanair almost immediately withdrew their planes and the airport closed down not long after.

[@papertowelthe6th105]

Great management skills by the airport authorities. This is the definition of shitting in your own nest...

[@visionist7]

Lmao

[@tacoaficionado]

@@papertowelthe6th105 How?

[@onlineo2263]

​@@papertowelthe6th105Blackpool airport offered Ryanair airport fees at below cost, subsidised by a regional government growth grant. This worked really well for airport growth and Ryanair for a few years... However when Blackpool airport started running out of grant money Ryanair pulled all flights.

[@regnorum]

​@onlineo2263 wow I can't belive this stuff is happening in UK also. I'm from Serbia and being a small and poor country ( in comparison to UK) our government is trying to attract foreign investment by offering huge subsidies and grant's for companies. And we do get a lot of investments but the issue is that some will shut down their factories the moment the government subsidies and grant's end. Leaving workers out of job.

[@jsperdigao]

I live in Stuttgart and used frequently Easyjet in pre-covid times. After covid airport expenses were driven up, and easyjet ultimately dropped all its connections from here. Within an year Eurowings (Lufthansa low-cost daughter company) replaced all those destinations. Of course for higher prices.

[@AM-sm9kg]

Wo ist das Problem? Zahlste halt ein paar Euro mehr. Der m² Wohnraum kostet derzeit 8000,- bis 10.000,- € bei uns. Demgegenüber sind Flugpreise doch lächerlich. Für die Lebenshaltungskosten ist das irrelevant.

[@Robin-il8nc]

@@AM-sm9kg Warum mehr zahlen wenn es offensichtlich auch günstiger gehen würde wenn man den Markt machen lässt was er am besten kann

[@loggemat]

​@@Robin-il8nc Air traffic is already heavily subsidized, it's time that a plane ticket reflects its real cost and stop wasting public money on it. In this case: security charges go up, because the security costs go up, in the end the price will need be payed by someone, why not by the user of these services?

[@Robin-il8nc]

@@loggemat I'm all with you, cutting subsidies would be great to establish a fair market in the transportation sector. But those security charges are as you heard high compared to other european countries, controls are slow af, lines for consumers are longer and longer...

[@thomasl4665]

@@loggemat No, German airports are just very inefficient. That's the problem at hand.

[@lordkorner]

I'll tell this story one more time. Back in 1984 I wanted to fly to Barcelona to visit my girlfriend, I was 23. To do this I had to fly with the national airline carrier Aer lingus, initially to London and then a connecting flight to Barcelona. It took in total about 12 hours and cost almost 1000 euros in today's money. Thanks Ryanair for all you have done for flight travel.

[@davebarclay4429]

I agree. I used to travel regularly between Scotland and Germany which in the past meant changing aircraft in Birmingham or London (or, God forbid, Frankfurt) and there was also the nonsense that meant you had to spend a weekend at your destination to qualify for a cheap(ish) fare. In the early 1990s a return with BA from Glasgow to Munich via Birmingham or Heathrow would be somewhere around £180 if you stayed over a weekend. If you wanted to go out and back the same week it was between £800 and £1000 - thirty years ago! When Ryanair and Easyjet appeared you could get a direct flight for about £60 one way if you shopped carefully. Unfortunately for the reasons explained by Mr Wilson both airlines have pulled out of several German routes since the pandemic and the ones that are still operating have much reduced frequency.

[@samc8623]

The same happened in Estonia. There used to be loads of Ryanair flights going everywhere and then they hiked the fees at the airpot and Ryanair left. Now, to visit my parents in Portugal, there is just Lufthansa at silly o'clock for 500 euros round trip. The solution: I just take a boat to Stockholm and then take a Ryanair flight from there instead... still cheaper than Lufthansa, which is just a low-cost quality airline disguised as a premium.

[@fotoz2363]

Same here in Bratislava, Slovakia :(

[@seren4740]

You just exposed Lufthansa😂😂

[@Workoke]

There is no Lufthansa flight from/to BTS. How can you comapare it?@@fotoz2363

[@lroke2947]

@@zlmdragon. It wasn't actually about the boat, you know. :)

[@lroke2947]

@@zlmdragon. Don't actually try to fly from Slovakia.

[@eddy66t6]

1.) Ryanair complains in EVERY country that the airport fees are too high. Look up their arguments with the DAA in Ireland. 2.) Ryanair is NOT one of the "smaller players" in the market

[@Markus-ih4gt]

That might be right. But if his numbers are right, I still want to know why the airport fees are highest here in Germany. I'm also not a big fan of selectively bailing out certain airlines. Lufthansa seems to have structural problems with their costs, while at the same time they are no longer in the top 10 airlines worldwide. Bailing out certain airlines distorts the market and doesn't drive innovation or solutions to structural problems.

[@eddy66t6]

@Markus-ih4gt Dublin has one of the lowest in Europe and Ryanair still took the authorities there to court to seek a prevention of any increase in charges to be levied. The CEO really let his mask slip in this interview: airport charges are not levied by the authorities "for nothing", they literally pay for the tarmac on the runways, the security in the buildings, and even the buildings themselves. Ryanair's model relies on high load factors and low price points. Both of these factors mean that they are more exposed to external price increases, like airport charges increasing, so they fight tooth and nail against them and are masters of pr spin and manipulating public perceptipn

[@aliancemd]

To add, this "small player" is underpaying employees - started with Covid, under the pretext that employees need to suffer a cut because of the impact of Covid and now since the profits skyrocketed, they still refuse to return to normal pay.

[@hichamn8373]

Absolutely true

[@nickbrian9882]

Well that doesn’t make his argument any less false. Tbh prices rise because there is less supply of airlines. It would even be better for the consumer if prices were lower. But yeah overall big businesses suck and a big company would probably screw over its employees.

[@AndersHenke]

There's a catch RyanAir's CEO Wilson doesn't mention: back from the cold war era, Germany did have quite a lot of military airbases, airfields and the like, operated by air forces from the US, Canada, the UK and many more countries. After the breakdown of the Soviet Union and Germany's re-unification, those air forces left Germany during the 1990ies, leaving behind a few dozen or so of runways and military airports. Arount the turn of the century, the nearby cities started enhancing those airfields to full-blown regional airports, paid with taxpayer's money, in the hope of fostering the local economy and becoming profitable in the near future. To attract airlines, they did dramatically subsidise any kind of fees, and especially RyanAir has been taking a profit from this. In parallel, established commercial airports did take a hit from those cheap, tax-subsidised competing airports. Similar things happened all across Europe, where many cities decided to enhance smaller regional airports, competing with established ones. Now 20 years later, most of those regional airports are still far from profitable, the desired economic impact is barely there and "the market" just needs to clean up. But back in 2014, the EU commission decided on for how long member states may subsidise airports: depending on the number of passengers per year, subsidies shall decrease over time and with passenger capacity, but be limited to 10 years, so the last subsidies will end by 2024. Without the extra Covid aids, most of those airports probably would've already been closed. Now check your Calendar: it's 2023. So those regional airports highly appreciated by low-cost carriers for their low fees and free services started to notice they'll need to stand on their own feet, or they'll file for bankruptcy and be forced to close. What happened over the past few months, after the covid aids run out: they started charging the necessary fees to keep them commercially afloat. And Germany had quite a few of those airports, most of them struggling being a commercially viable business. So far, none of those airports did close - and so there's a highly distributed market of smallish airports across the entire country, all of them struggling.

[@AndersHenke]

RyanAir CEO's complaint about FRA airport also has to be a joke: for decades, Lufthansa has been switching between Munich and Frankfurt as being their main hub, forcing both airports to adjust their comparably high fees over and over again. But both being actual major transport hubs with millions of passengers, interconnecting flights and large metro areas as a destination, they could obviously charge more than some former Canadian airfield situated an hour of bus travel away from the next city. This just briefly changed a few years ago, when FRA airport decided to build a 3rd terminal for another 19 million passengers: but at that time, Lufthansa has just been switching back to Munich, they noticed a slight decrease in passengers and so got unter pressure to commercially justify the new terminal. So they decided to offer RyanAir some bargain fees, which would have RyanAir leave some of those regional airports (like "Frankfurt-Hahn", a former US air base in the middle of nowhere and about a 2 hour drive away from actual Frankfurt/Main city). Also RyanAir passengers might appreciate the luxury of NOT having to spend ages on "finding the airport" in the woods, ultimately tying a longer-term relationship with RyanAir, in which RyanAir would later need to commit paying the usual fees everyone else is paying. But back in 2019, another EU regulation got into force: "2019/712 on safeguarding competition in air transport", forbidding objectively unjustified subsidies and discrimination of airlines against each other. Essentially this regulation requires airports to charge the same from any airlines at that airport. There's no discounts, subsidies or public aids any longer permitted for "selected" airlines. And so that cheap RyanAir deal at FRA airport needed to go as well, forcing RyanAir to pay the same fees like anyone else, leave the airport or come up with a legally fine and objectively justifiable reason on why they should pay less than everyone else.

[@AndersHenke]

Regarding about the constant complaints about that Lufthansa bailout: Germany bought Lufthansa stocks, essentially taking over a significant part of the company and so reducing the room for Lufthansa's management to make their own decisions, pay dividends or bonuses. So Lufthansa management was highly motivated to pay back that bailout money to get back on their own feet - and they did so. Of course, that "early downpayment" did take its toll: they didn't pay any dividends and essentially put any available money into paying back that bailout money. So from a shareholder perspective, Lufthansa's performance over the past few years hasn't been that great. But that payback resulted in a net profit of €760mn for Germany and so that bailout wasn't really a bad deal for the taxpayer, but more of a seriously profitable investment. Also remember a few years ago, RyanAir was in Brexit-trouble. While legally an irish company, RyanAir was owned by close to 50% by UK shareholders, and so if some UK shareholders would buy more stocks, RyanAir would risk of being treated as being a 3rd country airline. Which would allow them to fly in and out of the EU from their home country (for that: the UK), but not between EU airports. So to protect their EU licenses, RyanAir decided to strip UK shareholders of their voting rights by the end of 2019. Sort of their personal bailout...

[@AM-sm9kg]

Deutschland hat immens viele Flugplätze wegen des Luftkriegs im Dritten Reich. Es waren mal um die 1000, wenn ich das richtig in Erinnerung habe. Und ein paar davon wurden dann halt im Kalten Krieg dem technischen Fortschritt in der Luftfahrt angepasst.

[@seancourtney9021]

thanks for the analysis and dip into recent German history.

[@fede0101]

I cant tell if what you are saying is correct, but thanks for adding more nuance to the conversation! Really interesting

[@theniallofella]

Really good discussion. Not a fan of Ryanair's product at all but between O'Leary and Wilson their PR firepower is unmatched - two really smart guys. Kudos to the interviewer too who held his own really well.

[@brianfeely9239]

Here here. They are a class act. Just a shame they act the prick so often.

[@Morning404]

I hate O'leary with a passion. His awful company refused to pay for my item they damaged and are generally very stingy.

[@noWoodsman]

@@SageLynxx 100? I gladly have my ryan air 60 eu return tickets ryan air, great company!

[@Unborn-Stillborn]

​@Morning404 get over it ... they're a quality airline that made travel all over Europe possible for peanuts

[@betterbhagalpur8837]

I live in Hamburg, Germany. This is the second largest city in Germany. If you look at the flight connection here, it is ridiculous. As the speaker said, it is not always about holiday and vacation. If I need to fly from here to South Asia, I have to take a long train journey, to Frankrurt or bus to Amsterdam. No matter what the government says, the second largest city in Germany, does not even have a direct train connection to Amsterdam (regional airport hub).

[@babblo1389]

That's the result of sancti0ns.

[@ryanadams127]

No, that is the goal, they want you to take the train ;) The missing direct/fast train connect to Amsterdam/... is not acceptable, here the Bundesregierung has to deliver quickly.

[@luisvasquez5015]

As many things in Germany, the system is hopelessly inefficient and the bureaucracy will make sure that it stays that way

[@tony_mo]

Anyway, south Asia is not covered by Ryanair so if there is no flight, it might be because there are not enough people willing to fly to south Asia from Hamburg. But if your point was really about train connections, I agree with you, you guys in Germany definitely can and should improve your train network. Delays are also common.

[@Eikenhorst]

Good thing is that Amsterdam is not much longer a regional hub. So don't ask too hard for a train to there. Frankfurt in general is a much better option for flying to SE Asia

[@HS-kx1ho]

I live in Frankfurt and the Lufthansa prices have gone through the roof, at least 40% more expensive. Unfortunately some of the pre 2020 low-cost airlines have quit operating. It is impossible to find anything below 300 Euros during summer. I live next to the largest airport in Germany and I sometimes have to drive 130km to Hahn because the prices are often twice as low. I always thought it was mostly a demand and offer issue coming from the pandemic but that seems to be just a part of the problem. Hopefully the new low-cost terminal will solve the problem here.

[@Iamwatchingyou75]

Prices of airfares are not about supply and demand. They are bout what the market (consumer) is able to pay for the ticket. A €9 Ryanair ticket in the past was only so cheap because Ryanair expected the seat would otherwise be empty .

[@hey12542]

Hi, the saying is 'Through the roof' not 'Out of the roof'. Please don't take offence I'm not trying to be rude it's just how you said it is not how it would normally be said.

[@LS-Moto]

Keep in mind that inflation goes into these prices. Train prices aren't any different.

[@kapofuke3]

A lot of the Ryanair's flights from Hann have moved to Luxembourg Airport, where taxes are lower and the catchment area in Nancy, Arlon, Trier, etc. was badly served, despite the high demand.

[@WallaseyanTube]

@@Iamwatchingyou75 In what way is that not related to supply and demand?

[@eliseumds]

Frankfurt 's was probably the worst airport I've been through... badly-designed signs, rude staff, bad food and I lost my connection because baggage handling took 2h 🤡 It must be even worse nowadays.

[@mihailstoyanov9462]

Try Berlin 😂

[@KarlBrauneis]

meanwhile lufthansa reports record earnings .....

[@user-er5wf8ve5t]

Expat living in Berlin: - Flying home (to see family and friends) is incredibly expensive and often inconvenient. - Long distance trains are ridiculously expensive and most time non available at all thanks to DB monopoly. What exactly is one supposed to do? The impression is that Germany has a huuuge problem with competition when it comes it its national champions: Lufthansa, DB, DT, DP.... Frankly speaking after a bit more than one year here I am reconsidering my choice of coming here in the first place...

[@LS-Moto]

This is why people prefer cars in Germany. Especially Deutsche Bahn is hopelessly inefficient that people have the means to not be dependent on them, do make that choice of getting a car.

[@gdok6088]

Leaving Germany sounds like the answer.

[@faberkoster9725]

I am also reconsidering my choice of living in Germany. The way prices went up, especially energy, this incompetent government, failing services... schools, health... foreign policy, it´s all dismaying. I often say, Deutschland baut sich ab, Germany is shutting itself down.

[@justsamoo3480]

@@LS-MotoBut the issues with DB can be attributed to the fact that the government is barely investing in Rail. Germany has build very few rail lines in the past ten or so years and many newer lines were built for passenger and freight service, while in other countries those services are being increasingly separated. For example Germany has less kilometres of HSR lines than Spain and France while having a much larger population than both.

[@theancientsancients1769]

​@@faberkoster9725I'm already leaving Germany this week! Due to all the above plus bureaucracies and high taxes

[@franksilva2600]

How is Ryanair a smaller player? The CEO is ridiculous.

[@temper44]

They're saying they are a smaller player locally, compared to national flag carriers.

[@habibikebabtheiii2037]

They are tho.

[@wyvern2066]

They have more airplanes than Lufthansa, and have more on Order.

[@thomasl4665]

In Germany it is.

[@rudijohnsen9674]

Here are a few humorous one-liners playing on the idea of "small" in relation to Ryanair's CEO comment: "Ryanair might not be 'small' in planes, but they sure are in humility! 😂" "With Ryanair, it's not the fleet size that's small, it's the ego storage compartment! 😉" "Ryanair: Where the number of planes is large, but the self-awareness seating is limited. 🤣" "Maybe when Ryanair's CEO said 'small', he was talking about their complimentary legroom! 😜" "Ryanair - not small in passengers, just in perspective! 🛫😅" Remember, humor is subjective, so choose the one you think fits best for you!

[@Ondrus90]

The main idea is to limit people from flying by rising prices, sadly. Lufthansa just takes the ultimate profit as lowcost pulls out people are "forced" to pay up if they want o fly.

[@tommay6590]

He choose a remarkable wording in the beginning when we said Ryanair was able to hold all its employees…how many people at Ryanair are actually employed by Ryanair and not by a sub ( or sub-sub) contractor? Who exactly is the German consumer? Does Ryanair now sell more tickets from airports close to the German border to prove Germans choose foreign airports as a cheap alternative? Also interesting he did not made the (unfortunately valid) counter argument by pointing out the structural inability of Deutsche Bahn to offer reasonable domestic alternatives.

[@NMY232]

Regardless of whether permanent or contracted, Ryanair employs >22000 people. His point was that Ryanair didn't lay off people during covid unlike airports or other airlines (some of which were illegally bailed out). Hence Ryanair was ready for the post-covid boom in travel, whereas German airports and airlines are not

[@tommay6590]

@@NMY232 sorry the personal of contractors are not employed by Ryanair but by the individual company Ryanair had the contract with. Therefore I believe him when he said that Ryanair did not lay off anybody, but this statement did not covered the contractors. ( think of those airports where Ryanair ceased operations to). That the other airlines and especially the airports were making a unwise decision by firing at lot of staff is obvious however with hindsight. I would put some blame on the media in Germany who prophecied that COVID would mark the beginning of an era of reduced travel especially by plane and nobody objected…

[@NMY232]

@@tommay6590 Ryanair made a statement in 2020 that they might have to lay off 3000.. but in the end they worked with unions and contractors and over 97% of their pilots (many if whom are contractors) agreed to reduced pay during the pandemic. Ryanair laid off very few during the pandemic compared to other airlines and I see no evidence to the contrary, do you? Other carriers (and airports) laid off their employees (e.g. BA to the tune of 10,000).. which meant that post-covid they struggled to get back up and running.

[@hugolachs6620]

@@NMY232the point is that’s a easy thing to do when pilots are subcontracted.

[@durchschnittlicherzuschaue9733]

Ryanair isn't a "small player" by any kind of measurement. He just wants the taxpayer to subsidise airports in order to be able to offer ridiculously low fares. It's not a realistic price model when a flight from Germany to the South of France costs less than the bus ride to the airport. Their largest base in Germany, Airport Frankfurt-Hahn, went bankrupt because of their unsustainable fee structure. There is also absolutely no reason why Ryanair should pay lower fees at Frankfurt International than Lufthansa, as it did during the initial period, even though Lufthansa is by far the larger customer in Frankfurt. I feel absolutely no sympathy with Ryanair. BTW, there is also a good reason why Ryanair is flying 737 only, as Airbus isn't willing to sell their planes at dumping prices.

[@CuracaoRevisited]

went through Frankfurt airport once as a transit and it was a nightmare. Long waits, rude staff and lots of checking going on (even while having an EU passport). Not sure if the lack of competition is the result of this, however I guess that more competition would not hurt better service

[@theancientsancients1769]

That's Germany! None existent service!

[@modestazigmantaite7522]

I second this - super rude staff.

[@mayapapaya9769]

That’s Germany . No concept of costumer service in the country

[@theancientsancients1769]

@@mayapapaya9769 Often they are aggressive in behaviour like in some jail. You do sometimes find better service in the older generation, but the younger ones very rarely

[@rajroopesh]

OMG totally agree super super rude staff in airport and also in Lufthansa airlines...

[@hillockfarm8404]

So a ceo of a everything cheap company is complaining that airports maybe charge enough to pay their people a decent wage?! Do they even do that themselves?

[@TheDynalon]

To be fair, he makes the good point that even so Germany has the highest fee, the airport have empirically the worst/longest waiting and queue times, which is something that is also true in my experience. Nowhee else do I have to wait to go through security more than in FRA, STR and DUS.

[@AsmarterWorld]

When I see how bad is the “new” Berlin airport, no wonder why prices went up and why everyone is pissed…

[@ajdakam]

100% true. Is more than bad, it is terrible.

[@maryreid4273]

Cheap airlines are cheap for a reason, Ryanair is one of the worst for hidden costs to their passengers!

[@DorianOrage]

I live close to Frankfurt and I decided to take the high speed train to Basel in order to fly with easyjet to Sardinia. The same flight from Frankfurt would have been four times the price. I think that explains everything there is to know.

[@JakubAdamus]

But trains in Germany are as well expensive.

[@whohan779]

@@JakubAdamus Depends if you book in advance and which route exactly. You can sometimes travel a third of Germany by ICE on less than €20.

[@ralfsmith3285]

That’s just insane time wise. Must be a student or unemployed

[@halleffect5439]

We need a better train network. Flying short distances is uneconomic and will not stay this cheap in future.

[@Oregon123]

You fascists just need more autobahns.

[@benjaminohloff7819]

There no such thing. Deutsche Bahn is a SOE with the service attitude of a 1980 Warsaw Pact country. Basically every train is late or canceled. The rail network will never work as reliably as flights can do. The whole infrastructure is a mess. I fly regularly with Ryanair. It functions like a clock work. Prices are reasonable. The service is good and you get what you pay for.

[@MikeBenko]

I absolutely agree that domestic flights should be replaced by rail....but the fact is that you can't have a country of almost 90 million people have only two airport hubs connecting to the rest of Europe and the rest of the world. Not being able to take a direct flight from Munich to London or New York or Rome or Madrid is just nuts.

[@ryanadams127]

I think all your comments are very reasonable - for short inner-Europe trips a vast and state-of-the-art train network (here long way to go), and for intercontinental flights at least 4-5 well-reachable airport hubs in GER alone. Ryanair is just in the wrong niche with all its short range flights, this has no perspective.

[@WallaseyanTube]

Airlines would not fly a route that is not "economic" unless it was subsidised. All railways are subsidised because few of the services they offer are financially viable.

[@remi_gio]

For anyone who has ever gone through security at Berlin Brandenburg I assure you the security is the ABSOLUTE WORST AND THE SLOWEST in whole of Europe!!! So much for German efficiency… shameful and outrageous given those airport charges! 🤬

[@moa8247]

Have you been through Manchester. The worst in the western word. Much worse than Berlin and Frankfurt. Uk airports are equally as miserable.

[@anthonydowling3356]

Correct as i came through there just a month ago .

[@bartsolari5035]

cannot be too careless...spies and terrorist are on the move. saw two double parked camels at depature level in Germany.

[@whohan779]

It's Berlin, what did you expect? You cannot use almost anything happening in Berlin as representative example for Germany as a whole; that includes politics (just look at their voting results).

[@FizzyGajing]

​@@whohan779what are you trying to say here; Because it's a big city?

[@jaredbowhay-pringle1460]

Having recently had to transfer between international Lufthansa flights in Frankfurt, I can understand how German security are processing passengers far slower than elsewhere - for a 747 worth of passengers there was a single security lane open manually opening and checking everyone's carry on (which had already been checked at the point of origin) while many staff were just standing around laughing and chatting.

[@davebarclay4429]

My experience is exactly the same which is why I will never, ever use Frankfurt again. Mind you, Düsseldorf is just as bad - 75 minutes to clear security seems to be routine.

[@hendrikbijloo]

The Ryanair business model is to force regional airports to subsidize Ryanair under threat of pulling out of that specific airport!

[@khipksy1888]

Thats capitalism in nutshell. Simple.

[@nicksterl.2133]

@@khipksy1888I see you're singing praises of capitalism, and in this case I'd say it's justified - eliminating white elephants/airports which have 0 reason to exist other than local authorities feeling like they need one as an ego boost, is how you keep the system healthy. Nobody says that everyone has to have an airport in their backyard.

[@Maria-tl1lm]

I hate Ryanair. They are thiefs. They are only interested in charging for everything.

[@Morning404]

​@@Maria-tl1lmexactly! I paid over €80 for them to take my guitar on board, only for me to find it smashed. They would not give me any money as I didn't immediately realise when I took if from the airport - which we landed from very LATE.

[@Qwerty.240]

​@@khipksy1888well as a consumer, I'd rather fly a low cost airline. If anything, capitalism is helping people here

[@matthewford5747]

Bit rich him cherry-picking Frankfurt as an example considering Ryanair doesn't even fly there.

[@berulan8463]

Why have I the feeling that's not the passengers this guy is caring about.

[@treborsirrah7916]

Ryanair 19,000 employees and 185 million passengers.Lufthansa 110,000 employees 100 million passengers

[@DieKorkwandplayer]

the problem i see is that germany wants to reduce the attractivness of flying in general so this might be a reason why they chose to do this, but if it just helps lufthansa but reduces competitiveness on the remaining market this most likely is the wrong approach. maybe a percentage based fee on the price of the ticket that gets invested in the railway system?

[@yuzk2]

he hates taxes doesn't he, that's why the company is headquartered in ireland

[@DublinMarc]

No the company was founded in Ireland and grew from here

[@motodudu]

Never thought I’d hear those words in the same sentence “The German system is hopelessly inefficient” 😮

[@ajdakam]

But it is true in some areas.

[@brianbozo2447]

I was amazed when I visited the "new" airport in Berlin which was so laklustre and dated looking as if they materials were all cheap low quality despite billions being spent on it. the only impressive airport is in Munich which looks like a dual use civilian - military airport.

[@12345fowler]

I am withdrawing from german market because I can't continue to abuse all social laws like I so used to do up until now and the politicians finally resisted my constant culture of fear and treat I imposed them for so many years.

[@firstsur451]

Underrated comment 👍🏽

[@mikecap1622]

As a follow on from Covid, airport employees such as baggage handlers and security guards lost their jobs and moved on. The cost of living in DE has increased and tax is already burdensome, seriously affecting those who are single and on lower salaries. In 2021, a reasonable Security Office (S/O) was paid - on average - between 10 and 14 Euro/hr. In Frankfurt now, a place where it's already expensive to live, you need to pay a minimum of 18 Euros/hr to attract a basic S/O with a 34a qualification. Anything below that, and you are only attracting those who are generally unemployable/unsuitable in the security industry. On a recent flight from Frankfurt that I took, only two of the eight available security corridors were open, and the wait to clear the Security checkpoint before getting your flight was 1 hr 25 minutes. I was literally within a minute of missing my flight.

[@lcadonici]

I fly a lot Ryanair between Charleroi and Bergamo. Also when there are a lot of people in the queue, the queue is fast (and employees are quite kind and respectful). I had a connection in Frankfurt in spring. A lot of chaos, a lot of badly organized employees and really impolite. Politeness is not only a plus in itself but, usually represents people who are working in a bad environment.

[@devroombagchus7460]

So what? Still a very cheap flight, considering the CO2 the plane produced.

[@mellowInventor]

@@devroombagchus7460 and the companies are reducing labor rates by not increasing with inflation, not by cutting services or reducing executive compensation or raising prices.

[@habibikebabtheiii2037]

​@@devroombagchus7460choke on that Co2

[@NotUnymous]

18€? Excuse me? I'm from a even way more expansive city then Frankfurt and I dont have issues working for 17. Doing only 20 hours a week... 🤷‍♂️

[@DannekAnnohen]

cool, i always wondered what a 12 minute ryanair ad would look like! That's pretty embarrassing for DW

[@SB03182]

Ryanair is not the best airliner, but i am happy with them. What i pay is what i get. Ryanair is not comparable with Lufthansa, but what German government doing in collaboration with Lufthansa will only damage us, consumers. I live in Germany, and I love Germany, but in this moment, whole country is running full speed in wrong direction in all aspects of economy, not just air transport.

[@Peter-mm2qk]

Ryanair just left Frankfurt Main after the subsidies (from the Airport) has expired. They just didn't want to pay higher prices. By the end every customer has to pay for it, doesn't matter if choosing Ryanair or LH

[@OhmeinGottVIIC]

Why should the state or the airport subsidize the airlines? If Ryanair isn’t able to hold its product without support it’s a bad product.

[@Maria-tl1lm]

@@OhmeinGottVIIC Ryanair is rubbish.

[@dontlaughtoomuch11]

@@Maria-tl1lm ENJOY PAYING 400 EUROS for a single trashy "premium" airline that does BARELY perform better than Ryanair! I am not sure if you're ignorant or simply rich?! Ryanair has helped SO many lower income families enjoy a vacation the same way middle class people enjoy.

[@dontlaughtoomuch11]

@@OhmeinGottVIIC You do realize that so many of those regional airports also attract other low cost airfares, it's not just RYANAIR they are simply paving the way! As soon as Ryanair entered ONE low cost airport, IMMEDIATELY it had a knock on effect on other low fair competitors: TUI/ EASYJET / SUNJET / VUELING / EUROWINGS And then it upgrades its status from "small regional" player to strategic player. I have seen it in Belgium firsthand, it transformed a NOTHING airport into one where people flee from the national airport (yes people are willing to drive 60 kilometers extra if it means you are saving 300 euros which you can spend on ACTUAL VACATIONING)

[@Kimjongilmao]

I feel like the interviewer could have done a better job at pushing back or being critical to his narrative. I don’t altogether disagree with him but the fact that trains exist also and that we definitely SHOULD be less reliant on airfare, combined with the fact that RyanAir is insanely profitable and could accept less profit margin, sort of makes me hesitant to jump on board with him, no pun intended.

[@danielcaceres9971]

During COVID, Ryanair made it nearly impossible to give the money back. This company is shady af and I for one, hope they come down in pieces

[@ArtifexExMachina]

The only thing that's excessive here are the extra charges Ryanair adds to almost everything.

[@kleeblattchen38]

you let some sort of negative bias towards Ryanair of yours get in the way of seeing the important takeaway here: Air fares are expected to skyrocket in the coming months and years because of the actions of airports and the inaction of the german government... it is becoming harder for airlines like Ryanair to provide competition and anyone knows with a lack of competition the monopolist (in this case airlines like lufthansa) will benefit from being able to raise their fares higher and higher without backlash... the german people will be the ones paying the price, literally... the inflation is already crazy and the german economy as an entirety could be hit with losses if they let this slide...

[@eddy66t6]

@kleeblattchen38 1.) Ryanair complain everywhere about the airport charges that are charged, not just Germany. 2.) Ryanair aren't worried about competition in the market, they're worried because their customer base are the most price sensitive in the market. Any increase in price, coupled with Ryanair's own load factor requirements, means that they will be hit hardest when they lose price advantage over their competitors who offer a better service for a higher price.

[@geonauto]

YOU are free to choose,unless you are in Germany ….then …well You have Lufthansa.

[@torstenkaehlert8447]

That is funny 😂. But yes, it does smell like a plot to once again subsidize LH …

[@tacoaficionado]

@@kleeblattchen38 Ryanair doenst directly compete with LH. And cheap holiday flights are the least of our needs

[@borisz.9036]

He is right. But this is exactly what the government wants. No more flights.

[@AirForceOne_prod.]

What do you mean the governements wants no more flights? They just want more money on flights.

[@Esudao]

me too!

[@KillerVee117]

This happened in Greece as well, Fraport a German company obtained a 40 year lease on 14 Greek airports with the possibility of extension and although alot of imrpovements have been made in the infustructure this has come at a cost of price hikes for all airlines and withdrawals of budget airlines operating directly from within the country. This is advantegeous to the domestic airlines such as Aegean and Sky Express but not for the overall consumer. If you take into account the price increases of ferry tickets as well the cost of travel has gone up substantially.

[@arturarturs5529]

You Go RyanAir, Keep The Prices Down Please 🎰🚀

[@peterpan6156]

Lets talk about Ryanair now charging for a handbag

[@blairansellfraser]

Love or hate Ryanair, they know a price fix when they see it

[@Hans-gb4mv]

It's the oposite, today the price is capped, the government wants to drastically increase that cap so that airports can compete on that fee again if they want. Ryanair doesn't want that. If they could, the fee should be eliminated all together, but if the prica can float and differ, they have to negotiate with airports and sometimes move their operations between airports to force something. And that last part costs them the most.

[@blairansellfraser]

@@Hans-gb4mv The “fix” is the airport charges.

[@htimsid]

And they know how to exploit any opportunity available.

[@Morning404]

They are evil.

[@Hans-gb4mv]

When the CEO of Europe's largest airline calls themselves a small player, you know what he's selling. I also don't get why an airline would cancel routes when they can just pass on the cost. Let the customer decide. If demand drops, then yes. But anouncing beforehand that you'll be cancelling routes shows that all you are thinking about is the image of your own airline. At the end of the day, flying has become to inexpensive and growth of the industry is not sustainable. If increasing the price lowers demand, that is not such a bad thing.

[@johnmurray9526]

Its called having principles. "Oh your putting up fees for your airports?... bye then! we won't be forced into putting up our prices for our customers!" Good on them i say.

[@Morning404]

​@@johnmurray9526bootlicker.

[@Morning404]

RYANAIR AND THEIR CEO ARE EVIL AVOID AT ALL COSTS ❤

[@LeMerch]

@@Morning404no they aren’t.

[@lroke2947]

"Why an airline would cancel routes when they can just pass on the cost." They don't care about the route. If they can get you somewhere else cheaper, they'll do that. The traditional airline takes you where you need to go, the low cost airline takes you to places they can offer to you at more affordable prices than other destinations.

[@user-on1yh5dh6m]

Living in Frankfurt thinking you can fly anywhere in world but can’t afford it anymore is a tragedy.

[@bield7]

Would this be the same Ryanair that ripped off a couple £110 to provide two duplicate airline tickets? And the same Ryanair that is now whinging about unfair airport charges levied in Germany? Wow, the irony’s strong here.

[@NMY232]

How were they "duplicate" airline tickets? They simply didn't print their tickets or use the boarding passes on a phone app. The terms of not doing so have been clear for a decade.

[@bield7]

@@NMY232 doesn’t justify £110 for duplicate tickets, because that’s what they were. Simple oversight, but of course Ryanair don’t give a toss.

[@davidmccready6471]

When you book you have to tick to say you accept their terms and conditions which means if you make a mistake you will be charged the amounts in the t&cs. Does anyone read the terms whilst booking, probably not but you accepted the rules and have to abide by them. If you don’t want to do that fly with someone else!

[@bield7]

@@davidmccready6471 and that justifies £110 for a simple computer correction after a genuine error? You’d make a fine employee for the greedy Ryanair organisation

[@papi8659]

It’s just a tax on stupidity , the British passengers brought it on themselves

[@tomedward8652]

I live in Berlin. The Berlin Brandenburg Airport is a joke. Poorly staffed, hardly any shops, security staff seem to enjoy making your life a misery. On too of that many destinations were cancelled and prices drastically increased as per this CEOs comments regarding taxes.

[@MrWhitmen1981]

Why would you fly with a rail network that Europe has. 😂

[@PlanesTrainsEverything]

I've passed through Brandenburg Airport twice in the last six weeks. The first time it took my six minutes from Ryanair door to airport door. I couldn't believe it. The second time took over 40 minutes, mainly due to a late-running Qatar Airways flight and it's passengers snarling up the passport check. You just never know.

[@thehumancanary131]

I traveled Ryanair once - now I know what a vacuum-packed sardine goes through....

[@cancerino666]

Germany needs to invest more in their trains, not in small regional airports

[@fenlinescouser4105]

Meanwhile Ryanair charged elderly couple £110 to print out their tickets at airport (BBC News)

[@papi8659]

You mean elderly coupl'e jounalist daughter failed to print her parents parents boarding passess properly and then used her connections to embarass herself in print

[@EinkOLED]

Terms and conditions apply to everyone. And unfortunately Ryanair makes money from the mistakes of others.

[@i86ij99]

Ryanair used to operate in Stuttgart and Frankfurt, which are pretty nice airports with decent public transport. Now, what remains in southern germany are only Memmingen, Baden-Baden and Nürnberg.

[@stipebalenovic6497]

Yep, its that or 13h bus ride in a crappy bus.

[@TheDynalon]

You can factor in Basel/Mulhouse (BSL) for south of germany, its just 15 minutes from Basel Trains Main Station. Easyjet has some routes there, as well as Corendon Airlines. My experience is Frankfurt (FRA) is the worst airport. It takes forever to get from train station (long distance) into your plane, plenty of walks and changes inbetween. Plus, the security checks seem to employ the most lazy and slowest people they can find. Also no room to unpack your hand luggage (laptop, liquids), so everybody does it right in front of the guard which creates unnecessary lines etc. I prefer FKB/BSL over FRA anytime, and would pay more to fly from there than from FRA.

[@davebarclay4429]

Easyjet also seem to have pulled out of Stuttgart which is a pity. As you say, it's a really nice, efficient airport with a direct rail connection to the Hauptbahnhof.

[@philip6751]

Ryanair have penalties for airports if they have to wait for services even if other airlines arrived earlier. The blackmailing tactic they use against small airport is despicable.

[@htimsid]

Many low-cost carriers insist on utilising (and contributing to) an absolute minimum of airport services and facilities.

[@cruzbohy]

Yes because airports charge airlines thousands for every minute they are late. So whats good for the goose is good for the gander.

[@philip6751]

Only checked Swedish and French airports and there are no delay fees what I can see. In which country do they have that?

[@noxis93]

'Ryanair cares about their customers so they want airports to act responsibly and do their job or pay penalties for slacking.' There, I fixed that one for you. I spent half an hour waiting for a damn bus to arrive and take me to a terminal we could easily walk to, and then another 3 hours waiting for my bag to be delivered in Berlin two weeks ago. Until there are laws giving me compensation for the sad state some airports are right now, I can only hope airlines can force them to do their job with fines.

[@govardhanaraoganji]

Am not sure about the charges on airline companies but as I observed in past few years flight fares are increasing and at the same less flights from Berlin who want to travel international other than EU!

[@tobiwan001]

That happened everywhere. He‘s just trying to single out Germany. The fact is that lack of staffing has caused the high cost and airports and airlines are trying to recover lost profits.

[@govardhanaraoganji]

@@tobiwan001 recruit more ppl and provide the employment and at the same time govt is also will get pension funds and revenue generation will happen.. who got the job, he won't save all the money he will invest or buy goods & groceries and etc.

[@mdsoulsounds]

Remember last year when Ryan Air abandoned Marseille when it refused to pay its share of employee taxes to the French govt? Bottom line, Ryan Air is profitable and yes the German govt is favoring its country’s carriers.

[@maryreid4273]

I have no issue with them favouring their own carriers tbh.

[@dioc]

At the consumers' expenses.

[@Aceman4Ever]

He just wants cheap cheap cheap … the least airport workers get paid and the more pressure is put on airports to funnel us like cattle through security, there is only one person/company benefiting from that ..RA … we are happy to pay more than 12 pounds sterling for a flight and pay decent wages to airport workers.

[@sparks1792]

@@maryreid4273you say that now

[@YSLaurens]

Is there more to this story? As of right now Marseille is a seizable base in the Ryanair network.

[@awayvfx4692]

Careful with CEOs and stuff. They always want, what is best for them (their company). Maybe it is better for the German economy as it is (Lufthansa, Eurowings might profit from the current situation). Never take big peoples words for granted. I dont know what would be better for our economy. Im not an economist nor an aviation expert. Only a (in the best case state funded) study could tell.

[@babblo1389]

That's the tip of the iceberg.Sanctions are having an effect.

[@luisvasquez5015]

As many things in Germany, the system is hopelessly inefficient, and the bureaucracy will make sure it stays that way

[@bonaku20]

Obviously

[@eddy66t6]

@RubiaStorm lol if you think Ryanair are all about their customers...they're out for their bottom line more than the rest because they're running their service at the absolute edge of what they can squeeze out of people. Airports charge extra for the additional measures that were required during COVID at Airports, just like every other business that could open did. Extra security was required post-COVID to avoid queues at security etc., because everyone wanted to get out of their countries...there's not a huge cabal of airport operators out to get the average Joe jetting off on Holidays...its just reality catching up on you

[@hsinchu173]

@@RubiaStorm It's the last sentence got me to say something... the train ticket costs also gone up as well but the quality and services never catch up with the price. DB has been a joke since years, people would consider VERY lucky if their train showed up and on time - most times trains either late for god-knows-how-long, or just cancelled. It's total horror. The €49 Deutschland ticket can only be used for regional trains (no ICE, IC, EC trains)

[@ArquitetoLocatelli]

There is a generalized understanding that we should cut CO2 emissions in every field possible. Either there's a new disrupting low-carbon flight technology coming up or business models Ryanair-alike will disappear, shifting those travel demands to rail.

[@bencze465]

The problem is the extremes. Ok, we don't need 10 euro flights. But the jump shouldn't be 10 -> 300-400. Mobility is decreasing which will cause recession.

[@enginoor]

At Munich airport it tooks min of 2 hours to clear 289 pax from B777-300 , however baggage reclaim on belt were organized by the pax them selves

[@samlatooni]

Ryan Air! U are lucky , not everyone has the luxury to take their taxes out of Germany

[@firstsur451]

True

[@gitenkh]

On the way from Munich to Geneva and Luthansa flight was late for an hour as no loaders were available and it was a small aircraft....the captain announced we will leave without our bags if ground crew doesn't turn up in 5 minutes...then they came and loaded our bags..1 and half hours late...so much for German rules

[@puschelhornchen9484]

Ryanair kept employees during the pandemic? I thought they rent every one for gig work😂

[@albacan]

I agree with him. 40% of my last ticket was tax

[@migpinx]

Düsseldorf is the 3rd biggest airport in Germany and practically the only final destinations it serves is Mallorca and Antalya.

[@ignaciopardo8963]

Ryanair is the only airline that offers service to medium-size towns. Former public airlines fly nowadays majorly only from their two or three hubs and exceptionally from another one or two industrial or very touristic cities. Already because of that reason, Ryanair has all my support as airline.

[@Hubert_old]

I wish I was a billionaire and could whinge about fees of things…

[@AA-tb7rg]

Coming back to mainstream media interviews where the interviewed person cannot speak without being interrupted is always disturbing. You forget how bad this is until you watch dedicated non-legacy-media channels and appreciate their calm style of interviewing

[@COPKALA]

Ryan air almost bankrupt an Italian airport some 10 years ago, as they even were asking money from that airport (instead of paying for)...

[@farmerjimmy7453]

Good on them 👌 9:28

[@hennygoossens3655]

Ryanair has no extra value for the customer else than a lower price for some people. Better to focus on stability and quality of service. Ryanair is focused on taking airports and workers hostage. All to make more money as soon as possible.

[@conormahon3380]

What exactly do you think capitalism is? The duty of any company is to maximise returns for its shareholders

[@bruceketcheson4877]

stability and quality of service, and where exactly does that comment apply with Lufthansa?

[@a.v.d]

True, from Amsterdam to Faro 4x cheaper than from Frankfurt where i live. Even a stop in Lisbon with LH, TAP ect. while Adam - Faro is non-stop with Rainair

[@ovidiuradu1695]

"smaller players like Ryanair"? Really? No, really? They are literally the biggest airline in Europe.

[@fh2234]

I havent noticed an increase of pricing in the last 4-5 years from West Germany to Spain. Until now Ryanair was able to keep it low. I love them.

[@tiko8420]

Someone is paying for your cheap flights though

[@ralfsmith3285]

Good for you. Maybe fly somewhere else and you see a rise 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@chrisbrown4464]

And this is the same Ryanair which registers their aircraft in Malta to avoid taxation and gives airports no choice but to charge consumers directly to cover costs because Ryanair refuses to pay for these services in order to achieve record profits.

[@m.f.9892]

For me as a business traveler Rayanair is an absolute no-go. Such horrible service, unpleasant departure times and uncomfortable seating are unreasonable if you have work meetings, even in Europe. AND, he complains about unfair structures! Didn't Ryanair exploit German taxpayers over many years by exessivly using regional government subsidies???

[@seldakaya0414]

When flying back from Dublin to Berlin, I was forced to fly with this ridiculous company, because my production company booked me a flight. Because I couldn’t check in with my phone, they charged me with 55,- €. 55,- € for pushing two buttons. Ryanair has always been and still is an awful scam. I told my production company only to book flights with Aer Lingus.

[@GoldSpot-pf1yb]

They can just raise their prices to accommodate the airport fees.

[@pfox3024]

I bet he flew in on Lufthansa

[@benjaminohloff7819]

nope

[@bryanspringsteen761]

Why is there no word on the enormous lack of staff at German airports which is one of the bigger reasons why Lufthansa have cut the number of flights?

[@fuckdelasouledublues75]

Security at the airport is ridiculous, each person has to get scan on an outdated machine. When they want to avoid queues, they ooen new security gates which raise airport taxes of course

[@bobi7152]

Ryanair, the biggest European airline, caring deeply for the reduced competitiveness for smaller carriers, like Ryanair 🤔

[@johnvif]

The what? 😂

[@chris52386]

Would like to see DW news running Fact-Check after some of these interviews 🤔

[@robertmalone4161]

Living close to Hamburg is the worst for flying, and to fly out of Hamburg is an absolute disadvsntage compared to other larger German cities. Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany but has very few choices and high prices to fly anywhere. They have no direct flights to America, contrary to Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin. This past summer I paid 800 Euros to fly to Teneriffa. Condor was my only choice and I had to pay it to go visit a friend in need.

[@mayapapaya9769]

Lived in Germany in for 5 years. Deutsche bahn is late 50% if the time (turning 8 hour trips into 12 hours because of missed connections)

[@W_Bin]

Doesn't Lufthansa pay the levies as well? If they do, how does that affect competitiveness? Is Ryanair trying to screw government taxes? Does Ryanair pay fair taxes otherwise? "Airpirts should be able to set their own prices" - ie big business should tell them what to charge, instead of governments?

[@i86ij99]

Ryanair customers are price-sensitive. People who fly Lufthansa pay much more than budget airlines for the same route.

[@pratikg.2783]

"German systems are hopelessly inefficient!" Thank God. Finally someone said it out load on national news. Plain and Simple.

[@Moorhuhn1001]

This should be discussed with a neutral expert and not with the CEO of Ryan Air (which is despite his claims one of the larger airlines)

[@steffenrosmus9177]

Well if you decrease your service level from 0 (in the good times) to - 345 now, no wonder that critic German customers do not use this airline anymore.

[@mrandersson2009]

He has a point, just tax airline CEOs more instead.

[@NotUnymous]

He realy doesnt

[@NMY232]

He's taxed in Ireland at a marginal tax rate of 52%. Fairly progressive as-is. Or is your point that Germany should up the tax from 45% on the Lufthansa CEO?

[@Blashmack]

The amount of tax revenue you'll get from that is a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of tax revenue needed to fix this problem.

[@thegamepz]

I have interesting question : what is the difference in money spend in the airport by low cost airline passengers vs regular airlines ?

[@rudijohnsen9674]

Great question! 🛫 In general, low-cost airlines often save costs by opting for gates that are a bit farther from the main exit/entry or using smaller terminals. For instance, while big carriers like Lufthansa (and other Star Alliance members) usually get prime spots at major airports, you'll find that British Airways tends to use Heathrow, while budget airlines might lean more towards Gatwick or Luton. It's all about balancing convenience and costs! ✈🌍

[@Strobel09]

Ryanair specifically is one of the few (if not the only) low cost carriers to use the build-in air stairs on the Boeing 737 to cut down the cost on service fees at airports. By using their own equipment they can save on the cost of one set of air stairs provided by the airport/contractor working for the airport. The next big thing is mainly going for remote stands when possible. You pay less for a remote stand despite needing busses to bring passengers to the terminal. And if they get a stand directly at the terminal they won't use the jet bridge either (extra costs) but will have you plane/deplane via stairs on the ramp.

[@adamlennon750]

It's odd that the interviewer says that Germany are saying they suffered during covid so the airlines should foot the bill to top up the airports finances. I don't recall Ryanair being responsibly for the pandemic, yet they're to pay for it. Odd way to do business.

[@ventsilev]

A guy that charges for breathing on the planes doesn't want to pay the fees at the airports 😂

[@aileenmarzanna]

Screw Ryanair. The second they have a monopoly on any route they charge just as much as non-budget carriers while retaining their contempt of passengers. I wish Poland would drive them out as well.

[@doruelsss7659]

The CEO face at minute 11:05 when faced with THE FACT xD

[@richpea2]

Why? None of his argument is about flying around Germany... its about flying into and out of Germany. I have German friends here in the UK who are so frustrated because their only option is to fly from London to either Munich of Frankfurt, none of which is remotely close to where they live in the UK or where their family is in Germany.

[@tacoaficionado]

@@richpea2 weird CGN and BER are serviced from London

[@richpea2]

@@tacoaficionado That's no help if you live in Liverpool, Manchester, Scotland or in fact anywhere more than 2 and a half hours drive from London, which is actually a lot of places.

[@tacoaficionado]

@@richpea2 Weird, just took a flight from Eindhoven and Düsseldorf to Manchester. Weird how the UK is not connected to germany

[@tacoaficionado]

@@richpea2 Also weird, edinburgh has connections to all major german ariports. really difficult to get here from uk. Even birmingham has connections to germany. So please. Which major UK airport has no connection to germany. And if for some reason you want to travel to belfast there is a connection to FRA or you just travel via dublin and take a bus

[@babii3z0910]

I am not a fan of Ryanair at all. Last time my grandmother flew to see me and she could not check in online as a senior person without a smart phone. So, the airport check in counter charged her €55. Which was a lot of money to just print the ticket. Another point was I paid for the priority checking bags, but my grandmother still needed to stand in the line at the check in point for almost half an hour because it has no priority line. It’s a shame on you Ryanair. Even if I need to pay more for other airlines, I will do it without regret. I won’t be Ryanair customer at any cost.

[@seren4740]

So your grandma arrived at the airport without her boarding pass in a smartphone or printed and it's the airline's fault? She expected to be let on the plane just because 😂😂

[@tiarnola]

I got caught with that before and had to pay £55, but tbf they send a lot of emails reminding you to check in beforehand or else pay the charge.

[@logbinder6330]

Why is that an ad for Ryanair

[@pertoor]

Well I'd say that's because LCC's like RyanAir let more and more of their work getting handled by airport staff. I've seen many cases in which airport security had to help RyanAir customers with their baggage drop because there was no RyanAir staff in any of the dedicated RyanAir service points. Same goes for the large number of delayed flights, in which airport ground staff has to manage customers on behalf of RyanAir and gets no information from them. If airport staff is getting forced to handle additional work on top of their normal duties due to RyanAir saving money on every end, it's only natural to increase the price.

[@skfmtt]

Basically it look like they want all for free. Why not all of us pay a Ryanair tax so they get their money anyway while we can stay at home! so to avoid the often and more and more terrible flight experiences and the "going trough the airport" missions Maybe Germany is wrong, but maybe they are also trying to protect from their-self from modern slavery, that is well established in many other EU countries where many low cost have a base.

[@Philip11v22]

Very good points. I can confirm my frustration as a Berlin resident and frequent flyer. It’s especially annoying when flying outside Europe where almost no direct flights are available because Lufthansa loves Frankfurt and Munich too much. Sad I cannot do more as a customer to “help” politics understand the problem.

[@AR-1806]

I think politics doesn‘t want us to take planes

[@danielrizzo4927]

If "politics" are the problem to begin with, the only solution they could provide is to get out of the way.

[@pertoor]

Hypocrits. Talk about free market and politics to get out of the way but at the same time whining for politics to step in and make life easier for them at their doorstep.

[@tiko8420]

There is not much airtraffic out of Berlin because the market is too small (and poor)

[@XGD5layer]

That's because no airline has Berlin as their main hub any longer after AirBerlin fell. The regular airlines concentrate all their traffic to a few hubs for efficiency reasons. BER is still very busy with its 20+ million passengers per year, but that's why only the cheap cost-cutter airlines have a bigger presence at the airport. They only serve niches (for a variety of reasons, good and bad), so they don't have a need to commit.

[@RebelRebelious]

He's 100% correct what he says about passenger processing through security in Germany and I well believe the differential mentioned by the Ryanair CEO. For a new airport BER is a disgrace. I queued 40 minutes to clear security there two weeks ago and previously had queued for nearly and hour. Not helped by staff moving at snails pace in all functions. That BER runway concept for security only works if you can be sure of making your time slot. BA for example still has manual check-in, whether travelling with checked bags or not. That is 1980s. In a brans new airport?! Far too many security clearance points are dedicated to the BER runway which causes gridlock at the regular clearance points. It's clearly noticeable Easyjet have reduced flights to and from Berlin. Glasgow used to have a daily flight. Now 'as I remember' it's down to 2-3 a week. Same Edinburgh.

[@EnterUKYeah]

Apart from Ryanair never departed from Hanover - post-Covid you can only travel with a handful of the big players. Lufthansa is a joke concerning service. The prices are ridiculous high and the previously flourishing airport resembles a ghost town now. It was one of the main employers of the region and now many people lost their jobs because of the pandemic, but never re-employed or are paid way less wages now. It's quite sad to see the decline of regional airports.

[@valentinac2855]

In some instances Ryanair is 2 times more expensive than other companies so backoff. At least you get a better service on Lufthansa

[@babblo1389]

That's for sure.