Discount Airlines Need Not Apply

Low-cost carriers are abandoning Germany, citing sky-high fees they say favor Lufthansa

- William Wilkes, with Monica Raymunt

Over the past two decades, discount airlines Ryanair Holdings Plc and EasyJet Plc have followed the same playbook in Germany that they've used across Europe: From smaller regional airports such as Memmingen in Bavaria and Luebeck on the Baltic coast, they grabbed market share with ultralow fares that appealed to tightfisted travelers undaunted by their no-frills offerings. Over time they expanded to Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich, increasingly treading on the turf of the German flag carrier, Deutsche Lufthansa AG.

These days the upstarts are on the defensive as Lufthansa punches back. EasyJet quit the popular Frankfurt-Berlin route in 2020, and this year Ryanair abandoned Frankfurt altogether, saying the sky-high landing and terminal fees at Germany's biggest airport-operated by a company partly owned by Lufthansa-rendered service there unprofitable.

Post-pandemic, Ryanair's seat capacity in Germany has fallen by almost half, whereas in Italy it's up 40%, according to researcher Cirium. EasyJet has cut its Berlin-based fleet by more than two-thirds, to 11 aircraft, while in Lisbon it's added nine jets, up from zero.